The Furthest Distance in the World

**The Furthest Distance In The World** (also known as **The Flying Bird and Fish**) is a poem that was used by Zhang Ye during a live radio broadcast when a caller wanted to commit suicide because her lover will be studying overseas for five years.

## Background

When Wang Xiaomei's "Talk About the World" program on Beijing Radio Station needed a guest for the live broadcast, Zhou Guozhou appointed Zhang Ye to guest host so he can promote his late-night radio program "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

During the program, they gave out love advice for their callers, and Wang Xiaomei told each one that they should break up with their partner. For the last caller, her boyfriend recently graduated and his family arranged for him to study overseas for five years. When Wang Xiaomei advised her to break up with her boyfriend, as she did with all her previous callers, that caller decided to end her life. When they were unable to reason with her or calm her down, Zhang Ye used this poem to tell her that the distance between her and her boyfriend will not be that large compared to their love.

## Zhang Ye's Version

**The furthest distance in the world is not that you don’t know I love you when I stand in front of you. It is when I cannot say I love you, when I love you so madly.**
**The furthest distance in the world is not that I cannot say I love you, when I love you so madly. It is that I have to bury it in my heart, despite the unbearable yearning.**
**The furthest distance in the world is not that I have to bury it in my heart despite the unbearable yearning. It is when we cannot be together, even when we love each other.**
**The furthest distance in the world is not that we cannot be together, when we love each other. It is when we turn a blind eye to it, despite knowing true love conquers all.**
**The furthest distance in the world is not the distance between two distant trees. It is when branches cannot depend on each other in the wind, despite growing from the same root.**
**The furthest distance in the world is not when branches cannot depend on each other in the wind. It is when the trajectories of stars cannot cross, even when the blinking stars look at each other.**
**The furthest distance in the world is not when the trajectories of stars cannot cross. It is when they are unable to find each other after crossing trajectories.**
**The furthest distance in the world is not being unable to find each other. It is when we are doomed not to love, even when we coincidentally meet.**

**The furthest distance in the world is the love between the bird and fish. One is flying in the sky, the other is looking upon the sea.** | ”

## Meaning

Zhang Ye used this poem to show that geographical distance is trivial in terms of love and that it shouldn't be used as an excuse or to avoid reality.

## Trivia

* The original writer of the poem is highly disputed whether it's Tagore or Zhang Xiaoxian. The poem now has many versions, mostly created by netizens
* Zhang Ye changed the first line of the poem from "life and death" to "the distance between opposite sides of the world"
* Along with "A Generation", Zhang Ye used these two poems to dissuade the caller from committing suicide

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 20: That “The Furthest Distance in the World” Poem
2. ↑ Chapter 19: Someone Wants to Commit Suicide During a Live Broadcast!
3. ↑ Chapter 21: The Person Who can Cure a Cultured Youth is Another Cultured Youth