哀鴻遍野 (Āi hóng biàn yě)
Literally: Grief-stricken Eastern Bean Geese filling up the land
Figuratively: Land swarming with disaster victims
Explanation: When everywhere in the land there are cries of distress from refugees of natural disasters or man-made catastrophes. Grief-stricken Eastern Bean Geese (哀鴻) refers to the wailing of these wild geese.
In the Book of Songs, Xiǎo Yǎ section (詩經 – 小雅, which are Minor Odes of the Kingdom) there is a poem titled ‘Wild Geese’ (鴻雁 – Hóng Yàn), with the following two lines (please see here for an English translation of the entire poem, poem number 181):
The wild geese are flying about ,
And melancholy is their cry of ao-ao .
(鴻雁於飛, 哀鳴嗷嗷 – Hóngyàn yú fēi, āi wū áo áo)
The meaning is this: wild geese no longer have the purpose to continue flying as they cannot find a safe place to dwell, thus their sorrowful wails. This is analogous to displaced refugees wailing for help after disasters struck.
Due to these two lines in the poem, people later associated displaced victims with “Grief-stricken Eastern Bean Geese”. To describe a great number of affected victims, with victims being everywhere, they would use “哀鴻遍野”(Āi hóng biàn yě) or “遍地哀鴻”(Biàn dì Āi hóng).
Nowadays, the two words “áo áo” (嗷嗷) are often used to describe the sound of crying for help after poor harvests, for example áo áo dài bǔ (嗷嗷待哺 – loud weepings while waiting for food).
—– VOCABULARY —–
哀 āi – sorrow, grief, pity [[ai]]
鴻 hóng – eastern bean goose; great, large, synonym: 洪 [[hồng]]
遍 biàn – everywhere, all over [[biến]]
野 yě – field, plain, open space, limit, boundary [[dã]]
比喻 bǐ yù – to compare, to liken to, metaphor, analogy, figuratively
到處 dào chù – everywhere
呻吟 shēn yín – to moan, to groan
呼號 hū háo – to wail, to cry out in distress
遊離 yóu lí – to disassociate, to drift away, to leave (a collective)
災民 zāi mín – victim (of a disaster)
哀鳴 āi míng – whine, moan, wail, (of animals, the wind, etc.) to make a mournful sound
雁 yàn – wild goose [[nhạn]]
篇 piān – sheet, piece of writing, classifier for written items: chapter, article
題 tí – topic, problem for discussion, exam question, subject, to inscribe, to mention
其中 qí zhōng – among, in, included among these
嗚 wū – for humming or whimpering (probably mistaken for 鳴)
嗷嗷 – Vietnamese: ngao ngao – tiếng kêu thương; xao xác, om sòm, oai oái
嗷 áo – loud clamor, the sound of wailing [[ngao]]
棲 qī – to perch, to rest (of birds), to dwell, to live, to stay [[tê, thê]]
地 de – (1) -ly; (2) structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct
著 zhe – aspect particle indicating action in progress
悲哀 bēi āi – grieved, sorrowful
叫 jiào – to shout, to call, to order, to ask [[khiếu]]
流離失所 liú lí shī suǒ – destitute and homeless (idiom); forced from one’s home and wandering about; displaced
難民 nàn mín – refugee
難 nàn – disaster, distress, to scold [[nạn]]
呼救 hū jiù – to call for help
淒慘 qī cǎn – thê thảm, thê lương, thảm thương; horrific
景象 jǐng xiàng – scene, sight (to behold)
由於 yóu yú – due to, as a result of, thanks to, owing to, since, because
句 jù – sentence, clause, phrase [[cú, như trong ‘thi cú’]]
受難 shòu nàn – (1) to suffer a calamity; (2) to suffer (e.g. under torture); (3) distress
饑 jī – poor harvest [[cơ; năm mất mùa, năm đói kém]]
餓 è – to be hungry; hungry; to starve (sb); [[ngạ]]
嘈雜 cáo zá – noisy, clamourous
嘈 cáo – bustling, tumultuous, noisy [[tào]]
例如 lì rú – for example, for instance, such as
嗷嗷待哺 áo áo dài bǔ – cry piteously for food
待 dài – to wait, to treat, to deal with, to need, going to (do sth), about to, intending to [[đãi]]
哺 bū – to eat; evening meal; bǔ – to feed [[bộ – mớm, cho bú, cho ăn]]
哭 kū – to cry, to weep [[khốc – khóc thành tiếng]]
嚷 rǎng – to blurt out, to shout [[nhượng – nói to, quát tháo; làm ầm, làm ồn]]
急切 jí qiè – (1) eager; (2) impatient
急 jí – urgent, pressing, rapid, hurried, worried, to make (sb) anxious [[cấp]]
切 qiè – eager; close to; to grind [[thiết – cần kíp, cấp bách, cấp xúc]]
盼望 pàn wàng – (1) to hope for; (2) to look forward to
盼 pàn – to hope for, to long for, to expect (Hán Việt: phán – mong ngóng, trông chờ)
給 jǐ – to supply, to provide [[cấp – cung ứng, đưa cho, ban cho]]
吃 chī – to eat, to consume, to eradicate, to destroy, to absorb, to suffer [[cật]]