"Returning Home · Preface" by Tao Yuanming - Limited Edition Giclée Print on Bamboo Paper (Ver. 2)

Giclée print of an original ink calligraphy by Ming Ge.

Edition of: 60

书法（行书）晋陶渊明“归去来辞之序”—Calligraphy (Semi-Cursive Script) of Preface to “Returning Home” by Tao Yuanming (365-427) of Jin Dynasty

--

My family was poor, and the land could not sustain us. Children filled the house; the grain jar stood empty. I saw no path by which life might be maintained.

Friends and kin urged me toward an official post — My heart, restless, searched but found no clear way. Then affairs of the realm called from all directions, And a kinsman, moved by pity for my poverty, Secured for me a small appointment in a modest town.

The roads were troubled then, and my heart shrank From distant duty. Yet Pengze lay but a hundred li from home, And its public fields, I thought, might yield enough for wine — So I accepted, and set forth.

But within days, a longing for return stirred in my chest. Why was this? My nature was always drawn to simplicity, Not to the straining and posturing of office. Though hunger and cold pressed hard upon me, To act against my own heart was a deeper suffering still.

All my service had been bondage to the mouth and belly. I fell into melancholy, ashamed before the ambitions of my younger years. I hoped only to endure one harvest, then slip away at night, robes gathered.

Then came word that my sister had died at Wuchang — Grief drove me like a galloping horse, and I resigned without delay.

From mid-autumn to winter, I had held office eighty days. Following the heart's own bidding, I named this piece: Returning Home.

It was the eleventh month of the year Yisi.

--

余家贫，耕植不足以自给。幼稚盈室，瓶无储粟，生生所资，未见其术。亲故多劝余为长吏，脱然有怀，求之靡途。会有四方之事，诸侯以惠爱为德，家叔以余贫苦，遂见用于小邑。于时风波未静，心惮远役，彭泽去家百里，公田之利，足以为酒，故便求之。及少日，眷然有归欤之情。何则？质性自然，非矫励所得。饥冻虽切，违己交病。尝从人事，皆口腹自役。于是怅然慷慨，深愧平生之志。犹望一稔，当敛裳宵逝。寻程氏妹丧于武昌，情在骏奔，自免去职。仲秋至冬，在官八十余日。因事顺心，命篇曰归去来兮。乙巳岁十一月也。