"Song of the Song·Cicadas are singing in the empty mulberry forest"
Author: Wang Changling
Cicadas are singing in the empty mulberry forest, August Xiao Guandao.
Going out of the plug and back into the plug again, there are yellow reeds everywhere.
We have always been friends and guests, but we all grow old in the battlefield.
Don’t imitate the knight-errants and boast about Ziliu.
Rhyme Translation
Cicadas are chirping in the bare mulberry forest, and the Xiaoguan Road in August is refreshing and high in autumn.
After leaving the fortress and then entering the fortress, the climate becomes colder, and there are yellow reeds inside and outside the pass.
Since ancient times, heroes from Hebei and Shanxi have grown old with dust and yellow sand.
Don’t be like the knights who rely on their bravery and boast about their horses.
Notes
⑴ Empty mulberry forest: The mulberry forest becomes empty and sparse due to fallen leaves in autumn.
⑵Xiaoguan: the name of an ancient pass in Ningxia.
⑶Youbian: Youzhou and Bingzhou, part of present-day Hebei, Shanxi and Shaanxi.
⑷***: means "xiang".
⑸Youxiaer: A young urban ranger.
⑹禜: boast. Ziliu: purple-red horse.
Appreciation
"The cicadas sing in the empty mulberry forest, and the road is closed in August. When you leave the fortress and enter the fortress again, there are yellow reeds everywhere." These four sentences describe the autumn scenery of the frontier fortress, which is infinitely sad and desolate. Chilling cicadas, mulberry forests, Xiaoguan, frontier fortresses, and autumn grass are all synonymous with sadness in the ancient poetry imagery of Zhongwei. The deliberately describing the chilling autumn scene at the beginning of the poem serves as a background and emotional pavement for the later anti-war theme. He writes about recruiting people to guard the border and conveys his deep sympathy. "We have always been quiet and guests, but we are all old people in the dust", which is similar to Wang Han's "Don't laugh when you are lying drunk on the battlefield, how many people have fought in ancient times", it can be said that it is seen by a hero. Youzhou and Bingzhou were both frontier fortresses in the Tang Dynasty. They were also places where many scholars pursued fame and fortune, "only seeking fame from horses" and "better to be a centurion than a scholar". However, what the poet sees from these young people full of great ambitions is the helpless ending of "all becoming old in the sand". The last two sentences end with a contrast. Through the satire of the so-called knights who rely on their own bravery, show off that Ziliu is good at galloping, wander around in a show of force, and even cause trouble and disturb the people, the author profoundly expresses the author's disgust for war and his yearning for a peaceful life. When I talked about You Bingke earlier, the author didn't have any derogatory meaning, and there was still a vague feeling of regret for the heroes who gave their lives on the battlefield. The author's anti-war sentiments are expressed in a deeper way by using "errant knights" to describe those street scoundrels who only know how to boast about their good horses.
This poem describes the autumn scenery of the frontier fortress, with a generous and sad Jian'an legacy; it writes about guarding the border and recruiting people, and it also has the direct expression of sorrow from the Han Yuefu; it is a satirical metaphor for the knights in the city, and it also makes people see the young men in brocade in the Tang Dynasty. Exaggerated atmosphere.
Extended reading: Introduction to Wang Changling
Wang Changling (698-756 AD), courtesy name Shaobo, Han nationality, was from Taiyuan, Shanxi. A frontier poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, he was known as the "Seven Masters" by later generations. He was poor and humble in his early years and was trapped in farming. As he grew older, he became a Jinshi. He first served as secretary of the Provincial School, and became a scholar and scholar. He was awarded the rank of Sishui Lieutenant. He was demoted to Lingnan due to some affairs. At the end of Kaiyuan, he returned to Chang'an and was granted the title of Jiang Ningcheng. He was slandered and relegated to Long Biaowei. An Shi rebellion broke out and he was killed by Lu Qiu Xiao, the governor. His poems are famous for his Qijue, especially the frontier fortress poems he wrote when he went to the northwest frontier fortress before ascending to the throne. His frontier fortress poems are powerful, high-spirited and full of positive spirit. Known as Wang Longbiao in the world, he is also known as "Wang Jiangning, the Poet Emperor". He has more than 170 poems in existence, and his works include "Collection of Wang Changling".
Wang Changling was a famous poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Most of his poems focus on three categories of themes, namely, frontier fortress, love and palace resentment, and farewell. "The Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" evaluates Changling's poems as "dense in thought and clear in thinking". His Qijue poems are particularly outstanding, even comparable to Li Bai's, so he was dubbed the "Sage of Qijue". In particular, his frontier fortress poems are fluent, high-spirited and highly praised by future generations. The development of frontier fortress poems in the Tang Dynasty reached its peak, with a total number of nearly 2,000, reaching the total number of frontier fortress poems of all generations. The Frontier Poetry School, led by Gao Shi, Cen Zhen and Wang Changling, is an important school in Romanticism. Their works on frontier fortresses express the heroic aspirations of galloping on the battlefield and establishing meritorious deeds, expressing the patriotic thoughts of generously serving in the army, resisting enemies and insults, and also describing the strange and magnificent scenery of the northwest frontier. At the same time, it also reflects the resentment of a husband who misses his wife, the hardships of soldiers, and the conflicts between various ethnic groups and between generals and soldiers. Frontier poems reflected the reality of all aspects of war in this era and produced many outstanding poems. Wang Changling's frontier fortress poems fully reflect his patriotism and heroism. In addition, they also deeply contain the poet's humanistic care for the lower class people, reflecting the poet's broad vision and broad mind. Wang Changling is good at using scenes to describe emotions and blending scenes in his writing style. This is the most commonly used structure in frontier poems, but the poet used the most concise techniques to expand a broader vision beyond this situation, condensing the most plain and unpretentious theme into something that runs through time and space. Eternal thinking; the representative is "Crossing the Fortress" (the bright moon of the Qin Dynasty and the pass of the Han Dynasty).
Extended reading: Wang Changling’s literary achievements
Wang Changling has 181 poems. The genres are mainly Five Ancients and Qijue, and the themes are mainly parting and frontier fortress. , palace resentment. In terms of quantity, institutional preparation, and wide range of themes, Wang Changling's poems are not as good as those of Li Bai, Du Fu, Gao Shi, and Cen Shen, but the quality of his poems is very high. Frontier fortress poetry can be combined with Gao Shi and Cen Shen. After the four outstanding figures, there are almost no frontier fortress poems in the poetry world. After Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty changed the imperial military system to a recruitment system, literati became enthusiastic about joining the army in order to seek side merit. In the thirteenth year of Kaiyuan, Wang Changling roamed the northwest frontier, gained a deeper experience of frontier fortress life, and wrote a large number of frontier fortress poems. At this time, Cen Shen was 11 years old, and Gao Shi had not yet started the frontier fortress life. Later generations successively verified that Wang Changling was called frontier fortress poem. founder and pioneer.
Wang Changling’s frontier fortress poems are good at capturing typical scenes, with a high degree of generalization and rich expressive power. It not only reflects the main theme of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but also provides detailed descriptions of the scenery of the frontier fortress and border battlefield scenes. At the same time, it can capture the delicate inner world of the soldiers. The artistic conception of his poetry is broad, the language is mellow and subtle, the tone is gentle and harmonious, and it is thought-provoking. He has high attainments in estrus, landscaping, and freehand brushwork. Wang Changling's palace resentment poems can compete with Li Bai's, and his poems are unique in their profound meaning, wonderful description of scenery, keen comparison and strange language. Wang Changling's poems about concubines and mourners use a spirit of compassion to describe the sorrow and lamentation of those concubines and mourners who have been in the palace for a long time. They use delicate brushwork to show their lives and emotional world in many aspects, and reveal what they encountered under the cruel palace funeral system. The tragic fate objectively criticizes the evil of feudal society that destroys women. This ideological tendency laid the healthy tone of his works, washed away the garish and pornographic stains of the Six Dynasties' court poems, and effectively reversed the bad style of Qi and Liang's songs. On the other hand, in terms of artistic expression, Wang Changling also carried forward the gorgeousness of the Six Dynasties. The gorgeous and carefully crafted expression techniques inherit the beauty of its form. Therefore, Wang Changling is known as the first person to successfully write palace poems in seven-character quatrains.