The author of "Conquest of Women's Resentments: The Huns Killed Border Generals in September" is Zhang Ji, a writer of the Tang Dynasty. The full text of his ancient poem is as follows:
In September, the Xiongnu killed the border generals, and the Han army was completely wiped out on the Liao River.
No one from thousands of miles away collects the bones, and the souls are summoned and buried under every city.
A woman relies on her son and husband, and feels comfortable living together in poverty and lowliness.
My husband died on the battlefield with his body in his belly, but my body is still as bright as a candle in the day.
Foreword
"Wife's Resentment" is an ancient poem written by Zhang Ji, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. The whole poem uses Han Dynasty as a metaphor for Tang Dynasty, describing the cruelty of war and the disaster it brings to the people. The words are concise and the emotions are gentle.
Comments
①Destroyed: annihilated, destroyed.
② Soul-calling burial: a folk soul-calling ceremony held for relatives who died in a foreign country. The clothes and clothes of the deceased are used to replace the deceased in the burial.
③Dependence: dependence, dependence.
④Cohabitation: Living together with husband and son.
⑤Day candle: Candle during the day, which means dim and useless.
Appreciation
In classical poetry, a good man joining the army and a wife mourning are common themes. However, Zhang Ji's "Conquering Women's Resentments" came up with new ideas. It was outstanding and famous for its heart-breaking, bloody and profound pain. "In September, the Xiongnu killed the border generals, and the Han army was completely lost on the Liao River." The Liao River, now the Liao River in the northeast, enters the sea southeast of Yingkou, Liaoning. The poem goes straight to the point and points out the source of the wife's resentment. The word "all gone" in the poem is extremely powerful. It highlights the typical nature of the event from the tragic battle situation and heavy casualties, thus creating the mournful emotion of the conscripting women. "No one has collected the bones for thousands of miles, so they call for their souls and bury them under every city." Soul-calling burial is an old custom. Since the body cannot be collected and buried, for fear that the soul of a loved one will not know where to go, he calls out the name of his loved one loudly to attract the soul to return, and buries the deceased with the clothes and clothes of the deceased. coffin. The title of the poem is "Conquering Women's Grievances", but the poet has a broad vision and outlines a grand scene of "A Picture of a Group of People Weeping Under the City", starting from the top to the bottom and going to the title in a roundabout way.
The word "white bones" is shocking to read. The bones are torn apart and thrown into the wilderness, as in the present, which enhances the imagery of the poem. Reading this sentence can be combined with Wang Can's "Nothing can be seen when going out, the plain is covered with white bones" ("Seven Sorrowful Poems"), and Du Fu's "No one has collected the bones since ancient times" ("Army Chariots"), and play together. The word "every family" seems ordinary, but it implicitly means "all gone". The universality of crying and howling strengthens the tragic atmosphere and serves as a good foil for the mourning of the wives below.
Then it turns to the main topic and introduces the protagonist "Warrior Hunting". "A woman relies on her son and her husband, and her heart feels comfortable when she lives with a poor and lowly person." Originally, the poet expresses his grief directly, but the poet takes a step back and imagines the comfortable situation of living together with his husband and son. With this foreshadowing, waves suddenly arise. An ordinary life has become a luxury. Facing the reality, the longing was shattered, so he was forced to come up with the following sentence: "My husband died on the battlefield with his body in his belly, but my body is as bright as a candle in the day." How can I rely on my husband's death? How to nurture children? If you want to die, you will leave behind a child; if you want to live, you will have no food and clothing. While the family was crying bitterly, the poet chose this particular family. The tragic situation of the protagonist who neither wanted to live nor die was particularly cruel among many unfortunate families, reflecting the typical nature of the incident. In the case of "the husband died in the battlefield in the womb", the tragic atmosphere is far different.
The epilogue uses the metaphor of "day candle" to describe itself. Not only does the superfluous candlelight in the daytime show the distressing emotion, but also the dimness and flickering of the candlelight show the protagonist's bleak state of mind and turbulent livelihood. The metaphor is novel and appropriate, with rich connotations. Liu Xizai of the Qing Dynasty said in his "Art Summary": "Baixiangshan Yuefu and Zhang Wenchang Wang Zhongchu both came up with new ideas. The difference is that one is flat and wide, while the other is steep and narrow." The word "high and narrow" reflects the characteristics of this poem. The so-called "qiao" means strong emotions, clear criticism, not gentle and honest, but showing off one's sharpness. The poem uses small things to make a big difference, and uses the women's cries without complaint to severely criticize the Tang Dynasty's lack of consideration for the people's sentiments and frequent wars. The overwhelming anti-war sentiment and the profound and sincere thoughts on benevolent government permeate the pages. The so-called "narrow" means that the chapters are short and without development. Condensate rich content into a short space. To this end, the events must be typical and prominent, the structure must not be branching, and the language must be precise and concise. All this is fully reflected in this poem.
Although this poem is a small poem, its layout has many twists and turns. From the scene of the group crying to the scene of alone mourning, the big contrasts with the small. And turn longing to reality, and use joy to complement sorrow. The sizes are in harmony with each other, the sorrow and joy complement each other, the positive and negative contrasts, and the circling posture. The dense stitching, undulations and twists of the structure play a role in accentuating the expression of grief.