易水歌

The whole song: 风萧萧兮易水寒，壮士一去兮不复还。 'The wind moans, the Yi River is cold; the hero, once gone, will not come back.' 兮 is a sighing particle of old songs, like 'oh'.

history

Prince Dan of Yan and his guests saw 荆轲 off at the river dressed in white, the colour of mourning, while his friend 高渐离 played the zhu, a struck zither. The scene is told in the 战国策 and the 史记. Jing Ke failed and was killed in the Qin palace, and the king lived to become 秦始皇.