1. Returning the pearl to the king sheds tears. I wish we could meet each other before we were married. It means: I have returned the pearl you gave me. I can’t help but shed tears one by one. I’m so sorry. Hate it! I hate that we didn’t meet when I was still married.
This sentence is often used to say that even if the love is deep, the relationship is shallow. When we met, we couldn't help ourselves. We met too late. When we got to know each other, there was already someone else beside the other person. People feel sad.
2. This poem comes from "The Song of a Chaste Woman" written by Zhang Ji in the Tang Dynasty. The full text is as follows:
You know that I have a husband, so you give me a pair of pearls.
I feel your lingering affection, tied in a red lining.
The high-rise buildings of my concubine's house are connected to the garden, and my beloved man is holding a halberd in the bright light.
I know that my heart is like the sun and the moon, and my husband's vows are as important as life and death.
Huanjun Mingzhu sheds tears, wishing we had met before she was married.
Vernacular interpretation:
You knew that I was married, but you still gave me a pair of pearls. Touched by your lingering love, I often tie the pearl on my red skirt. The high-rise building in my house is connected to the royal garden, and my husband is also on duty in the palace. Although I know that your sincerity is as bright and unobstructed as the bright moon, I have also vowed to live and die with my husband through thick and thin. I can't help but shed tears when I return your twin pearls. How I hate it! I hate that we didn’t meet when I was still married.
Extended information
"Returning the king's pearls shed tears, wishing we could meet again when we were not married." The original poem was about the loyalty and chastity of a chaste woman, but modern times like to use the phrase "returning the king's pearls To say goodbye to the inseparable feelings of "tears", we use "I wish we could meet each other before we were married" to express regret for the people of the opposite sex we admire when they are married, and we hate to meet each other too late.
The poem uses Bixing techniques throughout to euphemistically express one's attitude. On the surface, it is completely a romantic poem expressing the love affairs between men and women, but at its core, it is a political lyric poem, titled "The Song of a Chaste Woman", which is used to express aspirations and implicitly express the poet's political stance.
The "double pearls" mentioned in the poem are the price used by Li Shidao to win over and lure the author to help him. After careful consideration, the author politely rejected the other party's request, just like a chaste woman keeping her virginity. He maintained his solemn stance. But at that time, Li Shidao was a popular high-ranking official in the feudal town, and the author did not want to offend or embarrass him, so he wrote this very clever double-layered poem to reject him.
Reference material Baidu Encyclopedia-Jie Fu Yin sent to Master Li Sikong in Dongping