The full text and translation of Yan Gexing's parallel preface are as follows:
Yan Gexing's parallel preface-Tang Gaoshi
1. In the 26th year of Kaiyuan, some guests returned from Yuanrong, and made Yan Gexing as a sign. I feel comfortable with the matter of defense, so I am harmonious.
Translation:
In the 26th year of Kaiyuan, a man who came back from a fortress with the head coach Zhang Shouxuan wrote a poem "Yan Ge Xing" for me to read. I was deeply impressed by the defense of the frontier, so I wrote this song "Yan Ge Xing" to meet him.
2. the northeastern border of China was dark with smoke and dust, to repel the savage invaders, our generals, leaving their families. Strode forth together, looking as heroes should look, and having received from the Emperor his most gracious favour.
Translation:
The border of the Tang Dynasty was ablaze with a bonfire of war, and the generals left home to fight against the ferocious enemy. Men should have killed the enemy vertically and horizontally on the battlefield, and the emperor gave them praise and favor.
3. they marched to the beat of gong and drum through the Elm Pass, where the standard is winding. Till their captains over the Sea of Sand were twanging feathered orders, the Tartar chieftain's hunting-fires glimmered along Wolf Mountain.
translation:
Soldiers and soldiers roared out of Shanhaiguan, banners stretched in the wind, and troops marched through Jieshi Mountain. A captain rushed to send the feather book to the border desert, and the fire-hunting light of Xiongnu Khan has reached the border of my Wolf Mountain.
4. and heights and rivers were cold and bleak there at the outer border, but soon the barbarians' horses were plunging through wind and rain. Half of our men at the front were killed, but the other half are living, and still at the camp beautiful girls dance for them and sing.
Translation:
The mountains and rivers in the border areas are barren and depressed everywhere, and they are invaded by the Hu people, which is as fierce as wind and rain. The soldiers fought to death on the battlefield, killing half of the casualties, while the generals had fun in the camp.
5. as autumn ends in the grey sand, with the grasses all withered, the few surviving watchers by the lonely wall at sunset. Serving in a good cause, hold life and the foeman lightly, and yet, for all that they have done, Elm Pass is still unsafe.
Translation:
It's late autumn, and the grass outside the Great Desert is exhausted, and the soldiers in the lonely city under the setting sun are getting less and less. The border generals were deeply indebted to the royal family, and they should always think about serving the country to destroy the border guards, but now they have not solved the difficulties of the Huns.
6. still at the front, iron armour is worn and battered thin, Yu Zhu should say goodbye. Still in this southern city young wives' hearts are breaking, while soldiers at the northern border vainly look toward home.
translation:
The soldiers in the frontier have been guarding the border and fighting for a long time, and their relatives at home are crying and worried. The young woman is looking forward to her husband's return in the south of Chang 'an, and her heart is full of sorrow. The expeditionary soldier is stationed in Jibei and looks up at the sky and looks back to the Prime Minister.
7. The crosswind is swaying, in a place of death and blue void, with nothingness ahead. Three times a day a cloud of slaughter rises over the camp, and all night long the hour-drums shake their chilly booming.
Translation:
How can you easily go back and forth when the border is desolate and far away? The faraway land is all vast and lonely, leaving Wan Li with no hope of returning. Seeing the dark clouds in front of the battle in the daytime is dignified, and listening to the drums at night is even more bleak.
8. until white swords can be seen again, spattered with red blood, when death becomes a duty, who stops to think of fame. Don't you see the battlefield is bitter, we name to this day Li, the great General, who lived long ago.
Translation:
Soldiers fought to the death to protect the frontier, and those who never gave their lives to serve the country did it for meritorious service? You have never seen how tragic those soldiers who fought to death on the battlefield are, and now you are still thinking of the brave and resourceful General Li.
Appreciation
Yan Ge Xing can be described as a masterpiece of frontier poems in the whole Tang Dynasty, and it is no accident that it has been passed down through the ages. Gao Shi was always concerned about the military situation in the border area. In the fifteenth year of Kaiyuan (727), he went north to Jimen, and then went north to Youyan, hoping to work for the shogunate of Xin 'an, but failed to do so.
In his work "Work in the Thistle", he said, "Without a letter of security, all the generals have already been indebted. I am worried about Sun Wu's affairs and return to the door alone. " It can be seen that he has done some research on the military affairs of the northeast frontier fortress. Twenty-one years after the beginning of Kaiyuan, Zhang Shouxuan, our envoy from Youzhou, made some achievements.
However, in the 24th year of Kaiyuan, Zhang Shouxuan made An Lushan beg Xi and Qidan, saying that "Lushan relied on courage and ignored progress, and was defeated by Lu" (Zi Zhi Tong Jian, volume 215). In the 26th year of Kaiyuan, the generals of Youzhou, Zhao Kan and Bai Zhentuo, forced Pinglu Army to send troops to attack Xi and Qidan, winning first and then losing.
"Shouxuan hides his appearance, but plays the meritorious deeds in vain" (Biography of Zhang Shouxuan, a Book of the Old Tang Dynasty). Gao Shi was deeply impressed by the two defeats after the twenty-four years of Kaiyuan, so he wrote this article.
the whole poem is composed of four paragraphs, which are closely connected and have a clear context. The whole poem is magnificent and tragic, and the author is good at hinting and exaggerating the tragic atmosphere, which makes people feel excited when reading it.
He is also good at using contrast techniques, such as the comparison between foot soldiers and generals, the comparison between General Li and today's generals, the comparison between the grand occasion when Han generals marched and the tragic scene after their defeat, and the comparison between recruiting people to look back and the heartbroken young women, which makes the overall image of the poem stand out clearly.