"Baicao", according to "Han Shu". Yan Shi's ancient annotation in "Biography of the Western Regions" refers to the name of a kind of grass in the northwest. Wang Xianqian added an annotation saying that its nature is extremely tough. However, frost-resistant grass is brittle, so it can be broken (if it is spring grass, it cannot be "broken" when it is tilted by the wind). "Baicao Zhe" showed another strong wind.
In selected middle school and university textbooks, there are four annotations for "white grass": (1) "a grass that turns white when dried"; (2) "a grass that grows in the northwest A kind of grass that dries up and turns white in autumn"; (3) "a kind of grass that grows in the northwest border areas, turns white in autumn and withers through winter but does not wither"; (4) "a kind of grass that grows in the northwest region of my country". Yan Shigu's ancient note in "Book of Han·Biography of the Western Regions": "The white grass is as thin as a weed, without awns. It is white when dried and ripe, and it is a favorite of cattle and horses." Wang Xianqian added that "the new seedlings that emerge in spring are no different from other grasses, they wither in winter but are not wilted, and they are extremely tough."
The above four annotations have the following two problems: (1) "Northwestern area", "Northwestern border" and "Northwestern region", which province or regions do they refer to? (2) The explanation of "grass that turns white after drying" is very general. In the northwest region, there are many grasses that have the property of turning white after drying. So what kind of grass is this "white grass"? Since it is a common grass in the Northwest, from a species point of view, this grass should have a name. If it has a name, why not write its exact name directly in the notes?
What exactly is "white grass"? To figure out this problem, we must first locate the place where "white grass" grows. I think that the general terms "northwestern area", "northwestern border" and "northwestern region" in the annotation are certainly the place where "white grass" grows, but they are undoubtedly too general. To find out where the "white grass" grows, we must first find out where Luntai is in the poet Cen Cancheng's poem "Send you off at the east gate of Luntai, the road to the Tianshan Mountains is covered with snow when you go". The whole poem "Song of White Snow Sending Magistrate Wu Back to the Capital" is full of moving and static snow scenes, as well as scenes related to snow. The rhyme has become a poem about sending off colleagues in praise of snow. This poem was written under real people, real events, and real circumstances. A farewell poem, the real environment where the poet wrote the poem was Luntai, and there must be "white grass" in that place. Where exactly is Luntai? Current university and middle school textbooks have the following three annotations on Luntai: (1) It belongs to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region today, and was the seat of the Anxi Jiedushi Military Mansion at that time; (2) In the Tang Dynasty, it belonged to Tingzhou and was under the jurisdiction of the Beiting Protectorate. The old site is in Miquan County, present-day Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which was the seat of Feng Changqing Military Mansion; (3) The annotation of the fourth volume of junior high school Chinese textbook reads: Place names in the ancient Western Regions, in what is now Luntai County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where Cen Shen was stationed with the army at that time .
I believe that the current university and middle school textbooks’ annotations on Luntai in “Bai Xuege Sends Magistrate Wu Back to Beijing” are all wrong. According to historical records, the central government of the early Tang Dynasty established three states in the Western Regions, namely Yizhou (today's Hami), Xizhou (Gaochang), and Tingzhou (Houbaozi, Jimusar County). They were called three states in history and were implemented in the three states area. State and county system. Tingzhou was later changed to Beiting. Tingzhou consisted of four counties: Jinman, Luntai, Houting and Xihai. "New Book of Tang·Biography of Yanqi" points out that in the seventh year of Kaiyuan (719 AD), after Tang Jiahui ordered Yanqi to prepare the four towns, he used "Yanqi, Qiuci, Shule, and Khotan to conquer the Western Regions, and each of them took advantage of their levies. Those on the North Road collected taxes from Luntai." It can be seen that Luntai was the only tax collection city on the North Road in the Tang Dynasty. After research by many scholars, today’s ancient city of Wulabo in the southern suburbs of Urumqi is the Tang Luntai site. "Urumqi County Chronicle" records: "Luntai is a county under the jurisdiction of Tingzhou, and its county territory is equivalent to the current Urumqi area."
Cen Shen went on two missions to the Western Regions. The first time was in the eighth year of Tianbao's reign (AD 749) when he accompanied Gao Xianzhi to the Western Regions, which lasted for more than two years. The second time was in the thirteenth year of Tianbao (AD 754). Shen Zeng was promoted by Feng Changqing and went to the Western Regions with Feng. They both made immortal contributions to the Tang Dynasty's unification and consolidation of the Western Regions. Since the poet's second journey to the Western Regions, three poems have been written to Luntai. After that, more poems were written in Luntai, or expressed events related to Luntai. This shows that during this mission to the Western Regions, most of the poets lived in Luntai, because he lived in Luntai as the judge of Yixi and Beiting Jiedu and had responsibilities in Luntai. He lived in Luntai for three years. The chief magistrate of Luntai. Therefore, we are most familiar with the natural environment of Luntai City. Only by truly understanding the various Luntai poems written by Cen Shen can we fully understand "Bai Xue Ge Sends Judge Wu Back to the Capital". "Hutian means snow in August." If Tang Luntai was in Luntai County in southern Xinjiang, would it snow in August? And can it be as cold as described in the poem? August is September in the Gregorian calendar. According to the records of the meteorological department, the earliest snowfall in Wulabo is September 5 in the Gregorian calendar. "I saw you off at the east gate of Luntai. When I left, the mountain road was covered with snow. I couldn't see you on the winding road, and there was only a place for horses to walk in the sky above the snow." This is the unique topography of the location of the ancient city of Wulabo. The ancient road runs along the Tianshan hills, so it presents a landscape of "no one can be seen when the mountain road turns around".
History should be truly restored: the Luntai in Luntai County south of the Tianshan Mountains is Han Luntai, and the ancient city of Wulabo north of the Tianshan Mountains is Tang Luntai. The poem "Baixue Ge Sends Judge Wu Back to the Capital" was written in Tang Luntai, which is the ancient city of Wulabo, so the "north wind blowing over the earth" is also the wind described in the Chaiwopu Basin. This is the thirty-mile wind zone, and it grows into vast areas. Achnatherum splendens, so the poet grasped the inherent scenery here - Achnatherum splendens to describe. It is clear that the "white grass" the poet wrote about is Achnatherum splendens.
"Modern Chinese Dictionary" explains Achnatherum splendens as: "A perennial herb with narrow and long leaves and light green flowers. It grows on grassy beaches in alkaline soil and is a good sand-fixing and alkali-resistant plant. It can be used as feed in woven baskets, "Due to my many detailed observations of Splendens splendens, I would like to add three points to the above explanation: (1) It is transformed into a mound-shaped growth, with a stem length of twenty to thirty centimeters, and the longest stem length. The stems can reach up to two meters; (2) The stems are solid and tough, green during the growth period and white when mature, so they are called "white grass" by poets; (3) Because of their tough stems, they are often used to clean streets. , large brooms in the courtyard (it is understood that 70% of people in Xinjiang use splendens brooms).
To the east from the ancient city of Wulabo (Tang Luntai) is the Chaiwopu Basin. This area is soaked by the snow water of the Tianshan Mountains. It is a swamp with many springs. The ground is alkali-containing and has many splendens. The Lanxin Line is at Here is the Jiji Caozi Station (built in 1962. It is 1,873 kilometers away from Lanzhou Station and 39 kilometers away from Wuxi Station. It is under the jurisdiction of the Urumqi Railway Branch of the Urumqi Railway Bureau. It is now a fourth-class station. It is named after the station's rich splendens) , due to the abundance of water and soft ground, walking is restricted. It is conceivable that the water was greater a thousand years ago and walking was particularly difficult. Therefore, the poet saw you off at the east gate of Luntai and turned north to take the mountain road (according to research, there was a road on the north slope of ancient Chaiwopu Going east to Tianshan Road), there is of course the spectacular poem and painting "You can't be seen on the mountain winding road, and there is a place for horses to walk in the sky above the snow".
To sum up, the Luntai in "Baixuege Sends Judge Wu Back to the Capital" is Tang Luntai, which is the ancient city of Wulabo; the white grass should be Splendens splendens. If one reads all of Cen Shen's poems describing Luntai and conducts on-the-spot investigation based on historical data, the place names and scenery described in "Baixuege Sends Magistrate Wu Back to the Capital" will be presented very clearly, and there will be no long-term authoritative annotation errors. . It is recommended that relevant units and scholars revise the erroneous annotations and stop plagiarizing them again and again, and stop confusing the majority of students.
Bibliography:
"New Interpretation of Cen Shen's Western Region Poems", written by Xu Baicheng, published by Xinjiang People's Publishing House.