1. Keeping separate wives
Su Wu in the Han Dynasty
We became husband and wife, and there was no doubt about their love.
Happiness is on this evening, and it is a good time.
On a long journey, what will happen when you look up at night?
The ginseng and dust are all gone. I will say goodbye now.
We are on the battlefield, but we haven’t seen each other for a long time.
We shook hands and sighed, crying to make a living.
Love Chunhua with all your strength, and don’t forget the happy times.
Life is a time of coming back, and death is a time of longing.
Translation: Once I become husband and wife with you, I will never doubt that I will be in love with you until we grow old. I am in love with you and am intoxicated with the happiness tonight. What a wonderful time! But tomorrow I will travel for my country and I have to get up to see when it is dawn. When the stars disappear in the horizon, I have to say goodbye to you, because I have to go to the battlefield and I don’t know when I will be reunited with you.
It is also happy to hold hands with you reluctantly for a long time. We shed tears involuntarily because this may be the last time you and I meet in this life. I cherish every moment of happiness now. I will never forget such a happy and joyful time falling in love with you. If I am lucky enough to live, I will definitely come back to you. If I unfortunately die, I will miss you forever...
2. Bu Suanzi·I live at the head of the Yangtze River
Li Zhiyi of the Song Dynasty
I live at the head of the Yangtze River, Jun Live at the end of the Yangtze River.
I miss you every day without seeing you, and drink water from the Yangtze River.
When will this water stop, and when will this hatred end?
I only hope that your heart will be like mine, and I will live up to my love for you.
Translation: I live in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and you live at the bottom of the Yangtze River. I miss you day and night, but I can't see you, but we drink the water of the Yangtze River together. When will the endless river dry up, and when will the bitter hatred of separation cease. I only hope that your heart will stay as strong as mine, and you will not let down my infatuated love.
3. Shangxie
Han Dynasty Anonymous
Shangxie! I want to know you and live a long life.
The mountains have no mausoleums, the rivers are exhausted, and the winter thunder shakes.
Xia Yuxue, heaven and earth are in harmony, so I dare to be with you!
Translation: Oh God! I long to know and cherish you, and my heart will never fade away. Unless the towering mountains disappear, unless the surging rivers dry up. Unless the thunder rolls in the cold winter, unless the snow falls in the scorching heat, and unless the heaven and earth intersect and connect, I will not dare to abandon my love for you!
4. Baitou Yin
Zhuo Wenjun of Han Dynasty
It is as white as snow on the mountain and as bright as the moon among the clouds.
I heard that you had two opinions, so I came to resolve it.
Today’s drinking party, Mingdangou Shuitou.
The ducks are dancing on the ditch, and the ditch water flows east and west.
Desolate and miserable, there is no need to cry when getting married.
I wish to have the person of my heart and stay together forever.
Why are the bamboo poles curling up, and the fish tails are so sticky!
A man cares about his spirit, why use money and a knife!
Translation: Love should be as pure as the snow on the mountain and as bright as the moon among the clouds. I heard that you have second thoughts, so I came to break up with you. Today is like the last reunion, and we will part ways in Goutou tomorrow. I moved my steps slowly along the ditch. My past life was like water flowing eastward, gone forever. Crying miserably, I decided to leave home and follow you, unlike other girls who cry miserably.
I thought that if I married a sweetheart who was affectionate and devoted, I could fall in love and be happy forever. The love between a man and a woman is as light and long as a fishing rod, and the fish is as lively and cute! Men should put affection first. The loss of sincere love cannot be compensated by any money or treasure.
5. Traveling alone in Qujiang in late autumn
Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty
When the lotus leaves are growing, spring hates them, and when the lotus leaves wither, autumn hates them.
Knowing that the love will always be there, I look at the sound of the river at the head of the river.
Translation: When the lotus leaves first grow, the hatred of spring has already arisen. When the lotus leaves wither, autumn resentment comes again. I deeply know that as long as we are alive in this world, our love will last forever. How melancholy, only the sound of the endless river water.