風fēng蕭xiāo蕭xiāo兮xī易Yì水Shuǐ寒hán,，壯zhuàng士shì一yī去qù兮xī不bù復fù還huán

What does 風蕭蕭兮易水寒，壯士一去兮不復還 (fēng xiāo xiāo xī Yì Shuǐ hán, zhuàng shì yī qù xī bù fù huán) mean?

風蕭蕭兮易水寒，壯士一去兮不復還 (fēng xiāo xiāo xī Yì Shuǐ hán, zhuàng shì yī qù xī bù fù huán) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "the wind moans, the Yi River runs cold; the warrior departs and will not return." In use it means: Some missions require total sacrifice; the person who undertakes them knows there is no coming back. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Water note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Tiger.

Literally: "the wind moans, the Yi River runs cold; the warrior departs and will not return."

The reading

He sang this at the river. Everyone who heard it understood: this was a farewell with no counterpart. Some acts of courage are round trips. This one was not. The cold river, the departing figure, the song that stays behind: this is what it looks like when someone decides that the mission matters more than the return.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusLooks back
• Element水 Water
• Zodiac tie虎 Year of the Tiger

Source Records of the Grand Historian 史記, biography of Jing Ke 荊軻

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Courage & Decisive Action, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Tiger, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.