Series of Excellent Chinese Classical Poetry: Wang Wei (Traditional Characters)

Author: Chen Shu Yuan / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, reminiscing about brothers in Shandong, alone as a stranger in a foreign land, every festive occasion doubles the longing for family. Far away, I know my brothers are climbing high, gazing around with jujube leaves pinned in their hair, but one is missing.
Explanation: Wang Wei showed early talent, composing poetry and writing essays by the age of nine. This poem was written when he was seventeen. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the Double Ninth Festival. Wang Wei lived in Puzhou (now Yongji, Shanxi), east of Mount Hua, hence the title "Reminiscing About Brothers in Shandong." Wang Wei had four younger brothers, and the poem refers to them as "brothers." As a young Wang Wei traveled to Chang'an and Luoyang for studies, he was in Chang'an seeking officialdom when he wrote this poem.
Line-by-line Explanation:
"Alone in a foreign land, a stranger,"
"Every festive occasion doubles the longing for family."
Leaving the homeland where one was born and raised,
and arriving in an unfamiliar place,
one always feels out of place.
In ancient society, the customs, cultures, languages, and lifestyles of different regions varied greatly, and transportation was underdeveloped. Such changes in environment made adaptation even harder, intensifying homesickness. At the age of fifteen, Wang Wei left his hometown to study in the two capitals, seeking advancement. For this ambitious young man, the bustling imperial capital, though attractive, was still a "foreign land" with no kin. The more prosperous and lively the place, the more isolated the traveler seemed in the vast crowd. The poet deeply understood this feeling, hence the repeated use of the word "foreign," adding weight to his words. A single "lonely" character accurately summarizes the poet's state of life at that time: solitary and lonely. On ordinary days, this emotion is submerged in the hustle and bustle. But on festivals, when everyone returns home, the poet has nowhere to go, and his homesickness erupts, unstoppable. The experience of "doubled longing for family on festive occasions" is something every traveler has felt. But before Wang Wei, no one had successfully expressed it so simply yet powerfully in poetry. Once expressed by a poet, it became a classic maxim for expressing homesickness and has been passed down through the ages. Wang Wei was a sensitive and heartfelt poet. After openly expressing his feelings, he began to imagine what his family was doing at that moment.
"Far away, I know my brothers are climbing high,
gazing around with jujube leaves pinned in their hair,
but one is missing."
Jujube is a fragrant plant. In ancient times, there was a custom of climbing high on the Double Ninth Festival, pinning jujube leaves on one's head, said to ward off disasters. The poet imagines his brothers wearing jujube leaves and climbing to the heights of the mountain, looking around, only to realize that one is missing—that is, the poet himself, alone in a foreign land. If the poem had only described his situation as being away from home, unable to join his brothers in climbing high on the Double Ninth, unable to reunite with family, though it could express homesickness, it would have been straightforward and lacked novelty and depth. A skilled poet takes a different approach, shifting the focus from himself to his family in the final two lines, pulling the scene from Chang'an back to his hometown. As the brothers climb high and enjoy themselves, they suddenly realize that their eldest brother is not with them, and their joy immediately fades. What regrets the "absent" poet feels is not his inability to spend the festival with his hometown brothers, but rather that his absence prevents his brothers from fully enjoying the joy of the occasion. It seems that his "loneliness in a foreign land" is not worth mentioning, but rather his brothers' lack of fulfillment is what needs to be pitied. From this, we can see how deep the poet's longing for family truly was!
Qing Dynasty scholar Zhang Qianyi once remarked, "Instead of saying I miss them, he says they miss me, adding twice the sorrow." Another of Wang Wei's poems, "Missing You," describes his longing for a friend, with the final two lines, "Encourage you to pick more, this thing is missing you," echoing the sentiment of these lines. In ancient times, officials often stayed far from home, soldiers guarded borders for long periods, or people wandered for extended times, leading to intense homesickness and a wealth of poems expressing it. Wang Wei's short poem differs from his later elegant and beautiful landscape poems—it is straightforward and simple, yet has become a timeless classic. Since this poem was born, every traveler far from home has instinctively recited it on festive occasions, using it to alleviate their homesickness.
P15-18