Of course, what people tend to remember about Tao is the grand spirit of his famous verse, "Picking chrysanthemum under the eastern fence, I gaze on the southern mountains with tranquillity." It is easy to forget that he also spilled a lot of ink describing just how difficult his living conditions had become.
人人都記得他「採菊東籬下，悠然見南山」的精神豐實，卻很容易忘他其實處於「環堵蕭然，不避風日，短褐穿結，簞瓢屢空」的物質困境。