Wang Wei's pinyin of the ancient poem "Longxi Journey":
Original text:
shí, lǐ, yī, zǒu, mǎ, wǔ, lǐ, yī, yáng, biān.
A horse can run for ten miles, and a whip can be raised for five miles.
dōu, hù, jun, shū, zhì, xiōng, nú, wéi, jiǔ, quán.
The Huns surrounded Jiuquan when the Protectorate arrived.
guān, shān, zhèng, fēi, xuě, fēng, huǒ, duàn, wú, yān.
It is snowing in Guanshan Mountain, and there is no smoke from the beacon fire.
Translation:
The urgent military envoy came at full speed with his horse and whip raised. He could cover ten miles at a time and five miles with a whip. The long journey was as fast as lightning. And passed. This is the military envoy from the Northwest Protectorate. He sent an urgent military message, reporting that the Xiongnu army has surrounded Jiuquan, an important town in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty. After receiving the military letter, I looked westward, only to see flying snow all over the sky, and a confusion. Looking across the mountains, there was no trace of beacon smoke. It turned out that the beacon contact in the army had been interrupted.
Appreciation of the work:
From the perspective of genre, this poem belongs to ancient poetry, and from the perspective of subject matter, this poem belongs to frontier poetry.
At the beginning of the poem, it is written that on the way to the emergency, the military envoy galloped over with his horse and whip raised, which immediately attracted the reader's attention. The first and second sentences describe that in the blink of an eye, as soon as a horse walks or a whip is raised, the distance of ten or five miles flashes by like lightning. The exaggerated language exaggerates the tense atmosphere and gives people an extremely vivid and vivid feeling. The feeling of flying image.
These are two inverted sentences. According to the general writing method, they are: a horse can move ten miles, and a whip can be used for five miles. But written like this, a five-character sentence is made up three times and two times down, which does not conform to the normal rhythm of poetic language and makes it difficult to read. Like this, a horse can move at ten miles and a whip can be raised at five miles. Not only is it catchy, but it also highlights the speed of the horse because it emphasizes ten miles and five miles in advance. The two sentences in the middle clarify the identity of the rider and the reason for the emergency.
The word "siege" shows the seriousness of the situation. The word "Zhi" tells the story of how the envoys galloped on horseback and whipped their whips, and finally delivered the general's letter in time. The last two sentences supplement the explanation of the impact of climate on beacon fire alarms. Logically speaking, one should first see the beacon fire and then read the military letter. However, after receiving the military letter, I looked to the west, and all I saw was snow all over the sky, and I was confused. Looking across the mountains, there was no smoke. Is it because the snow is too heavy to light the beacon, or is it that even if it is lit, it cannot be seen? Anyway, the beacon connection has been interrupted.
This further highlights the urgency of Pegasus passing the letter. At this point, the whole poem comes to an abrupt end, leaving room for the reader's imagination. Although the writing situation is critical and the atmosphere is tense, the emotions expressed in the poem are warm, calm and confident.