梦里不知身是客

夢裡不知身是客

mèng lǐ bù zhī shēn shì kè

quotation

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 mènglǐbùzhīshēnshìkè.

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 mènglǐbùzhīshēnshìkè, xǐnglái gèng tiān chóu chàng.

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