梦里不知身是客

夢裡不知身是客

mènglǐbùzhīshēnshìkè

phrase

Meanings

1 in my dream I forgot I was a stranger / prisoner
2 (fig.) only in sleep can an exile forget his fallen fate; a brief, aching solace
3 (lit.) in dream not know (my) self is a guest

Characters

guest / stranger / exile

Examples

他多年漂泊异乡，常常是梦里不知身是客。

Tā duōnián piāobó yìxiāng, chángcháng shì mèng lǐ bù zhī shēn shì kè.

Drifting in a foreign land for years, he often 'in dreams forgot he was a stranger there.'

看到从前的照片，一时梦里不知身是客，醒来更添惆怅。

Kàndào cóngqián de zhàopiàn, yīshí mèng lǐ bù zhī shēn shì kè, xǐng lái gèng tiān chóuchàng.

Seeing old photos, he briefly 'forgot in dream that he was an exile'; waking only deepened the melancholy.

Tips

history

From 李煜《浪淘沙·帘外雨潺潺》(Li Yu, 'Lang Tao Sha: Beyond the Blind, the Rain Patters,' late Southern Tang, c. 978 CE): 帘外雨潺潺，春意阑珊...梦里不知身是客，一晌贪欢 (Beyond the blind, rain patters; spring is waning... In dream I forgot I was a stranger — one brief stretch of stolen joy). Li Yu wrote it in captivity in the Song capital after his kingdom fell; he was poisoned shortly after. One of the most piercing lines of Chinese lyric poetry.

usage

Often paired with 一晌贪欢 ('one brief spell of stolen joy'). Modern usage: nostalgia, exile, displacement; any moment of sweet forgetting that reality snaps back on.

Stroke Order

梦 mèng

里 lǐ

不 bù

知 zhī

身 shēn

是 shì

客 kè