Bai Juyi Quotes

Bai Juyi , courtesy name Letian , was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as governor of three different provinces.

Bai was also influential in the historical development of Japanese literature. His younger brother Bai Xingjian was a short story writer.

Among his most famous works are the long narrative poems "Chang hen ge" , which tells the story of Yang Guifei, and "The Song of the Pipa Player". Wikipedia  

✵ 28. February 772 – 23. September 846
Bai Juyi photo
Bai Juyi: 12   quotes 0   likes

Famous Bai Juyi Quotes

“…That we wished to fly in heaven, two birds with the wings of one,
And to grow together on the earth, two branches of one tree.
Earth endures, heaven endures; some time both shall end,
While this unending sorrow goes on and on for ever.”

在天願作比翼鳥
在地願為連理枝
天長地久有時盡
此恨綿綿無絶期
The last four lines.
"A Song of Unending Sorrow"

“And, because she so illumined and glorified her clan,
She brought to every father, every mother through the empire,
Happiness when a girl was born rather than a boy.”

可憐光彩生門戸
遂令天下父母心
不重生男重生女
"A Song of Unending Sorrow"

“I lay my harp on the curved table,
Sitting there idly, filled only with emotions.
Why should I trouble to play?
A breeze will come and sweep the strings.”

"The Harp", in The White Pony: An Anthology Of Chinese Poetry (1949), ed. Robert Payne, p. 220

“[Bai Juyi] utilized Confucianism to order his conduct, utilized Buddhism to cleanse his mind, and then utilized history, paintings, mountains, rivers, wine, music and song to soothe his spirit.”

Composition for his own tomb inscription, as quoted in Lin Yutang's The Importance of Living (1940), p. 411

“…It was early spring. They bathed her in the Flower-Pure Pool,
Which warmed and smoothed the creamy-tinted crystal of her skin”

春寒賜浴華清池
温泉水滑洗凝脂
"A Song of Unending Sorrow"

Bai Juyi Quotes about joy

“I remember, when I was young,
How easily my mood changed from sad to gay.
… But now that age comes,
A moment of joy is harder and harder to get.”

"The Chrysanthemums in the Eastern Garden" (A.D. 812)
Arthur Waley's translations

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