The Chinese song, Songbie 送别 Farewell Song has an interesting history. The song was produced in 1927 but it had been around long before that. It was also associated with a Chinese Buddhist monk Hong Yi. When a student in Japan, Hong Yi was known by his birth name Li Shutong 李叔同. There, he heard and was smitten by the Japanese song 旅愁 Loneliness on a Journey and then he arranged the Chinese lyrics to the melody of the song which Japanese musician Kyuukei Inudou had actually translated from the original English 1851 version Dreaming of Home and Mother by American composer John P. Ordway. In China, this song reportedly is often played when people have to say goodbye; a sort of Auld Lang Syne.
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