In the Chinese opera Silang Visits his Mother, Yang Silang makes this self-description, "I am a lot like a goose that has flown from the south and lost its flock." When Wu Zixu, a military strategist who lived during the Spring and Autumn period, crosses the Zhao Pass bitter over the murder of his father, the plaintive cries of the geese make his pain only that much sharper.
在中國戲曲《四郎探母》裡，流落番邦十五載的楊四郎，自稱「我好比南來雁，失群離散」；伍子胥過昭關，想起殺父之仇，哀哀長空雁，徒增傷感。