Chinese idioms: 世外桃源(Shìwài Táoyuán)

世外桃源 Shìwài Táoyuán
Táoyuānmíng shì Dōngjìn shíqī de shīrén, shàncháng miáoxiě tiányuán fēngguāng. Tā xiě guò yì piān sǎnwén《Táohuā Yuán Jì》, lǐmiàn shuō yǒu gè yúfū, zài bǔyú de shíhòu mí le lù. Tā yánzhe yì tiáo xiǎoxī, yì zhí xiàng qián huá. Bú zhīdào chuán zǒu le duō yuǎn, tūrán qiánmiàn chūxiàn yí piàn táohuālín, fēicháng piàoliàng. Yúfū dào le táolín jìntóu, kànjiàn yí zuò xiǎoshān.
陶渊明是东晋时期的诗人，擅长描写田园风光。他写过一篇散文《桃花源记》，里面说有个渔夫，在捕鱼的时候迷了路。他沿着一条小溪，一直向前划。不知道船走了多远，突然前面出现一片桃花林，非常漂亮。渔夫到了桃林尽头，看见一座小山。
Tao Yuanming was a poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty who was an expert in describing landscape scenes. He once wrote a prose called The Peach Garden which describes a fisherman getting lost while fishing. In the prose, the fisherman rows along a stream. Not realizing how far he rows, he suddenly comes across a beautiful forest of peach trees. Upon reaching the end of the forest, the fisherman sees a hill.

Tā shàng‘àn chuān guò xiǎoshān, cóng yí gè dòngkǒu chūlái hòu, fāxiàn shān nàbiān yǒu yí gè cūnzhuāng. zhèlǐ tǔdì féiwò, fángwū zhěngqí, rénmen zìyóu xìngfú de shēnghuó zhe. Tā de dàolái jīngdòng le cūn lǐ de rén, tāmen dōu lái kànwàng tā, hái qǐng tā qù jiālǐ zuòkè, zuò hěn fēngshèng de fàncài zhāodài tā.
他上岸穿过小山，从一个洞口出来后，发现山那边有一个村庄。这里土地肥沃，房屋整齐，人们自由幸福地生活着。他的到来惊动了村里的人，他们都来看望他，还请他去家里做客，做很丰盛的饭菜招待他。
He goes ashore and climbs over the hill. When he comes out from a cave, he finds a village on the other side of the hill. The land is fertile and the houses are tidy . People live happily and freely. His arrival alarms the villagers and they all come out to see him, but they invite him into their homes and treat him to delicious food.

Yúfū dézhī, zhèxiē rén de zǔxiān zài Qíncháo mònián (jù dāngshí yǒu 400 duō nián) bì’nàn táo dào zhè gè dìfāng, hòurén yě yì zhí shēnghuó zài zhègè yǔshìgéjué de dìfāng, tāmen yě bùzhīdào xiànzài shì shénme cháodài le.
渔夫得知，这些人的祖先在秦朝末年（距当时有400多年）避难逃到这个地方，后人也一直生活在这个与世隔绝的地方，他们也不知道现在是什么朝代了。
The fisherman learns that the ancestors of these men had taken refuge in this place at the end of the Qin Dynasty (more than 400 years before). The offspring had continued to live in this isolated place, not even knowing what the current dynasty is.

Yúfū zhù le jǐ tiān, jiù líkāi nàlǐ huíjiā le. Tā zài huílái de lùshàng zuò le yì xiē biāojì. Huílái hòu jiù bǎ zhè jiàn shì gàosù le dāngdì de guānyuán. Guānyuán pài rén gēn tā yì qǐ qù zhǎo nàgè cūnzhuāng, kěshì zài yě méiyǒu zhǎodào guò.
渔夫住了几天，就离开那里回家了。他在回来的路上做了一些标记。回来后就把这件事告诉了当地的官员。官员派人跟他一起去找那个村庄，可是再也没有找到过。
The fisherman stays for a few days and then heads back home, making marks along the way. Later he informs the local officials about the place. They send someone to go with him to find the village, but they never find it again.

Hòulái, yóu zhègè gùshì chǎnshēng le “Shìwài Táoyuán” zhègè chéngyǔ.
后来，由这个故事产生了“世外桃源”这个成语。
This story later gave rise to the idiom “世外桃源”.
Words：
东晋(Dōngjìn)： n. the East Jin Dynasty
擅长(shàncháng)： a. be good at
渔夫(yúfū)： n. fisherman
肥沃(féiwò)： a. fertile
丰盛(fēngshèng)： a. big(meal)
秦朝(Qíncháo)： n. the Qin Dynasty
避难(bìnàn)： v. to find shelter
与世隔绝(yǔshìgējué)： a. isolated from society
标记(biāojì)： n. mark

Meaning：
“世外桃源”本来指与现实社会隔绝，生活安乐的理想境界。后来也指环境幽静生活安逸的地方。借指一种空想的脱离现实的美好世界。
“世外桃源”originally referred to a utopia, or an ideal state of living peacefully in isolation from real society. Later it also came to refer to a quiet and peaceful place. It can also refer to a fanciful beautiful world.
Sentences：
1.Zhèlǐ kōngqì xīnxiān, shānqīngshuǐxiù, hái néng diàoyú, duì yú chángqī jūzhù zài fánhuá chéngshì lǐ de rén lái shuō, jiù xiàng shì shìwài táoyuán.
这里空气新鲜，山清水秀，还能钓鱼，对于长期居住在繁华城市里的人来说，就像是世外桃源。
The air is fresh, the landscape is picturesque, and people can fish here. This place is like a paradise to people who used to living in bustling cities.

2.Dàxué bú shì shìwài táoyuán, nǐ xūyào gēn hěn duō rén dǎjiāodào, huì yùdào gèzhǒnggèyàng de qíngkuàng.
大学不是世外桃源，你需要跟很多人打交道，会遇到各种各样的情况。
College is no utopia. You need to deal with many people and will run into all kinds of situations.