The King James Version of the Bible, in the book of James, chapter 4 verses 14 says “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away”. The New International Version (1984) says “Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. The New Living Translation (2007), says “For they are like a breath of air, their days are like a passing shadow”. Perhaps this is what the poet T'ao Ch'ien meant in his depiction of the poems Substance to Shadow, Substance and Spirit’s Solution. T’ao Ch’ien was born in Ch’ai-sang in present-day Kiangsi Province. He lived during the Eastern Chin and Liu Sung dynasties. Both his father and grandfather served as perfects, however by T’ao Ch’ien’s time the family must have become poorer and despite his preference for a secluded life, he held several posts, in order to support his family. He was said to have been more philosophic or meditative, than idyllic or a bucolic poet. Perhaps this is what helps to shape his view on life and death. My interpretation of his poems Substance to Shadow, Substance and Spirit's Solution is that he was saying, that whether you choose to live your life wise or ignorant, noble or base, that it was just a mere shadow. Life is here today and gone tomorrow. No one notices, the departure of a life except for the things that he once used, which is left to catch their eye and move them to grief. He says that whether you die old or young, death is the same and there is no difference. So surrender to the cycle of things. I equate this to mean, stop worrying about life itself and just go with the natural flow of life. Which I believe that this attitude could possible help preserve the quality of ones life. Then when it is time to leave this earth, go, go without any unnecessary fuss.
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