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17
An Ancient Tale of Separation, Longing and
Loss: “Chang’an Memories” Revisited
In an epic poem that marks the passage of time with the changing of the seasons,
Li Bai, the celebrated Chinese poet, describes the union of a young teenage couple
amidst the great bucolic splendor of historic Chang’an county.
In this vintage poem, “Chang’an Memories”, Li Bai speaks through the voice of a
beautiful young woman, yearning for her distant lover. In a brilliant description of
heart wrenching adolescent emotion, he writes,
You should not have risked the dangerous floods that come in May.
And now as the sad monkeys cry in the sky, my pacing has left a mark before the gate.
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An Ancient Tale of Separation, Longing and Loss:
“Chang’an Memories” Revisited
And as leaves fall in early autumn winds; in August the butterflies are yellow.
A pair of them flies over the grass in the western garden. I feel that they are damaging
my heart.
When you come down the river, send a letter to to your home.
We’ll go to meet each other however far.
In a bittersweet story of a young girls’ adolescence, this poem demonstrates the poets’
great ability to describe the kind of deep genuine emotion that can cut straight to the
bone.
Brimming with playful heartfelt imagery and filled with rugged rustic scenes, its real
value may lie in the human drama that may, like the woman in the poem, encourage us
to call into question the foundations upon which our very existence is built.
In a tale that calls to mind the spiritual dimensions of a young womans’ first love, we
find a girl awakened by the opening of her heart and soul. Tragically however, this
wonderful feeling soon begins to fade away.
Overwhelmed by an emptiness that threatens to ravish her very soul, she searches
onward. But her yearning is followed by pain; a tragic mournful loss.
Yet in the end she continues to beckon. But only the poet knows if her true love will
ever come to return.
In a scene in which monkeys are said to be crying in the sky, the young girl is
immersed in her desperate longing and pain. She cries out, but no one can really hear
her.
And little by little the green grass continues to grow. But the moss is now much too
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An Ancient Tale of Separation, Longing and Loss:
“Chang’an Memories” Revisited
In a doleful state of sorrow, the young woman must cope with an array of emotion for
which she has been sadly, quite ill prepared for. Faced with the prospect of a life of
loneliness, racing thoughts and endless ruminations begin to trouble her mind. And
tragically, they begin to take their toll.
The sad mournful woman cries, “ As leaves fall in early autumn winds; in August the
butterflies are yellow.... I feel that they are damaging my heart.”
Yet in a demonstration of hope she looks inward. Hoping to find a dream that will
rekindle her steadfast faith, she says “ When you come to the river send a letter to your
home. We’ll go to meet each other however far.
A Foregone Conclusion
Yet the ultimate fate of our lovely young lady is certainly for us to question.
Or will she be lost in a sea of bitterness, or like the beautiful butterflies, learn to fly
gradually, up above?
..... For only she and the poet, will ever really come to know.
Footnotes:
** a massive pillar faith is a term from a traditional Chinese story. In this story a man
arranged to meet his lover by the pillar of a bridge. When the river waters rose, he
continued to clutch the pillar awaiting her return. Ultimately however he drowned as
he waited.
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