Yuan Dynasty
人月圆
刘因
茫茫大块洪炉里，
何物不寒灰？
古今多少，
荒烟废垒，
老树遗台。
太行如砺，
黄河如带，
等是尘埃。
不须更叹，
花开花落，
春去春来。
Translation
In the vast great furnace of heaven and earth, what thing does not end as cold ash? How much has passed from ancient times to now: desert smoke over ruined ramparts, old trees beside abandoned terraces. The Taihang Mountains may be hard as whetstones, the Yellow River may stretch like a belt; all alike are dust. There is no need to sigh further. Flowers bloom and fall; spring goes and comes again.
Analysis
Liu Yin's "Human Moon Round" is a work of unusually large vision. It does not focus on a small personal scene. Instead, it looks at human life, history, and even mountains and rivers from the scale of heaven, earth, and deep time. The opening image compares the universe to a vast furnace. Everything enters this furnace of transformation: it is formed, heated, consumed, and finally reduced to cold ash. The question "what thing does not end as cold ash?" is not rhetorical decoration; it is the philosophical premise of the whole song. The next lines make historical decline visible. Ramparts, terraces, cities, and achievements that once mattered have become ruins under wild smoke and old trees. History remains not as glory, but as traces of abandonment. The lines on the Taihang Mountains and the Yellow River expand the scale even further. These are immense and enduring natural symbols. Yet Liu Yin says that they too are "dust." From the perspective of cosmic time, even the most solid mountains and greatest rivers belong to change. The ending prevents the poem from becoming merely bleak. "No need to sigh further" does not deny impermanence. It accepts it. Flowers bloom and fall; spring goes and returns. Change is not only destruction, but also cycle. The strength of the song lies in this movement: it begins with ash, ruins, and dust, but ends with flowers and spring. The result is not naive optimism, but a lucid, spacious calm after recognizing impermanence.
About the Author
Liu Yin, courtesy name Mengji and literary name Jingxiu, was a major Yuan dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar, poet, and sanqu writer from Rongcheng in Xiongzhou. Known for his learning from an early age, he briefly served under the Yuan court as Chengdelang and Right Adviser, but resigned because of his mother's illness. Later, when Kublai Khan summoned him again, he declined on grounds of illness and avoided prolonged official service. Liu Yin was deeply learned and wrote works such as Jingxiu Ji. His poetry and songs often combine moral self-discipline, historical reflection, and a clear awareness of impermanence. "Human Moon Round" is one of his most philosophical sanqu pieces.