history
From 宋之问's Early-Tang poem 《渡汉江》 (Crossing the Han River): 岭外音书断,经冬复历春。近乡情更怯,不敢问来人 - 'Beyond the mountains, letters were cut off; a winter passed, then spring. As home draws near my heart grows more fearful - I dare not ask the travelers I meet.' Written after long exile south of the Nanling range, with the poet terrified of what news of his family he might hear.