我住长江头

我住長江頭

wǒzhùchángjiāngtóu

phrase

Meanings

1 I live at the head of the Yangtze
2 opening of Li Zhiyi's ci: the lovers live on the same river but separated by its length
3 canonical image of long-distance longing

Characters

Examples

我住长江头，君住长江尾，日日思君不见君。

Wǒ zhù Cháng Jiāng tóu, jūn zhù Cháng Jiāng wěi, rì rì sī jūn bù jiàn jūn.

I live at the head of the Yangtze, you at its mouth — day after day I think of you but cannot see you.

他写信给她：我住长江头，你住长江尾，共饮一江水。

Tā xiě xìn gěi tā: wǒ zhù Cháng Jiāng tóu, nǐ zhù Cháng Jiāng wěi, gòng yǐn yì jiāng shuǐ.

He wrote to her: 'I live at the Yangtze's head, you at its mouth — we drink from the same river.'

Tips

history

From Li Zhiyi's (李之仪, Northern Song dynasty) 《卜算子·我住长江头》: 我住长江头，君住长江尾。日日思君不见君，共饮长江水 — 'I live at the head of the Yangtze, you at its mouth; day after day I think of you and cannot see you, yet we drink from the same river.' One of the most-quoted short ci of longing in Chinese.

usage

头 (tóu) 'head' here means 'upper reaches' of the river (upstream), 尾 (wěi) 'tail' means lower reaches (downstream). The couplet is routinely quoted today about long-distance relationships, especially between Sichuan/Chongqing (upstream) and the lower Yangtze cities (Nanjing, Shanghai).

Stroke Order

我 wǒ

住 zhù

长 cháng

江 jiāng

头 tóu