A lament for the desolation and ruin of a former prosperous place, often a capital, now overgrown with crops, symbolizing the fall of a dynasty or the irreversible decline of a once magnificent site.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Synonym:
Story:
The idiom 'Shu Li Mai Xiu' (Millet Standing Tall, Wheat Flourishing) originates from two historical laments.
It is said that after the collapse of the Western Zhou Dynasty, a high official from Zhou journeyed to its former capital. He was deeply saddened to see that the magnificent ancestral temples and palaces had been reduced to overgrown fields of millet. Overwhelmed with emotion, he composed the poem 'Shu Li' to express his profound sorrow for the lost glory.
Later, during the Spring and Autumn period, Viscount Wei, a nobleman from the Shang Dynasty, visited the ruins of Yin (Yinxu), the former Shang capital. Witnessing the grand palaces now in ruins and covered with luxuriant wheat, he was overcome with grief and composed the song 'Mai Xiu.'
Combining these two stories, the idiom 'Shu Li Mai Xiu' has since come to signify a deep lament for the desolation and ruin of a once glorious place, especially a fallen capital or dynasty, where nature has reclaimed what was once magnificent.