所以你說天下什麼是幸？什麼是不幸？因此陶淵明就說「衰榮無定在，彼此更共之」。這兩句本是講哲理的。後邊陶淵明就拿歷史上的故事來做證明，他說「邵生瓜田中，寧似東陵時」。「邵生」是一個人，在我們的講義裡有注解。陶淵明詩的最早的注解者是宋朝的李公煥，我們現在用的講義材料是近代人古直注釋的，叫做〈陶淵明詩箋注〉。箋跟注並不完全一樣，如果只是注，它只注明典故出處。如果有箋，就不僅是注明典故出處，它還要有對當時寫這首詩時歷史背景的說明。李公煥的只是注，我們簡稱為李注，古直的是箋注。

對於這句詩，古直就引用了李注的說法。李注說〈漢書‧蕭何傳〉裡記載說，「邵平者，故秦東陵侯。秦破，為布衣。貧，種瓜長安城東。瓜美，故世謂東陵瓜。」這是一個歷史故事，說邵平這個人曾經在秦朝的時候被封為東陵侯，他是一個貴族，一個侯爵。關於邵平的名字，有的寫佗「召」。但當秦朝敗亡了，朝代改為漢朝之後，以前貴族的邵平現在也就變成平民了，他的生活便只能倚靠在長安城東種瓜來維持了。「瓜美」，是說他種的瓜特別好。這個美有兩重意思，一是說他種出的瓜顏色鮮美，歷史上記載說，邵平所種的瓜是五種顏色的；另一方面是說他種出的瓜滋味美。總之，這句是說他種瓜的技藝是很高超的。

陶淵明舉這個例子是要說明，你不要以為那榮華富貴的貴族就能完全子子孫孫都永遠做貴族的。秦始皇倒是想要讓他的子子孫孫世代都做皇帝，可是到他兒子時國家就滅亡了。

而如今的邵生，「生」是中國古代對於男子的通稱，如「莊生晚夢蝴蝶」中的「莊生」是說的莊子。陶淵明說，當邵生這個舊日貴族在瓜田辛苦種瓜的時候，他「寧似東陵時」，哪裡能夠像他做東陵侯的時候呢？

我們上次說陶淵明的詩中所講的哲理，常常是通過他對大自然中的種種形象的經驗感受來傳達的。可你要知道這些形象不只是限於自然景物，除了自然景物之外，還有我們人類世界中的事象，而人類世界中的事象既可以是現代的，也可以是古典的。這裡陶淵明就是把從貴族侯爵淪為瓜田農夫的邵生的故事當作一個古典的事象，藉此證明「衰榮無定在，彼此更共之」的哲理。所以後面他進一步講哲理：「寒暑有代謝，人道每如茲。」

他說這種「彼此更共之」的現象是普遍存在於宇宙、自然中的，不只是自然界植物花草有衰敗、榮華的交替，自然氣候中的四季也有「代謝」輪回的變化。「代」是更換輪流；「謝」就是過去，離開的意思。

他說你以為只有春夏秋冬，寒來暑往才是這樣輪流更換的嗎？不僅如此，「人道每如茲」：人間的生活、生命的變化也是如此的，這就是「人道」 。總之，無論是天道還是人道，都是「彼此更共之」地代謝更換的。

後邊接著說了，對於這樣一個道理，是「達人解其會，逝將不復疑」，所謂「達人」，後面注解上引了賈誼〈鵬鳥賦〉中「達人大觀兮，物無不可」的句子。賈誼是一個人的名字，他是西漢朝，文帝時候的人。他是很有才學，也很關心國家大事的人。他看到西漢政治有很多的弊病，就給皇帝上了一個奏疏。他說「天下大事，可為痛哭者一，可為流涕者二，可為長嘆息者六。」這是說當前國家的大事中有可值得我們為此而痛哭的一件事；可以值得為之流涕的有兩件事；可以值得為之長嘆息的有六件事。他的意思是希望國家能夠引起重視，改正弊端，更加強盛起來。

可是凡是愛批評指責國家政治、愛給皇帝提意見的人，都會遭到朝廷反對派的打擊和迫害。賈誼後來就被貶出長安，來到長沙，這篇〈鵬鳥賦〉就是在這種情況下寫的。鵬鳥，相傳是一種惡鳥，據說誰看到了這種鳥，就會有一些不吉祥的事情發生。有一次賈誼說他看到了鵬鳥，他就寫了一篇賦。

待續

Therefore, what would you call fortune? What would you say is  misfortune? That's why Tao Yuanming wrote, "Decline and prosperity  are impermanent, each reciprocating the other." This line expresses  the philosophy.

Then Tao alluded to stories from Chinese history to prove it. He said:  "Mr. Shao in the melon patch / Bears no resemblance to the Marquis of  Dongling." Mr. Shao is a man. He is mentioned in the handout. The  earliest notes on Tao Yuanming's poems were written by Li Gonghuan in  the Song Dynasty. The material in the handout is from Commentary and  Notes on Tao Yuanming's Poems, written by Gu Zhi, a contemporary scholar.

The terms 'commentary' (qian) and 'notes' (zhu) do not mean quite  the same thing [in Chinese]. Notes give the sources for historical events  alluded to in the text. A commentary provides not only the sources, but  also the historical context in which the poem was composed. Since Li  Gonghuan only made notes, we call his work Li's Notes, while Gu Zhi's  is both an annotation and a commentary.

Regarding this line, Gu Zhi follows Li's explanation. Li's Notes refer to  the "Biography of Xiao He" in the Han Chronicles, which records that,  "Shao Ping was the Marquis of Dongling in the Qin Dynasty. After the fall  of Qin, he became a commoner. Driven by poverty, he grew melons on  the east side of the city of Chang'an. His melons were so good that they became known as 'Dongling melons.'" This is a historical story. Shao Ping  was conferred the title Marquis of Dongling in the Qin Dynasty, so he was  an aristocrat, a lord. His name is sometimes written using the character  'Zhao'. When the Qin Dynasty was replaced by the Han Dynasty, Shao  Ping, formerly an aristocrat, became a commoner. He made a living by planting melons on the east side of Chang'an. 'His melons were so good' indicates the melons he nourished were excellent. His melons were 'good'  in two respects: first, they were fresh and attractive in color. It is recorded in  history that his melons had five colors. Second, his melons tasted great. In  general, he was quite skilled at growing melons.

Tao Yuanming used that example to tell us not to assume that the  descendants of wealthy, glamorous, and noble families will always be  aristocrats generation after generation. Emperor Shi of the Qin Dynasty  fantasized that his lineage would produce emperors for generations, yet  his empire perished in his son's hands.

Now, Tao's line refers to Mr. Shao—Shao Sheng. ('Sheng' was the  ancient Chinese title equivalent to Mr. For instance, in the line, "Zhuang Sheng dreamed of butterflies at night," Zhuang Sheng refers to Zhuang  Zi - Master Zhuang.) Tao Yuanming said while Shao Sheng, the former  aristocrat, is laboring in his melon patch, he "bears no resemblance to  the Marquis of Dongling." How could he be the same as he was in the days when he was the Marquis of Dongling?

We said that the principles in Tao's poems usually express his experience and impressions of the scenes of Nature. But we should know that  those scenes are not limited to Nature, but also encompass human  situations, both contemporary and ancient. Here Tao uses melon grower  Shao Sheng, a former aristocratic marquis, as a classical metaphor to  illustrate the idea that "Decline and prosperity are impermanent, each  reciprocating the other."

He continues in the next line with more philosophy: Winter and summer come and go; /So it is with human affairs. He believed that the  phenomena of  'each reciprocating the other' exists throughout the universe and the natural world. Not only do plants, flowers, and grasses go  through phases of flourishing and withering, the seasons themselves also  follow a constant cycle, rotating and passing.

"Did you think that only the four seasons follow a cycle? They  shift and change; and so it is with human affairs—the changes in human  life are the same way; that is the 'way of humans.' Anyway, both celestial and human affairs are constantly and mutually changing.

Then, regarding this theory, he said, Wise men understand these  conditions, /Harboring no doubts whatsoever. In explaining 'wise men,'  the commentary quotes from Jia Yi's "Verse on a Buzzard": "The wise  man has a broad perspective; there is nothing he cannot handle." Jia Yi is  the name of a person who lived during the reign of Emperor Wen of the  Western Han Dynasty. He was very knowledgeable and concerned about  national affairs. Seeing the numerous political problems of the Western  Han Dynasty, he submitted a report to the emperor: "Among current  national affairs, there is one that we should cry about, two that we  should weep about, and six that we should sigh deeply about." Jia Yi  hoped to make the government take these matters seriously, so that  reforms could be made and the country strengthened.

However, anyone who liked to criticize the government and submit  proposals to the emperor was inevitably assaulted and schemed against  by the rival parties in the ruling court. Later on, Jia Yi was banished from  Chang'an and went to Changsha, and it was in those circumstances that  he wrote the "Verse on a Buzzard." It was said that the buzzard was a  evil bird. Misfortunes would befall anyone who saw the bird. One day,  Jia Yi saw a buzzard, so he wrote a verse in an ancient Chinese literary  style called fu.

To be continued