Tao Yuanming's "The Peach Blossom Spring" is controversial. Is it a ghost story?
The Theory of the Underworld
First of all, let us carefully reconstruct the path of this fisherman into the Peach Blossom Spring based on the text.
"There is a small opening in the mountain, as if there is light. It is very narrow at first, and only then can people pass through it. After walking dozens of steps, it suddenly becomes clear."
The fisherman first saw a small mouth in the mountain, which seemed to be light, so he went in.
It was very narrow at first, but after walking dozens of steps it became spacious, and we entered the Peach Blossom Spring.
That’s what the text says, right?
According to Xu Pingfang's introduction and analysis of the "Secret Burial Scripture of the Original Tomb of the Han Dynasty", during the Qin, Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, the entrance to the tomb passage was narrow in front and wide in the back, in order to prevent tomb robberies.
For example, this is the case of Cao Cao's tomb reported in the news a few years ago.
In order to avoid the death of people, the people would not make the village community or their own homes narrow in front and wide in the back. Otherwise, wouldn’t the place where you live be like a dead person?
Another piece of evidence found is that there was a man named Guo Pu at the same time as Tao Yuanming. He is recognized as the originator of Feng Shui in the Chinese Feng Shui community. He is a great master and a true master. He has written a "Burial Sutra".
The "Burial Sutra" says: Peach mulberry trees in front of the door are a great evil.
Let's take a look at the original text:
Suddenly we came across a peach blossom forest, hundreds of steps along the bank. There were no trees in the middle, the grass was delicious and the fallen flowers were colorful.
The land is flat and vast, with well-groomed houses, fertile fields, beautiful ponds, mulberry trees, and bamboos.
Taosang gathers Yin energy.
The structure of the tomb passage is close to mountains and rivers, with mulberry and bamboo hanging down for shade, and peach trees to ward off evil spirits. These standard features of the cemetery at that time are all brought to life in "Peach Blossom Spring".
The difference in active time between Tao Yuanming and Guo Pu was only a few decades. Would a great scholar like Tao Yuanming not notice such a big bug that violated the social customs of the time?
Of course, this alone may not be convincing enough and may lead to over-interpretation.
There is another more important clue, indicating that the fisherman mistakenly entered the underworld and encountered a ghost.
The text says that the ancestors of the villagers in Taohuayuan are from the Qin Dynasty. They settled here to avoid the war and were isolated from the rest of the world for generations until the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
It is clear that they have been isolated from the outside world and have never had any contact with the outside world.
But the author mentioned that after five hundred years from the end of Qin Dynasty to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the clothes worn by this group of people were exactly the same as those outside.
"Men and women dress like outsiders"
In reality, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Hanfu was obviously influenced by northern ethnic groups. The style of clothes is really different from that of the Qin Dynasty 500 years ago.
Where do the clothes come from?
One of them speculated that the clothes worn by these people were burned during sacrifices.
There is no logical problem with this inference, but the problem lies in the key evidence "men and women dress like outsiders." The translation of this sentence has always been controversial.
Some scholars believe that "outsiders" refer to people outside the Peach Blossom Spring, while others think on the contrary that they refer to people outside the outside world.
Is there anyone reliable who has scientifically researched this matter?