China Underground > China History Images > If you’ve a friend who knows your heart, Distance can’t keep you two apart. Wang Bo

If you’ve a friend who knows your heart, Distance can’t keep you two apart. Wang Bo

Last Updated on 2021/10/24

Origin: “Farewell to Perfect Du” (许渊冲大师翻译), in Song of the Immortals: An Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry, trans. Yuanchong Xu (Penguin Books, 1994), p. 37.

海内存知己,
天涯若比邻。
Hai nei cun zhi ji,
Tian ya ruo bi lin.

If you’ve a friend who knows your heart,
Distance can’t keep you two apart.

“The Prince’s Anji” (王子安集) is a collection of poems written by Wang Bo (王勃, 650–676), a poet of the Tang Dynasty. He died at the age of 26, possibly from drowning, while going to Jiaozhi to meet his father. He advocated a style rich in emotions.

You leave the town walled far and wide,
For mid-veiled land by riverside.
I feel on parting sad and drear,
For both of us are strangers here.
If you have friends who know your heart,
Distance cannot keep you apart.
At crossroads where we bid adieu,
Do not shed tears as women do!

初唐四杰 王勃 杨炯 卢照邻 骆宾王

城阙辅三秦
风烟望五津
与君离别意
同是宦游人
海内存知己
天涯若比邻
无为在歧路
儿女共沾巾

in 《王子安集》

Featured image: Landscape by Xiang Shengmo 項聖謨 (1597-1658)
Source: Jianshu

Post Author

Previous

Interview with Isaac Cheng, vice-chairman of Demosistō: the Hong Kong government must respond to the five demands

Google to move the production of most of its American-bound hardware out of China

Next

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.