Farewell to Meng Dongye: A Prose Preface - Han Yu
/送孟东野序 - 韩愈/
On Poetic Impulse and Genuine Camaraderie
大凡物不得其平則鳴。
In general, when anything fails to achieve equilibrium, it will cry out.
人之氣有所抑鬱，不得通則發於言。
When a person’s vital energy is suppressed and cannot flow freely, it finds release in speech.
言之不足，則嗟嘆之；嗟嘆之不足，則歌詠之；歌詠之不足，則手之舞之，足之蹈之也。
If speech is not enough, one sighs; if sighing is still insufficient, one sings; if singing cannot exhaust it, then the hands begin to dance and the feet to stamp.
然天地之間，不能自鳴，託其鳴於人；人不得不與天地相應。
Now, Heaven and Earth themselves cannot directly cry out, so they entrust that cry to humankind; thus, people cannot help but resonate with Heaven and Earth.
使其鬱積之氣激盪於中，必不能自遏；激盪於外，亦不能自已。
When pent-up energy surges within, there is no restraining it; once stirred outwardly, there is no containing it.
故古之作者，其言皆有所迫，未嘗苟然也。
Hence, in ancient times, those who wrote were compelled by circumstance—never resorting to words without true necessity.
孟東野者，吾之故人也，氣骨清峻，辭彩凜冽，然宦游漂泊，畏途多阻。
Meng Dongye is an old friend of mine: his spirit is lofty, his expressions are crisp, yet he travels far in official posts, beset by countless difficulties.
故其歌詠，往往激切淒惋，如金石撞擊，聲震人耳。
Thus, his songs and verses often strike a sharp and plaintive chord, clashing like metal and stone, echoing in one’s ears.
今孟東野既抵我處，復將遠去，余是以爲序，以見其意之所從出也。
Now that Meng Dongye has arrived where I reside and is soon to depart again, I compose this preface to show the origin of his heartfelt expressions.
In general, when anything fails to achieve equilibrium, it will cry out.
人之氣有所抑鬱，不得通則發於言。
When a person’s vital energy is suppressed and cannot flow freely, it finds release in speech.
言之不足，則嗟嘆之；嗟嘆之不足，則歌詠之；歌詠之不足，則手之舞之，足之蹈之也。
If speech is not enough, one sighs; if sighing is still insufficient, one sings; if singing cannot exhaust it, then the hands begin to dance and the feet to stamp.
然天地之間，不能自鳴，託其鳴於人；人不得不與天地相應。
Now, Heaven and Earth themselves cannot directly cry out, so they entrust that cry to humankind; thus, people cannot help but resonate with Heaven and Earth.
使其鬱積之氣激盪於中，必不能自遏；激盪於外，亦不能自已。
When pent-up energy surges within, there is no restraining it; once stirred outwardly, there is no containing it.
故古之作者，其言皆有所迫，未嘗苟然也。
Hence, in ancient times, those who wrote were compelled by circumstance—never resorting to words without true necessity.
孟東野者，吾之故人也，氣骨清峻，辭彩凜冽，然宦游漂泊，畏途多阻。
Meng Dongye is an old friend of mine: his spirit is lofty, his expressions are crisp, yet he travels far in official posts, beset by countless difficulties.
故其歌詠，往往激切淒惋，如金石撞擊，聲震人耳。
Thus, his songs and verses often strike a sharp and plaintive chord, clashing like metal and stone, echoing in one’s ears.
今孟東野既抵我處，復將遠去，余是以爲序，以見其意之所從出也。
Now that Meng Dongye has arrived where I reside and is soon to depart again, I compose this preface to show the origin of his heartfelt expressions.
Han Yu’s “Farewell to Meng Dongye: A Prose Preface” (《送孟东野序》) is both a tribute to his friend Meng Jiao (styled as Meng Dongye) and a concise statement on the nature of literary composition. Drawing on the classical idea that poetry and expressive writing flow naturally from strong emotional impulses, Han Yu argues that people create art when they cannot otherwise vent their deep-seated feelings.
He begins with a sweeping generalization: anything in the universe that is unsettled will inevitably ‘cry out.’ This principle, he suggests, applies to human beings just as it does to nature. When a person’s inner energies are stifled, it compels them to speak, sigh, sing, or even dance to achieve emotional release. Literature and poetry, then, become powerful forms of catharsis—vehicles for transforming inner tension into artistic expression.
Within this philosophical framework, Han Yu introduces his friend Meng Dongye, whose life of wandering official service frequently traps him in circumstances where his heartfelt emotions cannot otherwise find easy resolution. As a result, the intensity of Meng’s poems—likened by Han Yu to the sound of metal striking stone—resonates with poignancy and ferocity. In praising his friend, Han Yu also underscores the broader Confucian and literary tradition that prizes sincerity, emotional depth, and moral conviction.
Significantly, Han Yu situates writing within the grand order of Heaven and Earth. Because the cosmos itself does not speak, it entrusts this ‘cry’ to humanity. Thus, in his view, those who produce genuine artistic works do so under a kind of cosmic mandate, compelled by the world they inhabit and the personal struggles they endure. The inclusion of nature and universal forces elevates the significance of literature, reinforcing how poetry can unite human emotion with the larger moral and spiritual fabric of existence.
Ultimately, Han Yu’s preface stands as a call for sincerity and profundity in writing. Rather than writing ‘casually’ or ‘artificially,’ one should write only when an inner prompting forces words to emerge. By extolling Meng Jiao’s poetic labors, Han Yu extols the virtues of committed expression—poetry shaped by real hardship and genuine longing. For modern readers, this preface exemplifies a timeless principle: authentic art and literature often arise from life’s trials, heartbreaks, and joys, giving voice to that which cannot remain silent.
Key points
• Literature, according to Han Yu, arises from strong emotional impulses that cannot be otherwise contained.
• Poetry and expressive writing connect people with the natural forces of Heaven and Earth.
• Han Yu celebrates Meng Dongye’s work as sincere, intense, and born of real-life difficulties.
• Authentic creation, in the Confucian worldview, aligns moral conviction with heartfelt expression.
