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不辞长作岭南人

不辭長作嶺南人
bùcíchángzuòLǐngnánrén
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 I wouldn't mind being a Lingnan man for life
  2. 2 I would gladly settle in the south for good
  3. 3 (lit.) not decline to long be a Lingnan person

Examples

这儿的荔枝这么甜，真是不辞长作岭南人。
Zhèr de lìzhī zhème tián, zhēn shì bù cí cháng zuò Lǐngnán rén.
The lychees here are so sweet — I really wouldn't mind being a Lingnan man for life.
他爱上广东菜，扬言不辞长作岭南人。
Tā ài shàng Guǎngdōng cài, yángyán bù cí cháng zuò Lǐngnán rén.
He fell in love with Cantonese food and declared he'd gladly live in the south forever.

Tips

history
From Su Shi's (苏轼) Song-dynasty poem 《惠州一绝 / 食荔枝》 (Quatrain at Huizhou / Eating Lychees). Full quatrain: 『罗浮山下四时春，卢橘杨梅次第新。日啖荔枝三百颗，不辞长作岭南人』— 'at the foot of Luofu Mountain, four seasons of spring; kumquats and bayberries ripen in turn. Eating three hundred lychees a day, I wouldn't mind being a Lingnan man forever.' Su wrote it while exiled to Huizhou in 1094, making wit out of political disgrace.
usage
Lingnan (岭南) = 'south of the ranges' = roughly modern Guangdong and Guangxi. In Su Shi's time this was a harsh place of exile; his line gently mocks that by saying the lychees alone make the banishment worthwhile. Often quoted as a foodie's declaration of love for the south.

Stroke Order

不 bù
辞 cí
长 cháng
作 zuò
岭 lǐng
南 nán
人 rén