During the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, Cai Wenji was captured by the Xiongnu and lived in exile. Later, she married Zuo Xianwang and gave birth to two children. She spent twelve years in the frontier, but she missed her hometown all the time. Cao Cao pacified the Central Plains, made peace with the Xiongnu, and sent envoys to redeem Wenji with a large sum of money. So she wrote the famous long poem “Eighteen Beats of the Hujia” to describe her unfortunate experience in her life.
汉末大乱，连年烽火，蔡文姬在逃难中被匈奴所掳，流落塞外，后来与左贤王结成夫妻，生了两个儿女。在塞外她度过了十二个春秋，但她无时无刻不在思念故乡。曹操平定了中原，与匈奴修好，派使节用
重金赎回文姬，于是她写下了著名长诗《胡笳十八拍》，叙述了自己一生不幸的遭遇。
《胡笳十八拍·第十七拍》 蔡琰
十七拍兮心鼻酸，关山阻修兮行路难。
去时怀土兮枯枯叶干，沙场白骨兮刀痕箭瘢。
风霜凛凛兮春夏寒，人马饥虺兮骨肉单。
岂知重得兮入长安，欢息欲绝兮泪阑干。
Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute Song 17
Cai Yan
In my seventeenth song, my heart and nose are sore as if they inhaled vinegar,
Passes and mountains, dangerous and long the road brutal to travel,
When I left, I longed for my home soil, I had no idea what would happen;
When I came back, separated from my sons, my thoughts of them flowed on and on.
Wormwood on the frontier lands brittle twigs, dry leaves,
White bones on the desert battlefields blade wounds, arrow scars.
Wind-borne frost chills, chills; spring and summer are cold,
Men and horses hungry, weary; bones and flesh too meager.
How could I know I would come again to Chang’an?
I give a great sigh, as if to break; tears fill my eyes.
