能不忆江南

能不憶江南

néngbùyìjiāngnán

phrase

Meanings

1 how can one not recall Jiangnan?
2 (fig.) deep, rhetorical longing for the beautiful southern country once lived in
3 (lit.) can — not — remember — Jiangnan

Characters

south (江南 = Jiangnan)

Examples

在北方住了多年，每到春天就想起江南，能不忆江南？

Zài běifāng zhùle duō nián, měi dào chūntiān jiù xiǎngqǐ Jiāngnán, néng bù yì Jiāngnán?

After years in the north, every spring brings back thoughts of the south — how can one not recall Jiangnan?

她一提江南二字，我就想起白居易能不忆江南。

Tā yī tí Jiāngnán èr zì, wǒ jiù xiǎngqǐ Bái Jūyì néng bù yì Jiāngnán.

The moment she mentioned Jiangnan, I thought of Bai Juyi's 'how can one not recall Jiangnan?'

Tips

history

Closing line of 白居易《忆江南·其一》 (Bai Juyi, Tang, c. 830s, written long after his service as governor of Hangzhou and Suzhou): 江南好，风景旧曾谙。日出江花红胜火，春来江水绿如蓝。能不忆江南 (Jiangnan is fine — its scenes long familiar. Sunrise — river flowers redder than flame; spring — river waters greener than indigo. How can one not recall Jiangnan?). The ci that fixed 江南 in Chinese letters as the country of homesick longing.

usage

Read as a rhetorical question: 'of course one remembers / how could one forget.' Each of Bai's three 《忆江南》 ci closes with this same line, forming a refrain. 忆 = 'to remember / recall,' stronger than just 想.

Stroke Order

能 néng

不 bù

忆 yì

江 jiāng

南 nán