天涯海角 — “The ends of the earth”

Han Yu, courtesy name Tuizhi, was a prominent literary figure during the mid-Tang Dynasty. His father passed away when he was two, and his mother followed shortly after. He was raised by his elder brother Han Hui and sister-in-law Lady Zheng. Han Hui had an adopted son, named Laocheng, who was ranked twelfth and thus nicknamed 'Shi Er Lang' (Twelve-year-old). Shi Er Lang was slightly younger than Han Yu.

Later, at the age of forty-two, Han Hui was demoted to the governor of Shaozhou due to his involvement in Prime Minister Yuan Zai's affairs. He tragically died of illness in Shaozhou within a few months. At this time, Han Yu was only eleven, and Shi Er Lang was also very young. Although Han Yu had three elder brothers (Hui, Bian, and Jie), they all passed away early in life. Consequently, only Han Yu and his nephew Shi Er Lang remained to carry on the family line, living a solitary and dependent existence, never apart.

When Han Yu was nineteen, he journeyed from Yicheng to the capital. Over the next ten years, he only managed to meet Shi Er Lang three times. Just as Han Yu was making plans to return west and live with Shi Er Lang permanently, Shi Er Lang unexpectedly died.

Upon hearing this devastating news, Han Yu was consumed by grief. He composed a famous 'Eulogy for Shi Er Lang' (祭十二郎文), and arranged for a friend named Jianzhong to travel a long distance with offerings to pay his respects. This eulogy, filled with profound sorrow, moved all who read it.

Within the eulogy, there are lines that read: 'One at the sky's edge, one at the earth's corner' (一在天之涯，一在地之角). Later generations took these lines and transformed them into the idiom '天涯海角' (tiānyá hǎijiǎo), which is used to describe extremely distant places.