red wall
Du Mu? Tang dynasty
A broken iron halberd sank into the sand and disappeared, only to find that it was the remnant of Battle of Red Cliffs after grinding and washing.
If the east wind is not convenient for Zhou Yu, I'm afraid that Cao Cao will win and Er Qiao will be locked up in Tongquetai.
Translation and annotation
translate
In the sediment of Chibi, there is a broken halberd, which has not completely rusted. After grinding and washing, it was found that it was left over from Battle of Red Cliffs.
If it weren't for Zhou Yu's convenience, I'm afraid Cao Cao would win and Er Qiao would be put in Tongquetai.
To annotate ...
Halberd: A broken halberd. Ji, an ancient weapon.
Pin: pin corrosion.
Will: Take it, take it.
Polishing and cleaning: polishing and cleaning.
Recognize the former dynasty: recognize the halberd as a relic of defeating Cao.
Dongfeng: refers to a battle in the Three Kingdoms period-burning Chibi.
Zhou Lang: It refers to Zhou Yu. His name is Gong Jin. When he was young, he became famous, and people called him Zhou Lang. Later, he served as the commander-in-chief of Wujun and participated in Battle of Red Cliffs, which was the main figure in this campaign.
Tongquetai: The Tongquetai built by Cao Cao in Linzhang County, Hebei Province. There is a big bronze sparrow terrace on the roof, and concubines and prostitutes live on the platform, which is a playground for Cao Cao in his later years.
Er Qiao: One of Wu Dong's two daughters married Sun Ce (the elder brother of Sun Quan), a former monarch, named Da Qiao, and the other married Zhou Yu, a military commander, named Xiao Qiao, collectively known as "Er Qiao".
Creation background
This poem was written by the poet after passing through the famous ancient battlefield Chibi (now Chiji Mountain in the southwest of Wuchang County, Hubei Province) and feeling the success or failure of heroes in the Three Kingdoms period. The poet looked at the remains of the ancient battlefield and thought of his own experience, which made him feel something.
Distinguish and appreciate
This is an epic poem written by the poet hanging on the ancient battlefield of Chibi. It believes that the success or failure of historical figures is accidental. Du Mu's quatrains set off a discussion on the poet's poems. "Chibi", the mountain name, is located in the northwest of Puyin County, Hubei Province, on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and on the other side is Wulin. Legend has it that Sun Quan, Liu Bei and Cao Cao fought a decisive battle. In the 13th year of Jian 'an (208), Battle of Red Cliffs laid the foundation for the tripartite confrontation among the three countries. Zhou Yu commanded Wu Jun, as the main force, and defeated Cao Cao's army, which claimed to be millions, with fire and became a hero in history.
"If you don't sell iron, you will recognize it if you wash it." These two sentences mean that the broken Zhan Ji sank in the sand and was not eroded. After grinding, he recognized it as a relic of the previous dynasty. Here, these two descriptions seem dull, but they are uneven. The broken halberd is buried in the sand, pointing out the historical situation here. The broken sand in Zhan Ji has not been eroded, suggesting that time has passed and things have changed. It was because of the discovery of this rusty "broken halberd" buried at the bottom of the river for more than 600 years that the poet had a lot of thoughts, so he had to grind it out and identify it, and found that it was a weapon left over by Battle of Red Cliffs. In this way, the remains of the former dynasty further aroused the author's imagination and laid a good foundation for the later expression.
"Dongfeng is not with Zhou Lang, and Tongque Chunsuo Er Qiao." The last two sentences of the poem say that if the east wind is not convenient for Zhou Yu, I'm afraid that Cao Cao will win and Er Qiao will be put in Tongquetai.
The last two sentences are arguments. Battle of Red Cliffs and Zhou Yu mainly defeated enemies far outnumbered themselves, but he was able to fight fire with fire because a strong east wind just blew at the decisive moment. Therefore, the poet commented on the reasons for the failure of this war, and only chose the winner at that time-Zhou Lang and the factor he relied on to win-Dongfeng to write. Because of the key to this victory, he finally had to return to Dongfeng, so he put Dongfeng in a more important position. However, he didn't describe how Dongfeng helped Zhou Lang win, but wrote from the opposite side: If Dongfeng didn't bring convenience to Zhou Lang this time, the outcome would be transposed and the historical situation would be completely changed. Therefore, I will write the hypothetical situation after Sun and Liu defeated after the victory. However, it does not directly describe the changes in the political and military situation, but indirectly describes the fate of two famous Wu Dong beauties. If Cao Cao becomes the winner, then Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao will be snatched away and put on a bronze sparrow terrace for him to enjoy (the bronze sparrow terrace is in Yexian County, which was the capital of Wei when Cao Cao sealed the king of Wei, and his hometown is now Linzhang West, Hebei Province).
The two women in the poem, Da Qiao and Er Qiao, are not ordinary people, but ladies who belong to the highest class of the Soochow ruling class. Da Qiao was the wife of Sun Ce, the former leader of Dongwu, and Sun Quan, the leader of Dongwu at that time, while Xiao Qiao was the wife of Zhou Yu, the military commander who led all the land and water armies of Dongwu to fight against Cao Cao. Although they had nothing to do with this campaign, their status and status represented the dignity of Dongwu as an independent political entity. Wu Dong is not dead, they can never be attributed to Cao Cao; Even if they are humiliated, Wu Dong's social and biological experience can be imagined. Therefore, the poet described Cao Cao's arrogance after his victory and Wu Dong's humiliation after his defeat in the case of "the east wind is not as convenient as Zhou Lang" with a poem like "a bronze sparrow locks Er Qiao in the spring", which is extremely powerful. It not only sets off the hero with beauty, but also reflects Zhou Lang in the previous sentence, showing more affection. Poetry creation must use image thinking, and image language is the direct reality of image thinking. Observing life with thinking in images and creatively reflecting life are the life of poetry. In this poem, Du Mu used the vivid poem "A Bronze finch is deep in spring", that is, seeing the big from the small, which is his unique success in artistic treatment. In addition, this poem overemphasizes the role of Dongfeng, instead of praising Zhou Yu's victory from the front, it bears his failure from the opposite side. Du Mu was proficient in politics and military affairs, and had a clear understanding of the struggle situation between the central government and the buffer region, and between the Han nationality and Tubo at that time, and put forward some useful suggestions to the court. It's hard to imagine that Monk knew that "the weather is not as good as the geographical position, and the geographical position is not as good as human harmony" during the Warring States Period, but Du Mu also attributed Zhou Yu's victory in Battle of Red Cliffs to the accidental east wind. I'm afraid he wrote this way because he is conceited and knows soldiers, and he used historical events to vent his depression in his chest. It also implies Ruan Ji's lament that "there was no hero in the battlefield of Guangwu, and his son became famous", but the text is very vague and not good-looking.
Working background
Du Mu himself has the ability to help the world through the country, is familiar with politics and military affairs, and is very familiar with history and current affairs. As we all know, both Battle of Red Cliffs and Wu Sheng were defeated by Cao Cao, but here the author made a bold assumption of reverse thinking and put forward a hypothesis that is contrary to historical facts. What would have happened if Dongfeng hadn't helped Zhou Yu? The poet did not speak frankly about the end of the war. But "Tongquetai locks Er Qiao in spring". Tongquetai is Cao Cao's luxurious and dissipated place, where concubines and geisha are kept. The bronze sparrow terrace here reminds people of Cao Cao's romantic side. It is said that "deep spring" has deepened this romantic charm. Finally, the word "lock" is used to further highlight his meaning of golden house. It is really admirable to write so many stories about the victory and defeat of the war filled with smoke.
Brief introduction of the author
Du Mu (AD 803-852), born in Fanchuan, Mu Zhi, Han nationality, Jingzhao Wannian (now Xi, Shaanxi), was a poet in the Tang Dynasty. Du Mu is called "Xiao Du" to distinguish him from Du Fu. Also known as "Little Du Li" with Li Shangyin. Because he lived in South Fan Chuan Villa in Chang 'an in his later years, he was later called "Du Fanchuan" and wrote "Collected Works of Fan Chuan".