只在此山中

zhǐzàicǐshānzhōng

phrase

Meanings

1 he is just somewhere in these mountains
2 nearby yet impossible to find — the Daoist recluse's disappearance

Characters

Examples

你问他在哪儿？大概只在此山中，云深不知处。

Nǐ wèn tā zài nǎr? Dàgài zhǐ zài cǐ shān zhōng, yún shēn bù zhī chù.

You ask where he is? Probably somewhere in these mountains — cloud-deep, who knows.

那人退隐多年，朋友们说只在此山中。

Nà rén tuìyǐn duō nián, péngyǒu men shuō zhǐ zài cǐ shān zhōng.

That person retired years ago; friends just say 'he's somewhere in the mountains.'

Tips

history

From 贾岛 Jia Dao (Tang) 《寻隐者不遇》: 只在此山中，云深不知处 — 'he's just somewhere in this mountain; the clouds are deep, I don't know where.' The child replies to the poet who came looking for the hermit master.

usage

Almost always quoted with 云深不知处. The tiny 20-character poem is one of the most-recited Tang poems; both halves have become proverbial for 'close but unreachable.'

Stroke Order

只 zhǐ

在 zài

此 cǐ

山 shān

中 zhōng