Home›Themes›Homesickness

Source-verified collection

Chinese Poems About Homesickness and Family

Homesickness has a distinct place in Chinese poetry, especially around festivals, travel, and life away from family.

I miss my hometownI miss my familyI feel alone far from home

Original lines

Read the Chinese, meaning, and source together

4 curated lines
✓ Verified sourceBilingual

谁言寸草心，报得三春晖。

Shuí yán cùn cǎo xīn, bào dé sān chūn huī.

Close English reading

Who says the inch-long grass can repay the radiance of three spring months?

Plain meaningA child's gratitude can never fully repay a mother's care.

Source
Meng Jiao· Tang dynasty · Song of the Traveling Son
Complete Tang Poems
Why it fitsThe small grass and spring sunlight turn unequal scale into an image of a child's debt to maternal love.
Original context and translation note
慈母手中线，游子身上衣。临行密密缝，意恐迟迟归。谁言寸草心，报得三春晖。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

Open result page
✓ Verified sourceBilingual

举头望明月，低头思故乡。

Jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè, dī tóu sī gù xiāng.

Close English reading

I raise my head and gaze at the bright moon; I lower it and think of home.

Plain meaningMoonlight makes me miss my home.

Source
Li Bai· Tang dynasty · Quiet Night Thoughts
Complete Tang Poems
Why it fitsThe movement from looking up to lowering the head turns moonlight directly into homesickness.
Original context and translation note
床前明月光，疑是地上霜。举头望明月，低头思故乡。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

Open result page
✓ Verified sourceBilingual

露从今夜白，月是故乡明。

Lù cóng jīn yè bái, yuè shì gù xiāng míng.

Close English reading

From tonight the dew turns white; the moon is brightest in my homeland.

Plain meaningHome always seems brighter when you are far away.

Source
Du Fu· Tang dynasty · Moonlit Night, Remembering My Younger Brothers
Complete Tang Poems
Why it fitsThe claim is emotional rather than astronomical: distance makes the remembered moon of home feel brighter.
Original context and translation note
戍鼓断人行，边秋一雁声。露从今夜白，月是故乡明。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

Open result page
✓ Verified sourceBilingual

独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲。

Dú zài yì xiāng wéi yì kè, měi féng jiā jié bèi sī qīn.

Close English reading

Alone in a foreign place, I am a stranger; at every festival, I miss my family all the more.

Plain meaningBeing far from home makes special days feel even lonelier.

Source
Wang Wei· Tang dynasty · Thinking of My Brothers East of the Mountains on the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
Complete Tang Poems
Why it fitsIt directly connects distance, festival time, loneliness, and longing for family.
Original context and translation note
遥知兄弟登高处，遍插茱萸少一人。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

Open result page
Translation note: These English readings are original explanations prepared for Gu Ren Said. The Chinese original and source are the authoritative objects being verified; literary translations can reasonably differ.

Keep exploring

Other themes in the classics

All themes →
LoveVerified lines from classical Chinese poetry about affection, romance, and a heart that cannot forget.Missing someoneClassical Chinese lines for longing, absence, and someone who remains on your mind.BeautyElegant classical Chinese lines for praising a smile, eyes, presence, and unforgettable beauty.FriendshipVerified classical Chinese lines about true friends, distance, understanding, and harmony without conformity.

Every displayed Chinese line is tied to a work and source in the verified corpus. English explanations may expand, but the source line is never replaced with generated text.

Search in your own words →