Dú dào shí nián shēng sǐ liǎng mángmáng, wǒ xīn lǐ yí zhèn suānchǔ.
Reading 'ten years — life and death both lost in vastness,' a pang of sorrow went through me.
Tips
history
The opening line of Su Shi's (苏轼) ci 《江城子·乙卯正月二十日夜记梦》, written in 1075 on the tenth anniversary of his first wife Wang Fu's (王弗) death: 十年生死两茫茫，不思量，自难忘。千里孤坟，无处话凄凉。 — 'Ten years — living and dead both lost in vastness. I try not to dwell on it, yet cannot forget. Her solitary grave a thousand li away — nowhere to voice my desolation.' Often called the most moving elegy in the ci tradition.
usage
One of the most quoted lines on bereavement in Chinese. 茫茫 = vast, vague, indistinct. Used in obituaries, anniversaries, and literary allusions to long grief.
