Endless Tears for the Mountains and Rivers

The hero has passed from this world. A brilliant, radiant life, just seventeen years long, flashed across the sky like a shooting star. Yet the dazzling light it released in that instant left us breathless with wonder. His ambition to defend his country and drive out its enemies, his resolve to take the world as his responsibility, his courage to put his convictions into action, his gallant exploits on the battlefield, his battles against invaders: even when he had a chance to escape death, he still faced it with courage, sacrificing himself for his cause. Such heroism will shine through the ages! The talent revealed in his writing is equally admirable, full of passionate elegies and tender affection.

We are fortunate to live in peaceful times. War is real, yet ultimately far away. Our blood may still boil, but only so much, before we grow gentle or cold. The fall of a nation, the destruction of a home, upheaval, struggle, sacrifice... perhaps these are only words in books, things we will never encounter in our lifetimes. How could the sorrows that seem to blot out the sky to us compare with what they endured? I can only feel ashamed when I think of what others have gone through. Could these people, so vividly alive in my memory, also serve as a reminder to cherish my own happiness, to be content, and to understand that what I have is a luxury they could never enjoy? And as I walk through the long, indistinct years, could their example help me stay strong and fearless, so that no matter what hardships life brings, I never give up on my beliefs and always keep moving forward?