故人西辞黄鹤楼

故人西辭黃鶴樓
gù rén xī cí Huánghèlóu
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 my old friend takes leave of me at Yellow Crane Tower, heading west
  2. 2 the opening line of Li Bai's famous farewell poem to Meng Haoran
  3. 3 evokes a bittersweet parting between two poets

Examples

HSK 7-9
Tā yǐnyòng gùrén xī cí Huánghèlóu lái biǎodá sòngbié péngyǒu de bùshě.
He quoted 'my old friend bids farewell westward at Yellow Crane Tower' to express his reluctance at seeing his friend off.
HSK 7-9
Zhàn zài Chángjiāng biān, nǎohǎi lǐ fúxiàn chū gùrén xī cí Huánghèlóu de huàmiàn.
Standing by the Yangtze, the scene of 'my old friend departing westward from Yellow Crane Tower' came to mind.

Tips

history
Opening line of Li Bai's (李白, Tang dynasty) 《黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵》: 故人西辞黄鹤楼,烟花三月下扬州。孤帆远影碧空尽,唯见长江天际流 - Li Bai watching his friend Meng Haoran (孟浩然) sail downriver from Wuchang to Yangzhou in the misty bloom of the third month, until the lone sail vanishes and only the Yangtze is left flowing into the sky.
usage
西辞 literally means 'bid farewell to the west' - Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼) in Wuhan is west of Yangzhou, so Meng's boat heads east; 'westward farewell' is from the departing traveler's perspective. Huánghèlóu is one of the 'Three Great Towers' of southern China.

Stroke Order

rén
西
huáng
lóu