I joined the army at the age of fifteen and returned home at the age of eighty.
I met a fellow villager and asked, "Who is there at home?"
"Looking from afar, it's your home, with lots of pine and cypress graves."
The rabbit entered from the dog's sinus, Pheasants flew from the beams.
The atrium produces the valley, and the well produces the sunflower.
Pulse grain to make rice, and pick sunflowers to make soup.
The soup and rice are cooked for a while, but I don’t know who will eat them.
When I went out and looked eastward, my clothes were stained with tears.
Appreciation of the work
This poem describes the tragic scene of death and family destruction faced by a veteran after returning to his hometown, reflecting the deep suffering that the war has brought to the people. Artistically, through the description of the environment and the description of the characters' actions, the lonely and desolate situation and mood of the veterans after their return are expressed. The language is simple and natural, lively and lively, with neat sentence patterns and all in five words.
Volume 25 of Guo Maoqian's "Collection of Yuefu Poems" included it in "Lianggujiao Transverse Blowing Songs", titled "Song of the Purple Horse". Before the "Fifteenth Military Expedition", there were many "Burning Songs" Eight sentences such as "Fire burns the wild fields". Here, we agree with the "Collection of Yuefu Poems" and regard this poem as Han Yuefu, and according to the current version, we retain its verses below "Fifteenth Conquest of the Army".
This is a narrative poem that depicts the scene of a veteran who "left home when he was a young boy and returned home" after he returned home. It expresses the veteran's emotions and reflects the social reality at that time. , has a certain typical significance. The opening line is extraordinary: "You join the army at the age of fifteen and return home at the age of eighty." These two sentences bluntly say that the veteran joined the army at the age of fifteen and returned at the age of eighty. It seems ordinary, as if it was said inadvertently, It's solid but intriguing, and quite capable. He "joined the army at the age of fifteen" and where he went is not explained in the poem. What his military life was like and what the battle conditions were like are also not explained in the poem. This leaves a lot of room for the reader's imagination. But one thing is clear, that is, his "military conquest" was motivated by war, and he had been there for decades! The contrast between "eighty" and "fifteen" highlights the long period of his "military expedition"; the echo of "beginning to return" and "military expedition" indicate that he never came back midway.
It is precisely because he joined the army in the 15th year and returned in the 80th year. During this period, he lost contact with his family for decades and knew nothing about the situation at home. The veteran was eager to know the situation at home, so , which naturally leads to the following - the conversation between the veteran and the villagers on his way back home. The old soldier, "meeting a fellow countryman," couldn't wait to ask: "Who is there at home?" The "townshipman" replied: "Looking from a distance, it is Jun's house, with numerous pine and cypress tombs." A poem by Song Zhiwen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty: " "I am even more timid when I'm close to my hometown, and I don't dare to ask the stranger" ("Crossing the Han River"), which reflects his ambivalence on the way back to his hometown after a long absence. The writing style of this poem is different, but he reaches the same destination by different routes. Song Zhiwen's poem expresses his urgent desire to understand the situation at home on his way back home, while this poem is straightforward. Both show the true emotions of people who have returned home after a long absence. The answer of the "countryside people" in this poem is very clever. It does not explicitly say who else is in the veteran's family, but just points to the numerous high graves covered with pines and cypresses in the distance and says: "That is your home." The implication is that The meaning is: "There is no one else in your family." In fact, the "countryside people" answered this way because they couldn't bear to tell the truth, fearing that the veteran would not be able to bear the pain of family ruin and death. Such ink is obviously used to describe sadness in a sad scene, which also echoes the following text.
What is the situation like at home among veterans? What is his mood like? The four sentences of "Rabbit Cong" follow the above description. What the veteran saw after arriving home was: rabbits came in and out of dog holes, pheasants flew around on the beams; "Lvgu" grew in the courtyard, and "Lvkui" grew on the well platform. "Rabbit" and "pheasant" (pheasant) are both animals, one is in "Gou Dou" (below) and the other is in "Liang Shang" (above); "Lugu" and "Lukui" are both unplanted As for the plants that grow by themselves, one is in the "courtyard" (in the courtyard) and the other is in the "well" (on the well platform). What a sad scene these animals and plants in different directions create here! The direct cause of this scene is that there is no one at home among the veterans. And there is no one at home, so who caused it? The poem does not state this explicitly, which leaves room for the reader's imagination. These lines of poems still use sad scenes to describe sorrow, and use desolate scenes to highlight the sadness in the hearts of veterans. What makes the veteran even more sad is that he used "Lvgu" to cook rice and "Lvkui" to make soup. It didn't take long to cook it, but he didn't know who to give the rice and soup to, that is, he had no relatives. Enjoyed it. This is exactly what the four sentences "Chong Gu" express. The veteran returned home alone, with no relatives at home, and in the end he was still alone. This not only echoes the above - the responses of the villagers and the scene that the veterans saw after returning home, but also continues to use sad scenes to describe sadness.
The last two lines of the poem further express the sadness in the veteran's heart through the description of his movements. Here, the details of the veteran looking around ("Going out to look eastward") and the old man crying ("The tears fell on my clothes") are highlighted, vividly portraying the image of the unaccompanied and lonely veteran, and making him grief-stricken. The confusion is vividly expressed. Just imagine, he "served in the army at the age of fifteen and returned home at the age of eighty." He has no relatives at home and only has a desolate scene. How can he not feel sad about it? What will the future life be like? How could he not feel confused? Who caused his tragic experience? Although the poem does not say it explicitly, it is not difficult to see this as long as we relate to the background of the times when the poem was produced.
According to Wu Jing's "Interpretations of Ancient Yuefu Inscriptions", this poem was composed into Yuefu during the Jin Dynasty, and it can be regarded as a work during the wars of the Han and Wei dynasties. It was the militaristic rulers and endless wars at that time that caused the veteran's tragic experience. Reflecting the tragic experience of the veteran also reflects the tragic experience of the common people under the heavy oppression of corvee at that time, and profoundly exposes the dark social reality at that time.
This poem is structured around the veteran's experience of returning home and his emotional changes, which is clever and natural. His experience of returning home is: first returning home→on the way home→returning home→"looking eastward"; his emotional changes are: eager to go home, eager to know "who is at home?", full of hope to reunite with relatives ( On the way home)→Fruited hope→completely disappointed (returning home, the scene is desolate and no one is there)→sad and crying, feeling at a loss ("Go out and look eastward"). These are attributed to the theme of poetry that exposes the dark social reality. The whole poem uses line drawing techniques to depict scenes and people, with clear layers and simple language. It also uses sad scenes to describe sorrow, which is sincere and unique. It also embodies the artistic characteristics of the lyrical scene of Han Dynasty Yuefu.
Translation:
I joined the army at the age of fifteen and returned home at the age of eighty.
He was drafted into the army at the age of fifteen, and was discharged and returned to his hometown at the age of eighty.
When he met a fellow villager, he asked, "Who is in my family?"
He met a neighbor on the road and asked, "Who else is in my family?"
"Looking from a distance, it's your home, with lots of pine and cypress graves."
"Looking from a distance, it's your home, with a mass of tombs among the pines and cypresses."
The rabbit entered from the dog's sinus, Pheasants flew from the beams.
Look up close and see rabbits going in and out of dog holes, and pheasants flying back and forth on the ridge of the roof.
The atrium produces the valley, and the well produces the sunflower.
Wild millet grows in the yard, and wild sunflowers surround the well platform.
Pulse grain to make rice, and pick sunflowers to make soup.
Pound some wild grains and pound rice for cooking, and pick sunflower leaves to make soup.
The soup rice is cooked for a while, but I don’t know who it is.
The soup and rice were ready in a while, and it was very sad to eat alone.
When I went out and looked eastward, my clothes were stained with tears.
I walked out of the door and looked towards the east; old tears fell on Zheng Yi.
"Fifteenth Military Expedition" reflects the hardship and displacement of people's lives in a turbulent society through the return of a veteran.
1. For a veteran who joined the army at 15 and returned only in his 80s, the ups and downs of his life cannot be described in a thousand words. This poem intercepts a point in time: the time of returning home; a question: "Who is at home?"; a behavioral detail: making rice and cooking soup, but not knowing who is sharing it; the layers are condensed, and finally stops at leaving home. Looking east, tears stain my clothes. What is the artistic effect of such cutting and cutting? What is the artistic principle?
2. After returning home, the veteran took the trouble to cook rice and cook soup, but he did not know who was eating with him, which shows that there was a lot of food. Not just for personal use. However, the answers given by the people in Wenxiang (there are numerous graves in Jun's family) and the desolate scene he saw with his own eyes (rabbits scurrying and pheasants flying, and the courtyard growing like sunflowers) had already clearly conveyed to him the message that his family was ruined. So, why does the veteran still cook rice soup and feed it to his family? Since he no longer knows who he is feeding, why does he still want to "go out and look eastward"? It is only then that his "tears fall on my clothes." Does it mean that he now understands his family? Broken and dead? Is it possible for the veteran to have these unusual reactions? Is it reasonable? Why did he react like this?
I was drafted into the army at the age of fifteen. He retired from the army and returned to his hometown at the age of 18. He joined the army at the age of fifteen and returned home at the age of eighty.
On the road, he met a neighbor and asked, "Who else is in my family?" "Your home is surrounded by pine and cypress trees." "Looking from a distance, it's your home with lots of pine and cypress graves."
Up close, you can see rabbits coming in and out of dog holes, and pheasants flying around on the roof. The rabbit enters from the dog's sinus, and the pheasant flies from the beam.
Wild millet grows in the yard, and wild sunflowers surround the well platform. In the courtyard, the valley is born, and in the well, the sunflower is born.
Pound some wild grains and pound rice for cooking, and pick sunflower leaves to make soup. The grain is pounded for rice, and the sunflower is picked for soup.
The soup and rice were ready in a while, and it was very sad to eat alone. The rice is cooked for a while, but I don't know who it is.
I walked out of the door and looked towards the east; old tears fell on Zheng Yi. When I went out and looked eastward, my clothes were stained with tears.