"The Journey of the Governor of Yanmen" is a poem written by Li He, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, using ancient Yuefu inscriptions.
The full text of the poem is as follows:
Black clouds are pressing down on the city, ready to destroy it, and the light of armor opens towards the golden scales of the sun.
The sound of the trumpet fills the autumn sky, and the night is purple when stuffed with swallow fat.
A half-rolled red flag is near the Yishui River, and the sound of heavy frost and cold drums cannot be heard.
Report your favor on the golden stage, support the Jade Dragon and die for you!
The poetic meaning of the whole poem:
The dark clouds of war are rolling in, as if they are going to crush the tower; the scaly armor shines golden in the sunlight.
The sound of the horn resounded through the sky in this autumn; in the night, the soil was stuffed like rouge, and it was so rich that it was almost purple.
The cold wind blew the red flag, and the troops arrived at Yishui; the heavy frost soaked the drum skin, and the drum sound was low and could not be raised.
In order to repay the king's reward and love, he is willing to fight to the death for his country with a sword in hand!
Appreciation of the whole poem:
The first four sentences describe the scene before sunset. The first sentence is both a description of a scene and an event, successfully exaggerating the tense atmosphere and critical situation when the enemy is approaching the city. "Dark clouds are pressing down on the city, ready to destroy it." The word "pressing" vividly reveals the large number of enemy troops and the ferocity of the attack, as well as the disparity in strength between the two warring parties, the difficult situation of the defenders, etc. The second sentence describes the defenders inside the city to compare with the enemy troops outside the city. Suddenly, the situation changes, and a ray of sunlight shines through the gaps in the clouds, reflecting on the armor of the defenders. The golden light is shining and dazzling. eyes. At this moment, they are wearing strong armor and ready to fight. Here, sunlight is used to show the camp and morale of the defenders. The scenes are intertwined and wonderful.
Three and four sentences describe the cold and tragic battlefield atmosphere from both auditory and visual aspects respectively. It was late autumn, thousands of trees were shaking down, and in the dead silence, the horn sounded with a whimpering sound. Obviously, a thrilling battle is going on. "The sky is filled with the sound of trumpets", outlining the scale of the war. Relying on the strength of their numbers, the enemy troops advanced with great noise and pressed forward step by step. The defenders were not afraid of being alone and weak. Encouraged by the sound of the trumpet, they had high morale and fought back vigorously. The fighting lasted from daylight to dusk. The poet did not directly describe the fierce scene of cross-carriages and hand-to-hand combat. He only made a rough but highly expressive impression of the scene on the battlefield after the two sides withdrew their troops: The fierce battle lasted from day to night, and the sunset illuminated the battlefield. Blocks of rouge-like bright red blood condensed on the ground through the night fog, showing a purple color. This gloomy and solemn atmosphere sets off the tragic scenes on the battlefield, implying that both the offensive and defensive sides suffered a large number of casualties, and the defenders were still in a disadvantageous position, which laid the necessary foundation for the rescue of friendly forces written below.
The last four sentences describe the activities of the reinforcements. "Half a roll of red flag comes to Yishui", the word "half roll" has extremely rich meanings. Marching in the dark, with all flags and drums silent, in order to "take the enemy by surprise and attack them unprepared." "Lin Yishui" not only indicates the location of the battle, but also implies that the soldiers have a kind of strong and fierce pride like "the wind is blowing and the Yishui is cold, and the strong men will never return once they are gone." Then describe the scene of the bitter battle: as soon as the reinforcements approached the enemy's camp, they beat drums to cheer and went into battle. Unfortunately, the night was so cold and frosty that even the war drums could not beat. Faced with many difficulties, the soldiers were not discouraged. "Report your favor on the Golden Platform, and support the Jade Dragon to die for you." The Golden Platform was built by King Yan Zhao in the southeast of Yishui during the Warring States Period. Legend has it that he once placed a large amount of gold on the platform, indicating that he would not hesitate to spend a lot of money to recruit scholars from all over the world. The poet quoted this story to express the soldiers' determination to serve the imperial court.