The poet described the special feeling of overlooking the Yellow River from a special perspective, and at the same time showed the magnificent and desolate scenery of the frontier fortress area. The whole poem is tragic and desolate, exuding a generous spirit. The desolation of the frontier fortress reflects the sadness that the border guards can't return to their hometown. This kind of sadness is not depressed, but heroic and broad.
Liangzhou Song
The Yellow River is far above the white clouds.
Wan Ren is an isolated city.
Why should a strong brother complain about Liu?
The spring breeze does not pass through Yumen Pass.
(Wang Zhihuan)
[Notes]
1. Liangzhou Ci: The lyrics of a popular tune (Liangzhou Ci) at that time.
2. Upper Yellow River: Look at the source of the Yellow River.
3. Lonely city: refers to the lonely castle guarding the border.
4. Qi: ancient unit of length. One breath is equivalent to seven or eight feet.
Qiang flute: Qiang musical instrument.
6. Willow: refers to a song called "Folding Willow". There is a custom of breaking willows to bid farewell in the Tang Dynasty.
7. Degree: Crossing. The last two sentences mean, why does Qiangdi play such a sad tune as Broken Willow, complaining that the willows don't bloom and spring comes late? You know, the spring breeze outside Yumenguan can't blow!
[Brief analysis]
From a distance, the rushing Yellow River seems to be connected with white clouds in the sky, and Yumenguan stands alone among the mountains. Don't complain that spring is late, because the spring breeze can't bypass Yumen Pass at all.
"Liangzhou Ci" is the lyrics of Liangzhou Song, not the title of a poem, but the title of a popular song in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. During the Kaiyuan period, Guo Zhiyun, the Chinese ambassador to Longyou, collected a batch of western music scores and presented them to Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Xuanzong handed them over to the teaching workshop and translated them into China music scores, and sang them with new lyrics, taking the place names generated by these music scores as the title of the song. Later, many poets liked this tune and filled it with new words, as did the Tang Dynasty.
Wang Zhihuan's poems are about the homesickness of the soldiers guarding the border. It is desolate and generous, sad without losing strength. Although he tried his best to exaggerate the resentment that soldiers could not return home, he did not feel depressed, which fully showed the broad-minded mind of poets in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
The first sentence, "The Yellow River is far above the white clouds", captures the characteristics of overlooking and depicts a moving picture: on the vast plateau, the Yellow River flows down as if it were flowing out of the white clouds from a distance. The second sentence "An isolated city in Wan Ren Mountain" describes an isolated city on the border. Surrounded by mountains and rivers, an isolated border city stands tall. These two sentences describe the majestic momentum of the mountains and rivers of the motherland.
In this environment, I suddenly heard the sound of Qiangdi, and the tune it played happened to be "Folding Willow", which could not help but evoke the sadness of the defenders. The ancients had the custom of folding willows as a gift when leaving. "Willow" is homophonic with "reserved as a souvenir". The Northern Dynasty Yuefu's "Crossing the Drum Horn" has "Folding Yang Liuzhi", and the lyrics say: "Don't catch the whip when you get on the horse, fight with Yang Liuzhi. Worry about killing travelers. " It is mentioned in the song that pedestrians break willows when they leave. This wind of breaking willows to bid farewell was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, willow and parting are closely related. Now the soldiers guarding the border will inevitably feel sad and don't hate when they hear the sad tune of Broken Willow played by Qiangdi. Therefore, the poet explained in an open-minded tone: Why does Qiangdi always play that sad "Broken Willow"? You know, outside Yumenguan is a place where spring breeze can't blow, so no willow can be folded! To say "why complain" is not to complain, nor to persuade the guards not to complain, but to complain is useless. The use of the word "why complain" makes poetry more economical and meaningful.
In three or four sentences, Yang Shen in the Ming Dynasty thought it was ironic: "This poem is not as generous as the frontier fortress, and the so-called Junmen is far more than Wan Li." (Sheng An Shi Hua) Chinese ancient poetry has always had the tradition of "happiness", not to mention "poetry is unattainable". We think readers can understand this, but we are not sure whether the author really means it.