These 2 sentences describe how fast time changes and how terrible wars are.
“With a Qin dynasty moon still hanging in the sky,
the invasion-blocking barrier already belongs to (the next dynasty) Han.
Soldiers having gone on a long journey (from their home)
(to defend foreign invasion) still haven’t returned.”
秦 = Qin ( dynasty ), 漢 = Han ( dynasty ), 時 = era, 明月 = moon,
關 = barrier ( for blocking invaders, just like the Great Wall ),
萬里 = tens of thousands of miles = very long distance ( figuratively ),
長征 = go on a long journey ( to defend invasion ),
人 = humans = soldiers ( in this context ), 未還 = not yet return
( from poem 《 出塞 》 by Tang dynasty poet 王昌齡 )
Filed under: poetry | Tagged: barrier, Chinese poem, Chinese quote, defend, dynasty, Han, invasion, moon, poem, Qin, quote, soldiers, war
