Seven Poems of Joining the Army (4)
There is a dark snow-capped mountain in Qinghai, with long white clouds and a lonely city looking at Yumenguan.
Yellow sand wears golden armor in hundreds of battles, but the loulan is not returned.
Explanation:
1. Qinghai: Qinghai Lake, in the west of Xining City, Qinghai Province.
2. Snow Mountain: Qilian Mountain.
3. Gucheng: When it is a city in Qinghai. Speaking of isolated city, it is Yumen Pass.
4. Yumenguan: The establishment of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was named after the jade introduced from the Western Regions. Therefore, it is located in Xiaofang City in the northwest of Dunhuang, Gansu. During the Six Dynasties, the site moved eastward to the vicinity of Shuangta Fort in Anxi.
5. Loulan: Shanshan Country in the Western Regions of Han Dynasty, located in the southeast of Shanshan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In the Western Han Dynasty, Loulan joined forces with Xiongnu to cover and kill the envoys sent by the Han Dynasty to the Western Regions. Fu Jiezi was ordered to assassinate King Loulan. "Then he returned to the throne with the king's head in his hand, and the ministers and generals discussed it, and Xian Jia made great contributions" (The Biography of Han Fu Jiezi). This means that Loulan is the enemy of the northwest.