世外桃源 — “A land of peach blossoms beyond this world”

During the Taikang reign of the Jin dynasty, a fisherman from Wuling made his living by fishing. One day, he followed a stream, unaware of how far he had gone. Suddenly, he came across a peach blossom forest. For several hundred paces along both banks of the stream, there were no other trees, only beautiful, fragrant grass, and a shower of falling petals. The fisherman was very surprised and continued forward, wanting to reach the end of the forest.

Where the forest ended, at the source of the stream, he found a mountain. The mountain had a small opening, from which a faint light seemed to emanate. He left his boat and entered the opening. At first, it was extremely narrow, just wide enough for one person. After walking several tens of paces, it suddenly opened up into a vast, flat land with orderly houses. There were fertile fields, beautiful ponds, and groves of mulberries and bamboos. Footpaths and country roads crisscrossed, and the sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard from afar.

People were coming and going, working in the fields, and the clothes of both men and women were just like those of outsiders. The elderly with their grey hair and children with their hair hanging down were all content and joyful. When they saw the fisherman, they were greatly astonished and asked where he had come from. The fisherman answered them in detail. Then, someone invited him to their home and prepared wine, killed a chicken, and made a meal. When the villagers heard about this visitor, they all came to inquire. They told him that their ancestors, to escape the chaos during the Qin Dynasty, had led their wives, children, and fellow villagers to this isolated place and had never left since, thus becoming cut off from the outside world. They asked what dynasty it was now, unaware of the Han, let alone the Wei or Jin. The fisherman told them everything he knew one by one, and they all sighed with wonder and regret. The other villagers each invited him to their homes and offered him food and drink. After staying for several days, the fisherman bid them farewell. The people there told him, 'This place is not worth mentioning to outsiders.'

After leaving, the fisherman found his boat and followed his previous route, marking the path everywhere. When he reached the prefecture, he went to see the prefect and recounted his experience. The prefect immediately sent people to follow him, searching for the marks he had made, but they eventually lost their way and could not find the path again. Liu Ziji of Nanyang, a noble scholar, heard of this and joyfully planned to go. However, he did not succeed and soon died of illness. Thereafter, no one ever inquired about or sought the place again.