The annotation of the ancient poem "Congjunxing" is as follows:
Original text:
The long clouds in Qinghai darken the snow-capped mountains, and the lonely city looks at Yumen Pass in the distance.
The yellow sand will wear golden armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will never be returned until it is broken.
Word annotations:
1. Joining the Army: An old title from Yuefu, mostly about military wars.
2. Qinghai: refers to Qinghai Lake.
3. Snow Mountain: This refers to the Qilian Mountains in Gansu Province.
4. Gucheng: a city in Qinghai at that time. It is said that the lonely city is Yumenguan.
5. To wear: to wear out.
6. Golden armor: battle clothes, metal armor.
8. Loulan: The name of the country in the Western Regions. This generally refers to the enemies that harassed the northwest frontier at that time.
Translation:
The clouds over Qinghai have obscured the snow-capped mountains. Standing in the isolated city, I look at the Yumen Pass in the distance. The soldiers outside the Great Wall have worn out their helmets and armor after hundreds of battles, and they vow not to return until they defeat the enemy in the west.
Appreciation of the work:
"The long clouds in Qinghai darken the snow-capped mountains, and the lonely city looks at Yumen Pass in the distance." The sky above Qinghai Lake is filled with long clouds; to the north of the lake, there are faint snow-capped mountains that stretch for thousands of miles; beyond the snow-capped mountains, there is an isolated city standing in the desert of the Hexi Corridor; further to the west, there is the military fortress - Yumen Pass, which is far opposite to the isolated city. .
"The yellow sand wears golden armor in a hundred battles" is a poem with strong summary power. The long time of guarding the border, the frequency of battles, the arduousness of the battles, the strength of the enemy troops, and the desolation of the border areas are all summarized in these seven words.
"If Loulan is not destroyed, it will never be returned" is the heroic oath of the soldiers who have experienced hundreds of battles. The more difficult and frequent the battles are in the previous sentence, the more sonorous and powerful this sentence becomes.