Climb the Jieshi Pavilion in the south and look at the Golden Platform in the distance.
The hills are covered with trees, is King Zhao safe?
The tyranny is over now, and the horses are coming back.
This poem is unremarkable at first glance, but it has profound implications when you think about it carefully. In the second year of Long Live Tongtian (697), Empress Wu sent Wu Youyi, the king of Jian'an County, to conquer Khitan in the north, and Chen Zi'ang accompanied the army as a staff officer. Wu Youyi was born in a noble family and knew nothing about military affairs. Chen Zi'ang repeatedly proposed strange strategies, but was ignored. Instead, he was denounced and moved to the military service. The author was inspired by the story of King Zhao of Yan recruiting talents to revitalize the country of Yan, so he wrote this poem. King Zhao of Yan was the monarch of the Yan Kingdom during the Warring States Period. After taking power in 312 BC, he recruited wise men and gradually strengthened the Yan State, which was originally in decline, and defeated the powerful State of Qi at that time.
"Climb the Jieshi Pavilion in the south and look at the Golden Platform in the distance." From the two actions of "climbing" and "looking", we can see how much the poet yearned for the ancients! Of course, this is not simply a nostalgia for the past. The poet admires the ancients so strongly because he deeply feels the ups and downs of today's world, and there is a deep self-reflection in it.