Literally, the idiom “xian yue ye he” means “free clouds and wild crane”. It is not a meaningless idiom. It refers to the people who live a quite free life and have no other concerns and worries except his or her own life.

In ancient times, there were many famous people who did not get a successful life in the earthly life, such as they can not be appreciated by the leader as a government official or even be punished by the government cruelly. But they have a great talent in literature creations and expect to live a free life as described in their literature works. So they decided to withdraw from society and live in solitude. Most of them would choose to live in a countryside to live a life of “xian yue ye he”, and plant foods and create works.

Tao Xuanming (365-427), one of the greatest poets in China, was a noted recluse. He retired to a farming village south of Yangtze River. Despite the hardships of a farmer’s life and frequent food shortages, he was contented, writing poetry, cultivating the chrysanthemums that became inseparably associated with his poetry, and drinking wine, also a common subject of his verse. The life style of “xian yue ye he” is still a wish for many modern people.