The Dusk is Near: Wu Zixu's Tragic Revenge Song

In the late Spring and Autumn period, King Ping of Chu believed slander and planned to kill Crown Prince and Grand Tutor Wu She. He also took Wu She hostage and summoned his two sons, Wu Shang and Wu Zixu, intending to eliminate the entire family.

The eldest son, Wu Shang, knowing it was a death sentence, still went to show filial piety and was killed alongside his father.
The second son, Wu Zixu (Wu Yuan), refused to accept death, fled to the State of Wu, and vowed to avenge his father and brothers.

On his journey of escape, he crossed Zhao Pass, turned gray overnight, and begged for food, enduring many hardships before reaching Wu. There, he assisted King Helü of Wu, trained the army, and accumulated strength.

More than ten years later, Wu's army captured the Chu capital Ying. By then, King Ping of Chu had died. Wu Zixu could not find King Zhao of Chu, so he dug up King Ping’s tomb, opened the coffin, and whipped the corpse three hundred times to vent his deep hatred.

His good friend Shen Baozhu sent someone to reproach him: “What you did is too excessive and goes against the natural order!”

Wu Zixu replied with grief and anger:

*My days are few, and the road ahead is long.*
*I am like the evening approaching, yet the journey is still far.*

This means: As the sky darkens, the road is still very long.
It is a metaphor for being old and running out of time but still having unfulfilled ambitions; or being in a difficult situation with no way out, forced to take extreme measures to seek revenge.