To lament the drastic changes and fleeting nature of the human world over time; to express a sense of melancholy over the impermanence of things and the passage of life, often upon revisiting a familiar place.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
Legend has it that in ancient times, Ding Lingwei from Liaodong studied Taoism on Mount Lingxu. After achieving immortality, he transformed into a crane and flew back to Liaodong.
He landed on an ornamental pillar at the city gate. A young boy, seeing him, wanted to shoot him with a bow.
The crane immediately soared into the sky, circled, and recited a poem: 'Oh, a bird, a bird, Ding Lingwei, a thousand years away from home, today I return. The city walls remain the same, but the people are no longer the same. Why not learn immortality? For graves are everywhere.'
Then, it flew high and departed.