Book 1 Chapter 1

Book 1 Chapter 1: Life is Short Like a Temporary Stay

Origin of the Chapter's Title
The title 人生忽如寄 (rén shēng hū rú jì) is a line from the 13th poem, I Ride My Chariot from the Upper East Gate, of Nineteen Old Poems, an anthology of poems collected in the Han Dynasty.

人生忽如寄 is one of the only two chapter titles, the other one being Book 1 Chapter 3, which is also from Nineteen Old Poems, that are not from Classic of Poetry nor the Song Dynasty in Book 1.

Various translations of 人生忽如寄:


 * Life is Short Like a Temporary Stay.


 * Man's life is brief as a sojourn.


 * The life of men is but a brief residence.

Full English translations of the poem can be found on EastAsiaStudent and Shigeku.