My heart was set on returning to the Tang, yet destiny cast me into the hands of the barbarians. To cling to l…
My heart was set on returning to the Tang, yet destiny cast me into the hands of the barbarians. To cling to life, I shed my very self: my Han robes for their furs, my native tongue for silence, my own name for that of my wife.
Woe is me! When will you arrive? When will be my homecoming?
The yearning for my lost country, the fealty to my comrades—by this mark upon my arm I have sworn an oath. It will not be forgotten, not even in death.