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Seeing Off the Young Miss of the Yang Family

By Wei Yingwu Tang Dynasty
English Poetic Translation
The dragging day is full of heavy grief,
I step outside into a vast, blank world.
My daughter leaves today upon her journey,
her light boat stemming the great river's flow.
Bereft of a mother, how much more you need—
my hand upon your head dissolves in pity.
Raised by older hands since she was small,
at this farewell your weeping has no end.
Such parting knots the entrails in my chest;
duty commands her going, she cannot stay.
Lacking a mother's training from her youth,
will she serve well in her new household? Ah,
I trust her now to a distinguished house,
where kindness and goodwill may shield her faults.
Though poverty and thrift are what we prize,
her meager dowry matters not at all.
Be filial, obedient to the woman's path,
let dignity and measure guide your steps.
This parting happens in the morning chill;
when shall I see your face in autumn again?
Alone at home, I try to calm my mind,
but sudden feeling breaks the dam once more.
I turn back in to watch my youngest child—
and straying tears run down my ribbon-strings.
Classical Chinese & Pinyin
永日方慼慼，出門復悠悠。
女子今有行，大江泝輕舟。
爾輩況無恃，撫念益慈柔。
幼爲長所育，兩別泣不休。
對此結中腸，義往難復留。
自小闕內訓，事姑貽我憂。
賴茲託令門，仁恤庶無尤。
貧儉誠所尚，資從豈待周。
孝恭遵婦道，容止順其猷。
別離在今晨，見爾當何秋。
居閑始自遣，臨感忽難收。
歸來視幼女，零淚緣纓流。
yǒng rì fāng qī qī,
chū mén fù yōu yōu.
nǚ zǐ jīn yǒu xíng,
dà jiāng sù qīng zhōu.
ěr bèi kuàng wú shì,
fǔ niàn yì cí róu.
yòu wéi zhǎng suǒ yù,
liǎng bié qì bù xiū.
duí cǐ jié zhōng cháng,
yì wǎng nán fù liú.
zì xiǎo quē nèi xùn,
shì gū yí wǒ yōu.
lài zī tuō lìng mén,
rén xù shù wú yóu.
pín jiǎn chéng suǒ shàng,
zī cóng qǐ dài zhōu.
xiào gōng zūn fù dào,
róng zhǐ shùn qí yóu.
bié lí zài jīn chén,
jiàn ěr dāng hé qiū.
jū xián shǐ zì qiǎn,
lín gǎn hū nán shōu.
gūi lái shì yòu nǚ,
líng lèi yuán yīng liú.
Philological Direct Translation
Long day just sorrowful and sad,
stepping out the door again wandering and vast.
The daughter today is going on her journey,
on the great river sailing upstream in a light boat.
You all moreover having no mother,
stroking and reflecting my thoughts become more tender and gentle.
Since childhood nurtured by elder siblings,
at parting both weeping without cease.
Facing this choking my innermost entrails,
righteousness dictates departure, hard to stay any longer.
Since youth lacking internal maternal instruction,
serving parents-in-law bequeaths my worry.
Depending on this entrusting to a noble gate,
benevolent compassion hopefully without blame.
Poverty and frugality indeed are what is valued,
dowry and attendants how could they need to be complete?
Filial and respectful obey the womanly way,
deportment and bearing follow their proper norm.
Parting and separation are this very morning,
seeing you again, in what autumn will that be?
Dwelling in leisure beginning to distract myself,
facing emotion suddenly hard to gather in.
Returning home I look at the younger daughter,
scattered tears flow down along my cap strings.
Scholarly Exegesis & Cultural Commentary

I. Formal Poetic Architecture & Meter

This masterpiece is composed in Five-Character Old Verse, unconstrained by the strict tonal regulations and parallel restrictions of later regulated verse. It allows a fluid, narrative flow that matches the psychological unfolding of paternal grief. The poem is cast in rhyming couplets featuring level-tone rhymes that shift subtly to match the emotional modulations, creating an acoustic resonance of solemnity and sorrow.

II. Historical Chronology & Existential Impulse

Written during the mid-Tang Dynasty, the poem reflects the personal life of the poet Wei Yingwu, who served as a local magistrate and official. Known for his austere character and deep sensitivity, Wei experienced domestic sorrow, including the loss of his wife, leaving him to raise his children amidst financial constraints. This departure of his eldest daughter for her marital home is not merely a domestic rite of passage but an existential confrontation with isolation, mortality, and the heavy burden of single parenthood.

III. Line-by-Line Exegesis & Allusion Decoding

The poem traces a psychological journey from the initial physical departure to the quiet, devastating aftermath within the empty halls of the family estate.

  • Lines 1-2 (Opening Couplet): Line 1 ("The dragging day is full of heavy grief") and Line 2 establish an immediate atmosphere of lingering melancholy, where time stretches endlessly and spatial movement offers no relief.
  • Lines 3-4 (First Antithetical Turn): Line 3 ("My daughter leaves today upon her journey") and Line 4 introduce the physical pivot of the poem, contrasting the vulnerable traveler against the vast, indifferent current of the great river.
  • Lines 5-6 (Second Antithetical Turn / Climax): Line 5 ("Bereft of a mother, how much more you need") and Line 6 lay bare the family tragedy of maternal loss, intensifying the poet's tender solicitude.
  • Closing Lines (Resolving Couplet): The concluding lines ("I turn back in to watch my youngest child— / and straying tears run down my ribbon-strings") provide a devastating domestic close, moving from the public farewell back into the private interior where grief overtakes the father entirely.

IV. Cultural Symbolism & Key Metaphors

The poem is rich in traditional Confucian and domestic motifs that underscore ancient social structures.

  • The Departure Boat: Symbolizes the inevitable transition of daughters leaving their natal family to merge into the lineage of strangers, representing both social continuity and emotional rupture.
  • Cap Strings and Tears: The final image of tears flowing down the cap strings (Line 24) draws upon classical tropes of uncontainable grief, marking the complete breakdown of formal bureaucratic composure under the weight of personal sorrow.

V. Philosophical Core & Global Resonance

The work bridges Confucian ethics of family duty, parental responsibility, and ritual propriety with a profound, universal Daoist-inflected acceptance of human vulnerability. Wei Yingwu does not rail against fate; rather, he documents the quiet, agonizing beauty of familial love enduring across separation. It remains a timeless monument to paternal devotion, resonating across cultures for its raw psychological truth and emotional dignity.

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