The meaning of "I am thinking about something far away" - the person I miss is far away.

Source of the work

It comes from three chapters of "The High Mountain" by Zhang Yuniang, a female poet in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Original text of the work

Three chapters of "The Mountain is High"

[Song Dynasty] Zhang Yuniang?

The mountain is high and the moonrise is small. The moon is so small, so bright! I have something to think about far away, and my heart is quiet when I don't see him for a day.

Collecting bitterness, gathering bitterness, in the south of the mountain. How embarrassing it is to be worried!

Your heart is as strong as gold and stone, but I am as pure as ice and snow. The alliance that was suspected to last for a hundred years suddenly became a one-day separation. Morning clouds, dusk and rain come and go, and I miss the bright moon for thousands of miles.

Translation of the work

The height of the mountain makes the quietly rising moon appear smaller. Although the rising moon looks small, it is so bright. The person I miss is far away. I can't see him for a day, and my heart is very lonely.

Gather bitter herbs on the south side of the mountains. I am so sad, how can I bear this feeling of longing?

Your will is as hard as gold and stone, and my sentiments are as pure as ice. We were ready to enter into a long-lasting alliance, but suddenly we parted ways, and the feeling of longing was like the clouds and rain in the morning and evening, rolling back and forth in our hearts, and we could only face the same bright moon for our longing for each other for thousands of miles.

Notes on the work

The two sentences of "Moon is Small": can be quoted from "Nineteen Ancient Poems": "The faraway Altair star, the bright and clear river Han woman".

Not seeing you for a day: a quote from "The Book of Songs·Wang Feng·Cai Zhou": "Not seeing you for a day is like three autumns." The heart is quiet: a quote from "The Book of Songs·Beifeng·Bo Zhou": "Worry Quietly, irritated by the crowd. "Quietly, with a worried look.

The sentence "picking bitterness": It is quoted from "The Book of Songs·Tang Feng·Cailing": "picking bitterness, picking bitterness, under the first yang." Bitterness means tea and bitter vegetables.

The sentence "chōng 忡": a reference to "The Book of Songs·Zhaonan·CaoChong": "I have not seen a gentleman, so I am worried."

The two sentences "Ru Xin": meaning It is said that the love between the two is as solid as gold and stone, and their integrity is as white as ice and snow.

The sentence "Chao (zhāo) clouds" is adapted from Song Yu's "Gaotang Fu": "I am in the sun of Wushan Mountain, blocked by high hills, and there are morning clouds in the morning and rain in the evening."

The sentence "Thousands of Miles": adapted from Su Shi's "Shui Tiao Ge Tou·Mid-Autumn Festival" meaning "Thousands of Miles to the Moon".

Creative background

"The Highest Three Chapters of the Mountain" was written by Zhang Yuniang because she missed Shen Quan. Zhang Yuniang and Shen Quan were childhood sweethearts. Shen Quan traveled to Beijing with his uncle for three years to study and take the exam. The pain of lovesickness caused by this deeply tortured Zhang Yuniang, so she wrote many poems to express her lovesickness, including: There is "The High Three Chapters of the Mountain".

Appreciation of the work

This poem has one to three chapters, using Bixing techniques to express the poet's lovesickness and sorrow, and to show the poet's loyalty to love. The first chapter first describes the scene, and then the scene and the people, expressing the passionate nostalgia and sorrowful emotions of the passionate woman under the moonlight; the second chapter describes the scene of picking bitter herbs, showing the pain of lovesickness and the worry about love; the last chapter uses allusions to further express the poet The persistent pursuit of a beautiful marriage reveals the theme of the poem. The whole poem has a clear context, compact structure, poignant rhymes, deep feelings in the ordinary, and is extremely artistically charming.

The first chapter expresses the heroine's longing for love. The use of Bixing here is very innovative and natural. The mountain peaks stand tall and tall, and the valley is bright and clear when the moon rises. From the scenery to the people, the heroine longs for her beloved who is blocked by mountains and cannot be seen, which makes her infinitely sad. Worrying quietly, it describes the passionate nostalgia and sorrowful emotions of a passionate woman under the moonlight. When Ouyang Xuan of the Yuan Dynasty read this, he couldn't help but marvel that it was comparable to "Zhaonan·Cao Chong".

The second chapter describes the scene of the heroine gathering bitter herbs. The poet looked around at the mountains full of bitter herbs, and saw all the sad things, which made him sad. Little did he know that people were suffering even more than the bitter herbs at this time. The phrase "worried" expresses the anxious and uneasy mood of the female poet.

The third chapter is the voice of young men and women to be loyal to love, their persistent pursuit of a beautiful marriage, and their heartfelt confession. "Gold and stone are strong", "Ice and snow are pure", trustworthy, heart-to-heart, and never change their hearts. They truly reveal the love affair of "thousands of miles longing for each other" and concentratedly express the poet's deep loyalty to love. The sentence "My heart comes and goes in the morning and evening" uses allusions to further express the heart-to-heart feelings with your lover. The last line, "Thousands of miles longing for the bright moon" reveals the theme of the whole poem.

The whole poem has three chapters, each chapter changes rhyme, the context is clear, the structure is compact, the rhyme is poignant, the harmony and grace of the phonetics make this poem full of charm, and the clever use of words such as "mountain and bright moon" makes the poem full of charm. Deep emotion can be seen in the ordinary, and it has great artistic charm.

About the author

Zhang Yuniang, also known as Ruoqiong, was a native of Songyang, Zhejiang Province. Female poet of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Born from a family of officials. She has been extremely intelligent since she was a child. She is a popular working girl, loves reading, and has a memory that can be remembered forever. He was good at poetry, and people at that time compared him to Ban Zhao of Han Dynasty. Jizhen's parents decided to make an engagement with Shen Quan. Later, the Shen family fell into decline and Zhang's father regretted their marriage. However, Yuniang vowed to love Shen Quan for the rest of her life. In the seventh year of Xianchun (1271), Shen Quan traveled to the capital with his father to take the examination, and won the second place. Unfortunately, he fell ill and died. Zhang Yuniang was constantly sad and depressed all day long, so much so that "blood flowed under the tent".

On the night of the Lantern Festival in the second year of Jingyan (1277), Yu Niang drove to greet her while she was in a dream. When she woke up, she was so sad that she sighed, "Have you given up on me?" Then she fell ill and died without eating for half a month.

She has been well-educated since she was a child, has extraordinary intelligence, and is particularly talented in poetry. Together with Li Qingzhao, Zhu Shuzhen and Wu Shuji, she is known as one of the "four major female poets of the Song Dynasty".