九月九日忆山东兄弟九月九日憶山東兄弟
dú独zài在yì xiāng异乡wéi为yì异kè客，
měi féng每逢jiā jié佳节bèi倍sī qīn思亲。
yáo遥zhī知xiōng dì兄弟dēng登gāo chù高处，
biàn遍chā插zhū yú茱萸shǎo少yī一rén人。
Line by line
- 独在异乡为异客，獨在異鄉為異客， Alone, a stranger in a strange land,
- 每逢佳节倍思亲。每逢佳節倍思親。 at every festival I miss my family more.
- 遥知兄弟登高处，遙知兄弟登高處， From afar I know my brothers climb the heights,
- 遍插茱萸少一人。 each wearing dogwood — with one of them missing.
The poet & the story
Wang Wei wrote this at just seventeen, alone in the capital Chang’an while his family remained east of the mountains. On the Double Ninth festival (the ninth day of the ninth month), families climbed hills and wore sprigs of dogwood (茱萸) to ward off misfortune — which is exactly what his brothers are doing without him.
Interpretation
A stranger alone in a strange land, he misses his family doubly at every festival. He pictures his brothers climbing the heights, each wearing dogwood — and one person missing. The second line, 每逢佳節倍思親, is quoted at every Mid-Autumn and New Year by Chinese people far from home; it may be the most-used line of poetry in the language.