PureInsight | December 24, 2006
[PureInsight Net] The expression
"Peach grove over yonder" means a place that is not affected by
the outside world and it can also mean Shangri-La. It originated
from "The Story of the Peach Grove" written by Tao Yuanming, a great
writer from the Song Dynasty.
In the story, one day a fisherman from Wuling in Hunan Province
rowed his boat up the river. After a long while, he saw a huge peach
grove with splendid blossoms. He was overwhelmed with such scenery and
continued to row. He then saw a small mountain with a small cave in the
middle of the mountain. He was so curious that he got off his boat and
crawled into the cave. At the end of the cave, there appeared a broad,
flat area. He kept walking and saw rows of houses neatly arranged with
various crops growing in a fertile field. Many paths branched out in
all directions from the middle of the field; many people were quite
busy working in the field.
When they saw the fisherman, they were all surprised and told him that
their ancestors went there just to avoid the warfare of the Qin
Dynasty. The fisherman told them about the changing of dynasty after
dynasty, and everyone was astonished.
The hospitality of the villagers was so moving that he hated to leave,
but a few days later the fisherman wanted to go home. After the
fisherman returned home, he told his adventure to the local official.
The local official sent people to investigate. The fisherman led
the group and followed the same route. They not only failed to find the
peach grove but also got lost. Since then, no one has ever seen that
peach grove again.
The skeptics believe that this story was written purely out of the
author's imagination and human beings are the highest form of life in
this universe. In reality, there are lives all over the universe, in
different time zones, and in different dimensions. One thing led to the
other, and the fisherman was in a different time and space; what he saw
and experienced truly exists in this universe. Nowadays, people use
this phrase to indicate a place that is untouched by the outside world
or a paradise.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2006/12/21/41477.html
