The great Chinese writer of the Táng Dynasty (??), Hán Yù (??), was an orphan who was brought up by his older brother and his wife. His brother had an adopted son called Lao Chéng (??), but because Lao Chéng was ranked 12th as a family member, his nickname was Shí èr Láng (?? ? – literal translation 12th youth).

Hán Yù and Shí èr Láng were almost the same age, so they grew very close. When Hán Yù was nineteen years old, he began working as a court official, and his duties kept him so busy that he was only able to meet with Shí èr Láng 3 times in the following 10 years.


Even so, Hán Yù wrote many letters to Shí èr Láng, letting him know he was always in his thought.

Time continued to pass, during which Hán Yù made plans to return home to spend his final days with Shí èr Láng. But before he could fulfill his plans, he received news that Shí èr Láng had died.

Hán Yù was overcome with grief, and wrote a moving essay entitled Jì Shí èr Láng Wén (?????) . The essay contained these words: ?????，????? (yi zài tian zhi yá, yi zài dì zhi jiao – One at the edge of heaven, one at the corners of the sea). This was shortened to the phrase ???? (tian yá hai jiao), which is used to express a longing for someone who is at a very great distance.