The end of the world means: all people who have unfortunate experiences, and all of them are people who are living abroad or have the same experience.
excerpt:
her very first guitar-note had started me sighing, now, having heard her story, I was sadder still.
we are both unhappy -- to the sky's end, we meet. We understand. What does acquaintance matter?!
I came, a year ago, away from the capital, and am now a sick exile here in Jiujiang.
Translation:
I have already shook my head and sighed at the sound of the pipa, and it is even more embarrassing to hear her talk. They are also poor people who are reduced to the end of the world. Why do you ask if you have ever met each other when you meet today? I have been ill since I left the prosperous capital of Chang 'an last year and was demoted to live by Xunyang River.
Origin: Appreciation of Poem Pipa by Bai Juyi in Tang Dynasty
The author revealed his self-image in the emotional waves aroused by the fate of pipa girls. The "I" in "I came, a year ago, away from the capital, and am now a sick exile here in Jiujiang" is the author himself. The author suffered a blow because of his request for benevolent government, and he was demoted from Chang 'an to Jiujiang, feeling very painful. When the pipa girl first played plaintive music and expressed her worries, she had already struck a chord with him and gave a deep sigh.
When the Pipa girl tells her life story and talks about "and sometimes in the deep of night she would dream of her triumphs, and be wakened from her dreams by the scalding of her tears", it arouses her emotion: "we are both unhappy -- to the sky's end, we meet. We understand. What does acquaintance matter?". In the same boat, I spoke in unison, and I couldn't help but tell my own story.