Chinese Poem: 乡愁 Xiangchou (Nostalgia) by 余光中 Yu Guangzhong

By Ling-Ling Lisa Shih
From Ling-LingChinese.com

Yu Guangzhong (余光中),a Contemporary poet

Yu Guangzhong_Wikipedia

Lyric in PDF: Xiang Chou_Pinyin and Chinese character

xiāng chóu		yú guāng	zhōng	xiǎo shí	hou4	xiāng chóu	shì	yī	méi	xiǎo xiǎo
乡愁	by	余光	中	小时	候◆	乡愁	是	一	枚	小小

de

yóu piào

wǒ

zài

zhè

tóu

mǔ qīn

zài

nà

tóu

zhǎng dà

hòu

xiāng chóu

的

邮票

我

在

这

头

母亲

在

那

头

长大

后

乡愁

shì	yī	zhāng zhǎi zhǎi	de	chuán piào	wǒ	zài	zhè	tóu	xīn niáng
是	一	张窄窄	的	船票	我	在	这	头	新娘

zài	nà	tóu	hòu lái	ā	xiāng chóu	shì	yī fāng	ǎi	ǎi	de	fén mù
在	那	头	后来	啊	乡愁	是	一方	矮	矮	的	坟墓

wǒ	zài wài	tóu	mǔ qīn	zài	lǐ tou	ér	xiàn zài	xiāng chóu	shì	yī
我	在外	头	母亲	在	里头	而	现在	乡愁	是	一

wān

qiǎn

qiǎn

de

hǎi xiá

wǒ

zài

zhè

tóu

dà lù

zài

nà

tóu

湾

浅

浅

的

海峡

我

在

这

头

大陆

在

那

头

See the following for different translation versions of this poem:

blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4e276d2c0102dydc.html)

Nostalgia

translation: 杨钟琰

When I was a child,
Nostalgia seemed a small stamp:
“Here am I
and there my mother.”

Then I was a grown-up,
Nostalgia became a traveling ticket:
“Here am I
And there my bride.”

During the later years
Nostalgia turned to be a graveyard:
“Here am I
And yonder my mother.”

And now at present
Nostalgia looms large to be a channel:
“Here am I
and yonder my Continent!”

Vocabulary for Xiang Chou (Nostalgia)

ID	Chinese	Trad.	Pinyin	English Definition
ID	Chinese	Trad.	Pinyin	English Definition
1	乡愁	鄉愁	xiāngchóu	homesickness; nostalgia
2	余光中		yúguāng zhōng	The poet’s name
3	中		zhōng	China; Chinese; surname Zhong; within; among; in; middle; center; while (doing sth); during; (dialect) OK; all right
4	小时候	小時候	xiǎo shíhou	in one’s childhood
5	是	昰	shì	is; are; am; yes; to be; variant of 是 ; (used in given names)
6	一		yī	one; 1; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; “one” radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
7	枚		méi	surname Mei; classifier for coins, rings, badges, pearls, sporting medals, rockets, satellites etc; tree trunk; whip; wooden peg, used as a gag for marching soldiers (old)
8	小小		xiǎoxiǎo	very small; very few; very minor
9	的		de	of; ~’s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute); (used to form a nominal expression); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)
10	邮票	郵票	yóu piào	(postage) stamp; Classifiers: 枚
11	我		wǒ	I; me; my
12	在		zài	(located) at; (to be) in; to exist; in the middle of doing sth; (indicating an action in progress)
13	这	這	zhè	this; these; (commonly pr. before a classifier, esp. in Beijing)
14	头	頭	tóu	head; hair style; the top; end; beginning or end; a stub; remnant; chief; boss; side; aspect; first; leading; classifier for pigs or livestock; Classifiers:个
15	母亲	母親	mǔ qīn	mother; also pr.
16	那		nà	that; those; then (in that case); commonly pr. before a classifier, esp. in Beijing
17	长大	長大	zhǎngdà	to grow up
18	后	後	hòu	surname Hou; empress; queen; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later
19	张	張	zhāng	surname Zhang; to open up; to spread; sheet of paper; classifier for flat objects, sheet; classifier for votes
20	窄		zhǎi	narrow; narrow-minded; badly off
21	船票		chuánpiào	ship ticket
22	新娘		xīnniáng	bride
23	后来	後來	hòu lái	afterwards; later
24	啊		ā	interjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh!
25	一方		yī fāng	a party (in a contract or legal case); one side; area; region
26	矮		ǎi	low; short (in length)
27	坟墓	墳墓	fén mù	sepulcher; tomb
28	在外		zài wài	outer
29	里头	裡頭	lǐ tou	inside; interior
30	而		ér	and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast)
31	现在	現在	xiàn zài	now; at present; at the moment; modern; current; nowadays
32	湾	灣	wān	bay; gulf; to cast anchor; to moor (a boat)
33	浅	淺	qiǎn	shallow; light (color)
34	海峡	海峽	hǎi xiá	channel; strait
35	大陆	大陸	dà lù	mainland China (reference to the PRC); continent; mainland; Classifiers: 个

Videos 余光中《乡愁》朗诵

Downloadable Worksheets 

Xiang Chou_Lyric_Worksheet

Xiang Chou_Pinyin and Chinese character

Xiang Chou_Vocabulary Worksheets

Xiangchou_flashcards

Xiang Chou_Vocabulary List

Vocabulary Quiz Worksheet for Nostalgia

Questions for Class Discussion:

1. How many stanzas can the poem be divided into? Can you find different time periods in the poem? 
2. What are the four key nouns/objects the poet uses to symbolize “homesickness?”
3. What are the measure words used with these four objects/nouns?

Vocabulary Quiz Worksheet for Nostalgia (乡愁)

By Ling-Ling Shih

Select an appropriate time phrase, location vocabulary, or a measure word to fill in the following blanks.

后来    现在  长大后   小时候

这头   里头   那头

湾      张    方    枚

__________

乡愁是一_____小小的邮票

我在这头 母亲在_________

__________

乡愁是一______窄窄的船票

我在这头 新娘在那头

__________啊

乡愁是一______矮矮的坟墓

我在外头 母亲在________

而__________

乡愁是一______浅浅的海峡

我在________ 大陆在那头

Listen the clip of the following video between 14:30 to 15:45 to hear the poem and see the poet in the video:

For Teacher only: Lesson_Plan for YuGuangZhong_Poem-Nostalgia or go to the following link: Lesson Plan for Yu Guang Zhong’s Xiang Chou

By Ling-Ling Lisa Shih
From Ling-LingChinese.com