"One general's success and ten thousand bones withered" comes from "Two Poems on the Year of Ji Hai·The First Year of Xizong Guangming" written by Cao Song of the Tang Dynasty.
Original text
Two poems at the age of Jihai·The first year of Xizong Guangming
Cao Song [Tang Dynasty]
Zeguo Jiangshan entered the war Picture, how can the living people plan to enjoy Qiao Su?
Don’t talk about the matter of making a marquis. One general will make thousands of bones wither.
It is rumored that the war will bring sorrow to all the gods, and the strong troops on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will continue to fight.
Who knows that there is always nothing wrong with Cangjiang? There has been a lot of bloodshed in Changjiang recently.
Translation
The fertile waters and mountains have been shrouded in war clouds, and the people cannot even collect firewood or cut grass to survive.
Please stop mentioning the matter of becoming a marquis. Do you know how many lives of soldiers must be sacrificed for a general to become famous?
It is said that once a war breaks out, even the gods will be worried, and the armies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been fighting non-stop for years.
Who said that the Cangjiang River is always peaceful and without trouble? Recently, the water in the river is mixed with blood and is rushing to the east.
Notes
Jihai: It is the stem and branch of the sixth year of Qianfu (879) of Emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty.
Zeguo: generally refers to various places in the south of the Yangtze River. It is called because of the numerous lakes and lakes scattered all over it.
Qiao Su: One is "Qiao Yu".
Rumors: The first work is "Haima".
Appreciation
This group of poems is included in Volume 717 of "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty". The eye-catching title of the poem "Ji Hai Sui" points out that what is written in the poem is a living social and political reality.
After the Anshi Rebellion, the war first started in Hebei and later spread to the Central Plains. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, another large-scale peasant uprising occurred. The Tang Dynasty carried out a brutal suppression, and everything south of the river became a battlefield. This is the so-called "map of Zeguo Jiangshan entering the war". The poem does not directly say that the war has affected the Jianghan River Basin (Zeguo), but only says that these rivers and mountains have been drawn into the war map. The expression is euphemistic and tortuous, allowing readers to imagine the reality of war, iron and blood through a "war map". This is a successful example of the poet's use of image thinking.
"When the country is at war, how can the people survive?" These two sentences first outline for us a picture of a troubled world in which conquests continue and the people are in dire straits. The "Zeguo" in the first sentence refers to the Jianghan River Basin. This sentence says that the Han River Basin has been drawn into the battle map, which means that the war has spread from the north of the river to the south of the river. From this, a troubled world with wars everywhere is vividly depicted, but the expression is implicit and euphemistic. The second sentence depicts the general psychology of the people in troubled times, reflecting their situation of being displaced and unable to make a living. "Qiao" means gathering firewood, and "Su" means cutting grass. In peaceful times, these were two extremely difficult livelihoods, and there was no happiness at all. But now, they have become an ideal life in the minds of the people. why? Because in today's troubled times, being able to collect firewood, cut grass and live in peace is already a great happiness. In addition, what higher requirements can there be? However, even this humble and insignificant request is still a luxury hope for the people. It will really make those who hear it cry and those who see it will be sad. There are only seven words in this sentence, and the thing described is extremely simple, but the semantics changes several times, which makes people admire the poet's writing skills.
"Don't talk about the matter of making a marquis, for one general will make a thousand bones withered." The matter of "conferring a marquis" here is realistic and targeted: 879 AD (the sixth year of Qianfu, that is, " Gao Pian, the Zhenhai Jiedushi envoy in the year "Ji Hai", was rewarded for his "contribution" in suppressing Huang Chao's uprising army in Huainan. He was only "contributing to killing more people". It is outrageous to hear, and cold to the teeth when spoken. No wonder the poet closed his eyes and waved his hands and said, "Don't talk about the matter of ennobling a marquis because of the king." The word "Ping" means between "please" and "please", and the tone is softer than "please", which means: OK, do it, but don't mention the title. The bitter sound of the word is all derived from this one word.
"One general's success will destroy thousands of bones", which is also a warning policy. Its words are simple but meaningful. Compared with the sentence "The pitiful bones are piled up in solitary graves, all for the generals to seek military exploits" (Zhang Yu's "Hanging Mass Tombs"), the number of words is halved but the meaning is doubled. It not only contains the same realistic content of "the general praises the sword, but the merit is that he kills more people" (Liu Shang's "The Battle of the Camp"); it also has an additional layer of "the soldiers are careless, but the general does nothing" (Li Bai's "War in the South") This means that the general and the title of marquis were paid at a high price for the sacrifice of his soldiers. Secondly, a strong contrast technique is used in one sentence: the contrast between "one" and "ten thousand", "rong" and "dry" is shocking. The word "bone" is extremely vivid and shocking. The contrasting technique and the use of the word "bone" here are very close to the astonishing sentence "The wine and meat of the rich family smells bad, and the bones on the road are frozen to death". They reveal the essence of feudal social history from different aspects and are highly typical. The first three sentences only use three points of meaning and are euphemistic, but this sentence is very deliberate and striking, making every word even more important in comparison.
This group of poems uses the stems and branches as their titles to show documentary and clearly express a critical attitude towards reality. The whole poem outlines the serious disasters and catastrophes caused by the war to the people. It uses a cold and profound vision to penetrate the essence of feudal wars for thousands of years.
Creative background
This poem was probably written by the author in 880 AD (the first year of Guangming Dynasty) recalling the current events of the previous year.
About the author
Cao Song (828-903), a poet in the late Tang Dynasty. The word Meng Zheng. A native of Shuzhou (now Tongcheng, Anhui, now Qianshan, Anhui). The year of birth and death is unknown.
In his early years, he fled chaos and lived in the Western Hills of Hongdu, and later became the governor of Jianzhou, Li Pin. After Li's death, he wandered around the world without meeting anyone. He was a Jinshi in the fourth year of Guanghua (901). He was over 70 years old. He was specially awarded the title of School Secretary (Secretary Province Zhengzi) and died.