The Spirit Explains The great Creator acts without partiality;The myriad principles of the universe are clearly manifested.Of the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Man),Is it not because of me, the Spirit, that humanity exists?Though I am a different entity from you two,We are bound together as long as we live.Since our fates are intertwined,How…
This poem is the first in a famous three-poem series where Tao Yuanming personifies three aspects of human existence: the physical Body, the Shadow, and the Spirit. This structure is deeply influenced by Buddhist and Daoist philosophical debates of the Wei-Jin period regarding the nature of the soul and the afterlife.