Visions of Happiness: Daoist Utopias and Grotto Paradises in Early and Medieval Chinese Tales

Abstract

This study traces the respective evolutions of two separate motifs—Daoist utopia and grotto heavens (dongtian)—in early and medieval Chinese literature, and discusses the significance of their convergence in the influential literary classic “Peach Blossom Spring” ("Taohua yuan ji") by Tao Qian (aka Tao Yuanming, 365—427). The purposes of this article are twofold: first, to enhance our understanding of the ideological and textual connections between “Peach Blossom Spring” and Confucianism and Daoism; second, to offer new insights into the unique characteristics of Chinese utopianism, where political vision and mythical imagination frequently were inter-twined.