胡笳十八拍

漢末，天下紛亂，關中地區爭戰，百姓流離。蔡文姬之父蔡邕下獄冤死，只得隨眾逃難。匈奴乘機搶掠，擄掠百姓。蔡文姬為匈奴所獲，因其貌美被獻予左賢王，自此為左賢王妻，居匈奴十二載。她與左賢王育有二子，深得左賢王愛護。文姬流落匈奴期間，蔡邕故友曹操已經掃靖北方，百廢重興。曹氏憶昔故人蔡邕無子，有女流落異邦，遂遣使往匈奴欲迎文姬。曹使至匈奴，向左賢王贈送厚禮，表明來意。自曹操統一北方，匈奴難攖其鋒，南使有求，左賢王不敢違抗。文姬得知，悲喜交集，喜者，多年重歸故土之夙願可償；悲者，從此與一雙嬌兒難見一面。文姬內心交煎，終決定回歸漢土。一自歸漢，感思多年來家國、故土、親情，寫成《胡笳十八拍》。

Eighteen Beats to a Nomad Flute

At the end of the Han Dynasty, central Shanxi is plagued by wars and overrun by refugees. Cia Wenji’sfather, Cia Yong, is imprisoned and tortured to death, leaving Cai Wenji a refugee. The nomadic Huns are at this time robbing and abducting Chinese Han citizens. Wenji is abducted by the Huns and, due to her beauty, presented as a gift to KingZuoxian. She becomes the king’s beloved wife and lives for twelve years with the nomadic Huns. She has two sons then.

During the time Cia Wenji lives among the Hun nomads, Cia Yong’s old friend Cao Cao has managed to settle the unrest in the North and has started full scale reconstruction of the country. Cao Cao remembers that his old friend Cia Yong has a daughter who has been wandering among the foreign nomads. So Cao Cao sends an envoy to the Huns seeking the repatriation of Cia Wenji. Upon arrival, Cao’s envoy presents KingZuoxian with an abundance of gifts and then reveals the purpose of their visit.

Since Cao Cao’s unification of the North, the nomadic Huns have found it difficult to confront such force. Upon hearing the envoy’s intention, King Zuoxian does not dare to defy the demand. When Cia Wenji hears about this, she is full of both joy and sorrow—joy, because after so many years, her wish to return to her homeland has finally come true; sorrow because if she goes home, she will have to leave her two sons behind and may never be able to see them again. After much inner torment, Cia Wenji finally decides that she will return to her homeland. After her return, she composes the Eighteen Beats to a Nomad Flute to commemorate the many years that have passed and her reflection on home, country, her home town, and family love.