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今夜月明人尽望

今夜月明人盡望
jīnyèyuèmíngrénjìnwàng
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 tonight the moon is bright and everyone gazes up
  2. 2 (fig.) the shared longing of all who look at the same Mid-Autumn moon
  3. 3 (lit.) tonight moon-bright people all gaze

Examples

今夜月明人尽望，不知秋思落谁家，王建此句写尽中秋思念。
Jīnyè yuè míng rén jìn wàng, bùzhī qiū sī luò shuí jiā, Wáng Jiàn cǐ jù xiě jìn Zhōngqiū sīniàn.
'Tonight the moon is bright and everyone gazes up — who knows into whose home the autumn longing will fall?' — Wang Jian says all that needs saying about Mid-Autumn.
中秋夜群发短信，最合适引用的就是今夜月明人尽望。
Zhōngqiū yè qún fā duǎnxìn, zuì héshì yǐnyòng de jiù shì jīnyè yuè míng rén jìn wàng.
For Mid-Autumn group texts, no line suits better than 'tonight the moon is bright and everyone gazes up.'

Tips

history
From 王建《十五夜望月寄杜郎中》(Wang Jian, mid-Tang, late 8th–early 9th c.), a Mid-Autumn quatrain sent to his friend Official Du: 中庭地白树栖鸦，冷露无声湿桂花。今夜月明人尽望，不知秋思落谁家 (In the courtyard, earth pale, crows perch in trees; cold dew, soundless, wets the cassia flowers. Tonight the moon is bright and all people gaze — who knows into whose home the autumn longing will fall?). A beloved Mid-Autumn poem for its collective 'everyone is looking up.'
usage
Always paired with 不知秋思落谁家 — the couplet is the poem's emotional turn. 尽 here = 'all / exhaustively' (everyone, without exception), a classical usage.

Stroke Order

今 jīn
夜 yè
月 yuè
明 míng
人 rén
尽 jǐn
望 wàng