Original text of the poem
Leaving the Fortress
(Tang Dynasty) Wang Changling
The bright moon in the Qin Dynasty and the pass in the Han Dynasty,
Thousands of miles The Long Marchers have not yet returned.
But the dragon city flying general is here,
He will not teach Hu Ma to cross the Yin Mountain.
Annotation translation
Annotation
1. Going out of the fortress: This is a title commonly used by poets in the Tang Dynasty when they wrote poems about life in the frontier fortress.
2. Mingyue in Qin and Guan in Han: that is, the bright moon in Qin and Han, and the pass in Qin and Han. This means that the war has never stopped on the long border line.
3. But make: as long as.
4. Dragon City Flying General: In 2003, the annotation of "Dragon City Flying General" was revised in junior high school Chinese textbooks: "Dragon City" refers to the famous general Wei Qing who unexpectedly attacked Dragon City, the Holy Land of the Huns, while "Flying General" refers to the famous "Dragon City Flying General". The flying general of the Han Dynasty was Li Guang. "Dragon City Flying General" does not refer to one person, but actually refers to Li Guang, and also refers to many famous generals of the Han Dynasty who fought against the Hungarians.
5. Huma: refers to the enemy's war horse. Hu is the ancient name for the ethnic minorities in northwest China.
6. Yinshan: The name of the mountain refers to the Yinshan Mountains, located in present-day Inner Mongolia. During the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu often came south from here to invade the Central Plains.
7. Don’t teach: don’t bark, don’t let.
8. Degree: across
Translation
1:
It is still the bright moon of the Qin and Han Dynasties and the border of the Qin and Han Dynasties,
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The battle continues for a long time, and the warrior who has traveled thousands of miles has not yet returned.
If Wei Qing and the flying general Li Guang who attacked Dragon City were still alive,
they would never have allowed the Xiongnu to go south to herd horses across the Yinshan Mountains.
2:
Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the bright moon has still shone brightly on the pass.
The soldiers who have traveled thousands of miles away from home have not yet returned.
If Wei Qing and the flying general Li Guang who attacked Dragon City were still there,
they would not have allowed the Hu army to cross Yinshan.
3:
It was still the bright moon of the Qin Dynasty and the border gate of the Han Dynasty. Nowadays, many soldiers have gone thousands of miles away and never returned.
If the brave and capable generals were still alive, they would never let the Xiongnu troops cross the Yinshan Mountains.
Rhyme translation
It is still the bright moon of the Qin Dynasty and the border gate of the Han Dynasty.
The battle lasts for a long time, and the conquerors of thousands of miles never return.
If Li Guang, the flying general of Dragon City, was still alive today,
the Xiongnu would never be allowed to go south to herd horses across the Yin Mountains.
Brief analysis
This is a famous frontier fortress poem, which expresses the poet's hope that a good general will be appointed to quell the war at the frontier fortress as soon as possible so that the people can live a stable life.
The poet starts from describing the scene, and the first sentence outlines a desolate scene with the cold moon shining on the border. "The bright moon of the Qin Dynasty and the Pass of the Han Dynasty" cannot be understood as the bright moon of the Qin Dynasty and the pass of the Han Dynasty. Here, the four characters Qin, Han, Guan, and Yue are used interchangeably. In rhetoric, it is called "intertextual meaning", which means the bright moon in Qin and Han Dynasties and the pass in Qin and Han Dynasties. The poet hinted that the war here has not stopped since the Qin and Han Dynasties, highlighting the long time. In the second sentence, "Thousands of miles long march, people have not yet returned." "Wanli" refers to the thousands of miles apart between the frontier and the inland. Although it is a false reference, it highlights the vastness of the space. "People have not yet returned" reminds people of the disasters caused by war and expresses the poet's grief and indignation.
How can we relieve the people's suffering? The poet places his hope in a capable general. "But let the flying generals of Longcheng be here and not teach the Hu horses to cross the Yinshan Mountains." As long as Li Guang, the flying general guarding Longcheng, is still alive, the Hu cavalry will not be allowed to cross the Yinshan Mountains. "Dragon City Flying General" refers to Li Guang, the famous general who guarded Lulong City under Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He was brave and good at fighting and defeated the Huns many times. "Don't teach" means not allowed. The word "teach" is pronounced flatly; "Hu Ma" here refers to the cavalry that invaded by foreign nations. "Du Yin Mountain" means crossing Yin Mountain. Yinshan Mountain is a large mountain range running east-west in the north. It was a natural barrier for the northern border defense in the Han Dynasty. The last two sentences are written implicitly and cleverly, allowing people to draw necessary conclusions from the comparison of past events.
This poem is called the masterpiece of the seven unique works of the Tang Dynasty. Tragic but not desolate, generous but not superficial, this poem is the first of Wang's two poems "Out of the Fortress".