Xiaofei Tian is professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University.

"At once a study of manuscript culture's fluid nature and an excavation of forgotten dimensions of the poet through a study of the variant words and phrases that were not adopted in the standard readings..Tian's sensitive weighing of the alternatives is persuasive— and who would not be drawn to the irony, humor, and struggle of the more complex Tao that emerges from her discussions? An original and evocative study, this book cogently demonstrates the difference that words can make."

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Possession & Loss2. "Who the Master Is, No One Knows"3. Lost Homesteads: Returning to Tao4. Food, Death, & Narration5. Becoming a Vessel6. Hard Evidence: Reading a StoneConclusionNotesChinese GlossaryEditions of Tao Yuanming's CollectionSelected BibliographyIndex

Xiaofei Tian is professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University.

"At once a study of manuscript culture's fluid nature and an excavation of forgotten dimensions of the poet through a study of the variant words and phrases that were not adopted in the standard readings..Tian's sensitive weighing of the alternatives is persuasive— and who would not be drawn to the irony, humor, and struggle of the more complex Tao that emerges from her discussions? An original and evocative study, this book cogently demonstrates the difference that words can make."

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Possession & Loss2. "Who the Master Is, No One Knows"3. Lost Homesteads: Returning to Tao4. Food, Death, & Narration5. Becoming a Vessel6. Hard Evidence: Reading a StoneConclusionNotesChinese GlossaryEditions of Tao Yuanming's CollectionSelected BibliographyIndex

Xiaofei Tian is professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University.

"At once a study of manuscript culture's fluid nature and an excavation of forgotten dimensions of the poet through a study of the variant words and phrases that were not adopted in the standard readings..Tian's sensitive weighing of the alternatives is persuasive— and who would not be drawn to the irony, humor, and struggle of the more complex Tao that emerges from her discussions? An original and evocative study, this book cogently demonstrates the difference that words can make."

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Possession & Loss2. "Who the Master Is, No One Knows"3. Lost Homesteads: Returning to Tao4. Food, Death, & Narration5. Becoming a Vessel6. Hard Evidence: Reading a StoneConclusionNotesChinese GlossaryEditions of Tao Yuanming's CollectionSelected BibliographyIndex