遍插茱萸少一人

biàn chā zhūyú shǎo yì rén

quotation

Meanings

1 all of them wearing cornel sprigs, but one fewer now
2 (fig.) the keenest form of loneliness - to picture family celebrating without you
3 (lit.) everywhere insert zhuyu (cornel), less one person

Characters

遍

biàn

everywhere / all over

插

chā

to insert / stick (a sprig)

half of 茱萸 (茱萸 = Cornus officinalis, worn at Chongyang)

person (少一人 = one fewer person)

Examples

HSK 7-9

重阳节他在海外，想家想到遍插茱萸少一人。

Chóngyángjié tā zài hǎiwài, xiǎng jiā xiǎng dào biàn chā zhūyú shǎo yì rén.

On Chongyang abroad, his homesickness was exactly 'all wearing cornel sprigs - one fewer.'

HSK 7-9

想起去世的父亲，家族聚会总有遍插茱萸少一人的伤感。

Xiǎngqǐ qùshì de fùqīn, jiāzú jùhuì zǒng yǒu biàn chā zhūyú shǎo yì rén de shānggǎn.

Thinking of his late father, every family gathering has that 'everyone wears cornel, one fewer' sadness.

Tips

history

Closing line of Wang Wei's 《九月九日忆山东兄弟》 (On the 9th of the 9th Month, Remembering My Brothers East of the Mountains, written at 17 while studying in Chang'an): 独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲。遥知兄弟登高处，遍插茱萸少一人 (Alone in a strange land, a stranger's stranger; every festival redoubles my longing for kin. Far away I know - my brothers, climbing the heights, all wear cornel sprigs - but one fewer now). 茱萸 (Cornus officinalis) was worn on Chongyang (Double Ninth) Festival to ward off evil. The final image - imagining the scene from which you are absent - is one of the most piercing moments in Chinese poetry.

usage

茱萸 is zhūyú (Japanese cornel / dogwood, a medicinal plant with small red fruits), NOT zhīyú. The line is quoted every Chongyang Festival (9th day of 9th lunar month) and whenever someone is absent from a family gathering.

Stroke Order

遍 biàn

插 chā

茱 zhū

萸 yú

少 shǎo

一 yī

人 rén