Chinese Idioms -南柯一夢

南柯一夢(Nan Ke yi meng)

The idiom 南柯一夢 comes from 《南柯太守傳》(nan ke tai shou chuan).

The author is 李公佐(Li Gongzuo), a native of the 唐(Tang) Dynasty. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. We speculate that he should appear during this period.

The protagonist of the story is named 淳于棼(Chen yu-fen). He is a drunk and likes to drink with his friends. One day, after drinking with his two friends, he is too drunk to walk home alone. His two nice friends put him under a tree, sit next to him, and keep drinking.

Between sleeping and waking, he seemed to see two people dressed in purple coming to him and saying: "Sir, my master would like to invite you to our country." Then the people help him get into a carriage. 淳于棼 still dazed, the carriage slowly went into the cavern.

They quickly arrive at a palace. It is obvious that the king is satisfied with 淳于棼, and even lets him marry his daughter. 

After the marriage, the king sent him to 南柯 County as a prefect. He is doing a good job and the people in the county all look up to him. He has also made a lot of friends in the central government.

Twenty years passed, and his beautiful wife gave him three sons and two daughters, all of his sons became powerful ministers, and the daughters all married nobles. 

However, a country suddenly came to attack 南柯 County. He lost the war and had to flee back to the capital. On the way to escape, his wife died of illness. 

He is devastated. The king summons him and tells him: "You've been in my country for a long time, it's time for you to go back, I'll send someone to escort you back."

The same carriage, the same two purple-clad attendants, he got into the carriage again in a daze. 

Suddenly he opened his eyes and woke up. He finds himself sitting under a tree. and his two friends are making tea next to him. He told his friends about the dream he just had. Then, on the other side of the tree, they find an ant nest. He pulls the earth away from the ant's nest top and finds that the shape of it is exactly like the land where he had been in his dream. He can even see the princess's tomb.

He realized that it was all illusory. Just like in his dream, whatever wealth, power, status, family, or lover he had, could disappear in a moment. Nothing can last forever.

Similar Idiom

A similar idiom we have is: 黃粱一夢

黃粱 is a kind of grain.

Also in the Tang Dynasty, a poor student whose surname is 盧. He met a 道士(Taoist priest) in a hotel, and the two of them chatted happily.  During the conversation, 盧 complained that his life was unsatisfactory, and thought that his ambitions were difficult to achieve.

At that time, the owner of the hotel was cooking 黃粱 rice. The 道士 gave 盧 a pillow and said, "Sleep with the pillow, and sleep well, you will get everything you want.

In his sleep, 盧 dreamed that he married the daughter of a wealthy family. His official career went smoothly, and he was promoted one step at a time; he had a high status and a very generous salary; he owned a lot of fertile lands, mansions, beautiful women, and horses, and he enjoyed endless fame and wealth until he was old and died.

Then 盧 woke up and found that he was sleeping in the lobby, the 道士 was still beside him, and the owner was still cooking the 黃粱 rice! 

He murmured: "Was I just dreaming?"

The Taoist replied: "Now you should know that what a person pursues in life is only an illusion!"

So these two idioms are used metaphorically: Nothing can last forever.

How To Use

世事變化無常，目前你所用有的財富和名譽，也許只是南柯一夢。 

This world is ever changing; the wealth and fame you now have may be only a NanKe dream. 

  

你剛剛打破的是我最喜歡的杯子！

What you just broke is my favorite mug!

人生一切恰如黃粱一夢，來去皆空，別太計較。

Everything in life is like a dream, it comes and goes in nothingness, so don't care too much.