Source: Xu Xilin, author of Seizure? Ching Dynasty
Military songs should be sung with broadswords, vowed to destroy Hunu, and went out of Jade Pass.
Only the battlefields where countries die, why do they die in boots?
Translation:
Soldiers who go to war should come to Victory Day singing military songs. Determined to drive the Manchu rulers out of Shanhaiguan.
Soldiers only know that on the battlefield, they have to die for their country. Why do you consider transporting the body back to your hometown?
Creative background:
This is a frontier poem written in 1906. At that time, the author returned from Japan, traveled north, inspected the situation in Jilin and Liaoning, and had many feelings along the way, so he left this seven-character poem.
The first two sentences are written with great momentum. "Military songs should sing broadswords, swear to destroy Hunu, and go out to Jade Pass." Soldiers going out to war should sing battle songs and wave broadswords, and they should always kill the rulers of the Qing Dynasty outside. Guan Yu, originally referred to as Yumenguan, here refers to Shanhaiguan. The Qing government made a fortune outside the customs and wanted to kill them and wipe them out completely.
The word "ring" is used here to indicate that the anti-Qing struggle will win, and the soldiers will return home in triumph singing and dancing. The last two sentences are extremely tragic and express the author's mood. "Only the battlefield is the death hole of the country, so why are they still wearing boots when they die?" .