Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling back to earth

136 137 Ni Zan China 1301–74 The Distant Cold Flow Pine c.1370s Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) Ink monochrome Collection: Palace Museum, Beijing, China During the Tai-Yuan reign of the Jin Dynasty, there was once a man from Wuling who caught fish for a living. One day he poled upstream and lost track of his whereabouts. Suddenly, he entered a peach blossom grove that lined both sides of the river for several hundred feet, with no other kind of tree in the midst. The green grass was fresh and fragrant, and the fallen blossoms danced in the breeze, bewildering the fisherman. He continued forward, wishing to reach the edge of the grove. At the end of the forest was the origin of the stream, where he was met with a hill. The hill had a small opening with what appeared to be light shining through, so he left his boat to enter the cave. At first extremely narrow, the tunnel could fit just one person; dozens of steps later, it widened and brightened up. The ground became flat and vast, and lined with orderly houses. There were fertile fields, clear ponds, mulberry trees and bamboos. The crisscross paths in the fields interconnected the village, and the clucks of chickens and barks of dogs could be heard. The people who worked in the fields, whether men or women, all dressed similarly to those outside of the community; the silver-haired elderly and the pig-tailed children all beamed contentedly, too. At the sight of the fisherman, they were astonished and asked him where he had come from. He answered in detail. Subsequently they invited him home, prepared wine, slaughtered chickens and treated him to a meal. Villagers who heard about the stranger all came to inquire what this was about. They spoke of themselves: ‘Our ancestors fled from the turmoils of the Qin Dynasty, brought their wives and fellow townspeople to this remote territory, never to return. That is why we are disconnected from the outside world’. They then asked, ‘What year is it?’ They did not know of the Han Dynasty, not to mention the Wei nor Jin. The fisherman answered all that he knew, and everyone exclaimed in disbelief. The rest of the villagers each wined and dined him at their homes. After a few days, the fisherman bid them farewell. The people of this place told him, ‘No need to discuss with others of your encounters here’. The fisherman returned to his boat and went downstream, following his original route and leaving markers as he went. When he reached his county, he visited the governor and recounted his adventure. The governor immediately sent staff to accompany the fisherman to the place he discovered, tracing the markers he left, but they became lost and could not find their way. Mr Liu Ziji of Nanyang, an elegant and virtuous intellectual, was delighted by this story and made plans to go there. However, before he could realise his trip, he fell ill and soon passed away. Since then, no one cared to find out where it was. Written in the year 401 Translated by Kelly Ma Peach Blossom Spring Tao Yuanming