"The tiger calls on the mountain and draws the bow at night" means that when the tiger calls on the mountain, which is actually the sound of the wind blowing the grass and trees, he immediately draws his bow and shoots an arrow.
It is derived from the poem "The forest is dark and the grass is frightened by the wind, and the general draws his bow at night" in the Tang Dynasty Lu Lun's "The Second Song of He Zhang Pu Shoots the Sea".
It means that in the dark woods, the grass was suddenly swayed and rustled by the wind. The general thought that a wild beast was coming, so he quickly opened his bow and shot an arrow.
Original text:
The grass in the forest is frightened by the wind, and the general draws his bow at night. I looked for the white feather in plain sight, but it was missing among the stone edges.
Translation:
In the dim woods, the grass was suddenly swayed and rustled by the wind. The general thought that wild beasts were coming, so he quickly opened his bow and shot arrows. At dawn, I went to look for the arrow, but it was already deeply embedded in the stone.
Extended information
Creative background
Lu Lun failed many applications in his early years. Later, he was recommended by Yuan Zai, Wang Jin and others for official positions. After Zhu's rebellion, King Hun of Xianning came out of Zhenhe and promoted Lu Lun to be the judge of the Marshal's Mansion. This was the beginning of life in the Lulun frontier fortress. In the military camp, all Lu Lun saw were the majestic and solemn frontier fortress scenes, and all he came into contact with were rugged and heroic soldiers. It was against this background that he created this set of frontier fortress poems.
Poetry Appreciation
Lu Lun's "Song under the Sai" is a set of six poems, each describing military camp life such as giving orders, hunting and defeating enemies, performing triumphs and celebrating achievements, etc. The words are full of praise. This is the second poem, describing the general's night patrol.
The first sentence writes that the general's night hunting place was a dark deep forest; it was already late, and strong winds blew, causing the vegetation to become draped. This not only explains the specific time and place, but also creates an atmosphere.
Youbeiping is an area with many tigers. The deep mountains and dense forests are the hiding places of the tigers, the king of beasts, and tigers mostly come out of the mountains at dusk and night. "The forest is dark and the grass is frightened by the wind." The characters not only make people naturally think of a tiger in it, ready to appear, exaggerating an extremely tense atmosphere, but also implying how vigilant the general is, paving the way for the following "drawing the bow".
The next sentence continues to write about shooting, but instead of saying "shooting", "shooting" is said to "lead the bow", not only because the poem must rhyme, but also because "leading" is the preparatory action of "shooting", so writing in this way can It inspires readers to imagine and appreciate how calm and calm the general is when facing danger. After being "surprised", the general immediately nocked his arrows and fired his bow. His movements were quick and powerful but not hasty. He was both imposing and his image became more vivid.
The last two sentences write about the miracle of "no stone drinks feather", which postpones the time to the next morning. The general searches for prey and finds that the person hit by the arrow is not a tiger, but a crouching stone. It makes people read and start. Surprised, and then sighed, it turned out that the arrow with a white feather at the end of the arrow shaft was "missed in the edge of the stone" and penetrated three-thirds of the way into the stone.
Writing this way is not only more tortuous, with time and scene changes, but also dramatic. The "stone edge" is the protruding part of the stone. It is unimaginable to drill an arrow into it. The mythical exaggeration paints the image of the poem with a romantic color. It is very enjoyable to read, and you only feel its wonderfulness without taking it seriously.
Baidu Encyclopedia--Six Songs with Zhang Pushesai