Joining the Army Part One
Wang Changling
In the Baichi Building in the west of Fenghuo City,
Sitting alone in the sea breeze and autumn at dusk.
Moreover, the Qiang flute is played to close the moon,
There is no sorrow in the golden boudoir.
Joining the Army Part 4
Wang Changling
Qinghai is covered with long clouds and dark snow-capped mountains,
The isolated city looks at Yumen Pass in the distance.
The yellow sand will wear the golden armor in a hundred battles,
The Loulan will never be returned until it is broken.
Source:
"Walking in the Army" is selected from "The Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty".
Reference translation:
The dark clouds over the Qinghai Sea obscured the snow-capped mountains. Standing in the isolated city, I looked at the Yumen Pass in the distance. Outside the Great Wall, his helmet and armor have been worn through hundreds of battles, and he vowed not to return until he defeated the enemy in the west.
Appreciation of the work:
"The long clouds in Qinghai darken the snow-capped mountains, and the lonely city looks at Yumen Pass in the distance." The sky above Qinghai Lake is filled with long clouds; to the north of the lake, there are faint snow-capped mountains that stretch for thousands of miles; beyond the snow-capped mountains, there is an isolated city standing in the desert of the Hexi Corridor; further to the west, there is the military fortress - Yumen Pass, which is far opposite to the isolated city. . This long scroll, which covers a vast area thousands of miles from east to west, is the typical environment in which soldiers guarding the border in the northwest lived and fought at that time. It is a bird's eye view and a summary of the entire northwest frontier.
Why are Qinghai and Yuguan mentioned in particular? This is related to the war situation between ethnic groups at that time. The powerful enemies in the west and north of the Tang Dynasty were Tibet and Turks. The mission of the Hexi Jiedushi is to cut off the communication between Tibet and Turks. One town takes care of the two powerful enemies in the west and the north. It is mainly to defend Tibet and protect the Hexi Corridor. The "Qinghai" area was the site of many battles between the Tubo and Tang armies; and outside the "Yumen Pass" was the sphere of influence of the Turks.
So these two sentences not only describe the scene of the entire northwest frontier, but also point out the extremely important geographical situation of the "isolated city" rejecting the Tubo in the south and defending the Turks in the west. The strong enemies in these two directions are exactly what the soldiers guarding the "isolated city" are concerned about, so it is appropriate to have Qinghai and Yuguan on the screen. Rather than saying that this is what the soldiers saw, it is better to say that this is the picture that emerged in the minds of the soldiers. These two sentences convey rich and complex emotions while describing the scene: the border guards' concern for the border defense situation, their pride and sense of responsibility for their tasks, as well as the loneliness and hardship of the border guard life, are all integrated into a tragic, open and beautiful poem. In the misty and dim scenery.
In the third and fourth sentences, the description of the environment where the scene blends is transformed into a direct lyrical one. "The yellow sand wears golden armor in a hundred battles" is a poem with strong summary power. The long time of guarding the border, the frequency of battles, the arduousness of the battles, the strength of the enemy troops, and the desolation of the border areas are all summarized in these seven words. "Hundred Wars" is relatively abstract. The word "yellow sand" highlights the characteristics of the northwest battlefield, making people think of the scene of "the ancient battlefield of clouds and sand at dusk"; "Hundred Wars" means "wearing golden armor" "You can also imagine how hard and fierce the battle was, and also how there were a series of heroic sacrifices in the style of "white bones covering the grass" during this long period of time. However, although the golden armor was worn out, the soldiers' ambition to serve the country did not fade away, but became more determined in the tempering of the desert wind and sand.
"If Loulan is not destroyed, it will never be returned" is the heroic oath of the soldiers who have experienced hundreds of battles. The more difficult and frequent the battles are in the previous sentence, the more sonorous and powerful this sentence becomes. The first two or two sentences have a broad realm, tragic feelings, and rich implications; between the third and fourth sentences, there is obviously a turning point, and the two sentences form a sharp contrast. Although the "yellow sand" sentence describes the hardships of war, the actual feeling of the whole image is majestic and powerful, rather than low and sad.
Therefore, the last sentence is not a sigh of relief that there will be no day to return home, but a firmer and deeper vow based on a deep awareness of the hardship and long-term nature of the war. This is an important part of the excellent frontier fortress poetry in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The ideological characteristic of the novel is that while describing the heroic ambitions of the border guards, it does not avoid the hardships of war. This article is an obvious example. It can be said that the lyricism of three or four sentences, which is not empty and superficial, is exactly what is needed for the description of the environment in one or two sentences, which is rich and comprehensive. The high degree of unity between the typical environment and the emotions of the characters is a prominent advantage of Wang Changling's quatrains, which is also clearly reflected in this article.
Seven Poems from the Military March by Wang Changling
In the west of Fenghuo City, there is a hundred-foot building, and the Shanghai breeze is alone at dusk.
Blowing the Qiang flute to close the mountains to the moon, no worries about the golden boudoir.
This song depicts the deep feelings of the border garrison soldiers who miss their hometown and their relatives.
This little poem is simple and full of meaning, and its writing style is very unique. The poet skillfully handled the relationship between narrative and lyricism. The first three narrative sentences describe the environment, using in-depth and repeated rendering techniques to create an atmosphere and pave the way for the fourth lyrical sentence, which highlights the status of the lyrical sentence and makes the lyrical sentence appear particularly alert and powerful. "West of Fenghuo City" immediately made it clear that this was the lookout on the west side of Fenghuo City in Qinghai. In the desolate wilderness, with only this hundred-foot-tall building in the vast surroundings, this kind of environment can easily cause people to feel lonely. The season is autumn, and the cool air is invading. It is the season when wanderers miss their relatives and miss their wives. It's dusk again, "The chickens are roosting in the pond, the sun is setting, and the sheep and cattle are coming down. A gentleman is at work, why don't you think about it!" ("The Book of Songs·Wang Feng·A Gentleman at Work") This kind of time often triggers people's longing. Relatives who are serving abroad. At this moment, Zhengren, who had not returned from the garrison for a long time, was "sitting alone" on the lonely garrison.
The sky and the earth are long, there is no partner, and the feeling of missing family is tumbling with the autumn wind blowing from the direction of Qinghai Lake. What is described above is an environment seen through vision. There is no sound and a lack of three-dimensionality. Then the poet wrote: "More blowing the Qiang flute to pass the moon over the mountain." In the lonely environment, there were waves of whining flute sounds, like the calls of relatives or the sighs of wanderers. These wisps of flute sound were like a fuse, which caused the longing for relatives in the hearts of the frontier soldiers to be uncontrollable, and finally exploded, leading to the last sentence of the poem. This wisp of flute sound is a sight to the flute listener "sitting alone" on the solitary tower, but this scene is also full of the emotions expressed by the flute player, making the environment more specific and richer in content. The poet uses this sentence that is both a feeling and a scene, without revealing any trace, to complete the transition from scene to scene, how ingenious and natural it is!
In terms of expressing Zhengren's ideological activities, the poet's writing is also very euphemistic and tortuous. The environmental atmosphere has been created, paving the way for lyricism, and then it comes naturally, directly describing the psychology of the people around him - "No worries about the golden boudoir." What the author wants to express is Zheng's feelings of missing his relatives and hometown, but he does not write directly, but reflects the deep sorrow of his wife. And the actual situation is also the same: the wife's inability to eliminate the longing is the result of the man longing for her but not being able to return. This piece of music completely blends the emotions of Zheng and his wife. As far as the whole poem is concerned, this sentence is like the finishing touch, which immediately makes the whole poem more charming and more moving.
The pipa dances to a new sound, always leaving the old feelings behind.
I can’t stop listening to the chaos and worry, the high autumn moon shines on the Great Wall.
This poem intercepts a fragment of the military life at the frontier and expresses the deep and complex emotions of the soldiers by writing about the banquets in the army.
"The pipa dances to a new sound." As the dance changes, the pipa plays new tunes, and the poetic realm unfolds amidst the sound of music. The pipa is an instrument rich in the flavor of the border areas, and when drinking and making music in the army, "huqin, pipa and qiang flute" are often indispensable. For the soldiers, these instrumental music have a strange or emotional tone and can easily arouse strong feelings. Since it is a "new voice", it can always give people some new interest and new feelings, right?
No, "It's always the same old relationship." The main content of borderland music can be summed up in one word: "Old Farewell". Because art reflects real life, who among the conscripts has not left his hometown or even left his wife behind? "Farewell" is actually the most common and profound emotion and creative material. Therefore, the pipa can be replaced with a new tune, but the emotional content contained in the lyrics cannot be replaced. "An Explanation of Ancient Yuefu Titles" says: ""Guan Shan Yue" is also a sign of injury." In addition to the literal meaning of "Guan Shan" in the sentence, it is a pun on the tune of "Guan Shan Yue", which has a deeper meaning.
The "old" in this sentence corresponds to the "new" in the previous sentence, which becomes a twist in the poetry, creating a mood that resists falling and uplifting. Especially the use of "always" as a powerful transition is particularly effective. Show. Since the second sentence emphasizes the "oldness" of farewell, is this music too boring? No, "I can't listen to endless worries while stirring up chaos", that tune can always make people upset and restless no matter what time it is. Therefore, the tunes that can be played endlessly and "heard endlessly" really make people afraid of listening to them, but also love to listen to them, and they are always emotional. This is another twist and turn in the poem, another ups and downs of tone. "I can't hear enough", is it resentment? Is it a sigh? Like? Meaningful. The interpretation of "the performance cannot be completed" is naturally biased towards lamentation. However, if you say "I can't hear enough", it also contains praise. Therefore, the "border sorrow" mentioned in this sentence is not only the bitterness of thinking about returning home for a long time, but it also has more meanings. At that time, the border troubles in the north had not been eliminated, and the armored soldiers could not be completely quelled. Thinking of this, the garrison troops would feel uneasy and dissatisfied. Most of the predecessors only saw the "sour and sad" side of it, which may not be very comprehensive.
The first three sentences of the poem are all lyrical about the sound of music. When it comes to "bian sorrow", the three words "cannot be heard" are used, so how to use the limited seven words in the concluding sentence to complete this "inexhaustible" is the most important. See skill. The poet here lightly adds a stroke to express his feelings with the scenery. It seems that after the scene of drinking and having fun in the army, a vast and vast scene of a full moon shining on the Great Wall suddenly appeared: the ancient and majestic Great Wall is undulating, the autumn moon is shining high, the scene is magnificent and sad. How would you feel about this? Is it infinite nostalgia? Is it the ambition to make contributions to the frontier and the sorrow for reality? Perhaps, we should also add a deep love for the mountains, rivers and scenery of the motherland, etc.
Readers may feel that after the emotional trickles in the first three sentences developed in twists and turns (new voice - old farewell - inexhaustible), they have merged into a deep water here. The water of the lake is rippling and swirling. "High in the sky, the moon shines on the Great Wall in autumn", the scenery here is emotive and sublime, which sublimates the poetic sentiment. It is precisely because the love is inexhaustible that the poet "cannot exhaust it" and "thinking into the vagueness, as if out of reality", which makes people feel such rich and profound thoughts and feelings, and the inner world of the conqueror can be expressed deeply. This poem has reached the highest level of the seven extremes. In addition to the twists and turns of the music, the beauty of the poem cannot be ignored.
The elm leaves in Guancheng are sparse and yellow early, and the clouds and sand are an ancient battlefield at dusk.
Please return to the army to cover your bones. Do not teach the soldiers to cry for help.
The snow-capped mountains are covered by long clouds in Qinghai, and the lonely city looks out to Yumen Pass.
The yellow sand will wear golden armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will never be returned until it is broken.
The desert is windy and dusty, the sun is dim, and the red flag is half-rolled out of the camp gate.
The former army fought in Taohebei at night and reported that Tuyuhun was captured alive.
Those who have read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" may be deeply impressed by the fifth chapter "Guan Yunchang warms wine and kills Hua Xiong". This is a wonderful section for shaping the heroic image of Guan Yu.
However, the book does not directly describe how Guan Yu, a single man, fought head-on with Hua Xiong, who led 50,000 troops. Instead, the book uses this paragraph: (Guan Yu) came out of the tent, picked up his sword, and flew onto his horse. All the princes heard the loud beating of drums and loud shouts outside the pass, as if the sky was shattering and the earth was falling, and the mountains were shaking and the mountains were collapsing. Everyone was shocked. Just as he was about to inquire, at the sound of the luan bell, the horse arrived at the center of the army. Yun Chang picked up Hua Xiong's head and threw it to the ground. The wine was still warm.
This piece of literature is very concise. It describes Guan Yu's power from the atmosphere at the time and the reaction of the princes. In terms of its objective artistic effect, it is more fascinating than writing dozens of rounds of sword fighting. Luo Guanzhong's text certainly has his uniqueness, but if he avoids frontal narration and uses atmosphere rendering and side description to let people imagine the war scene, it is not his first creation. Like Wang Changling's This song "Joining the Army" should be said to have been pioneered and succeeded in the form of poetry.
“The wind and dust in the desert make the sun dim.” Since the Altai Mountains, Tianshan Mountains, and Kunlun Mountains in northwest my country all trend from west to east or southeast, a large trumpet is formed in the Hexi Corridor and eastern Qinghai, and the wind force It's so big that when the wind blows, sand and rocks fly. Therefore, "the sun is dim" follows "the wind and dust in the desert", which does not mean that it is getting late, but that the wind and sand cover the sky and the sun. But this not only expresses the violence of the climate, it appears as a background and naturally plays a role in setting off and hinting at the military situation. In this situation, what action did the Tang army take? It’s not about keeping the gate closed and passively defending, but taking the initiative to go out. In order to reduce the strong resistance of the wind and speed up the march, the soldiers moved forward with the red flag half-rolled. These two sentences are used in the "desert wind and dust" to exaggerate a powerful army led by the red flag. It seems that it is not nature showing off its power, but this army carrying dust and wind, like a sharp sword, pointing directly at the enemy camp. This tightens the reader's heartstrings and makes people feel that a fierce battle is imminent. What kind of thrilling scene will these athletes traveling across the desert perform? Under this kind of suspense, read the last two sentences again: "The former army fought in Taohebei at night and reported that Tuyuhun was captured alive." This can be said to be a combination of one fall and one fall. The reader's suspense follows the army just now, but the opportunity to show off their skills on the battlefield did not come to them. Just halfway, good news came that the forward troops had won a complete victory in the night battle, and even the enemy chieftain was captured alive. The plot develops quickly and is a bit unexpected, but it is completely reasonable, because the rapid and fierce momentum of the army when it goes out in the first two sentences has fully hinted at the morale and power of the Tang army. This powerful and powerful reinforcements not only showed that the forward's victory was no accident, but also showed that the Tang army had more than enough troops and was sure of victory.
Judging from the description, the poet chose follow-up troops that did not directly engage the enemy, and the "Night Battle of the Front Army" with brilliant results was only brought out from the side. This is an idea that breaks the mold. If the night battle was narrated from the front, it would inevitably appear flat and could not be completed in a short quatrain. Now we avoid the positive description of the war process and highlight it from the side, which turns the shortcomings of the quatrain into its strengths. It allows readers to imagine how hard and brilliant the forward battle was from "the desert is dusty and the sun is dim" and "the night battle in Taohebei". From "It has been reported that Tuyuhun was captured alive", we can appreciate how dramatic this expedition was. A fierce battle is not written hoarsely, but written with a brisk and jumping pen, through side contrast and color, allowing readers to experience and reverie. All this is expressed in a short four-line poem. The difficulty in conception and language should be said to be more than that of a novel story like "Warming Wine and Killing Hua Xiong".
Purple sweat fell off Hu Ping's arms, and the autumn moon clusters in the west of the city broke into pieces.
In the Ming Dynasty, the star rushed to seal the sword, and Cijun took Loulan overnight.
There are thousands of peaks in Yumen Mountain, and there are always beacons in the north and south of the mountain.
The men garrisoned at a distance to watch the fire, but the horses disappeared deep into the mountains.
Joining the Army Part 2
Yang Jiong
The beacon light shines on Xijing, and I feel uneasy.
Yazhang bid farewell to Fengque, and the iron cavalry circled Dragon City.
The snow is dark, the flag paintings are withered, and the wind is heavy with the sound of drums.
It is better to be a centurion than a scholar.
Translation
The alarm beacon illuminates Xijing,
How can the heart of a strong man be calm?
As soon as the order to mobilize troops left the palace gate,
the general's knights rushed straight to Dragon City.
The snow agitated the flags of the Heavenly Army, and their colors faded.
The sound of the wind was swaying wildly, wrapped in the sound of drums.
I envy the centurions who charge into battle.
Who can endure to keep his pen and inkstone to be a scholar?
Appreciation:
Yang Jiong was one of the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty. He was good at five rhymes. His frontier fortress poems were vigorous and vigorous, including "Yingchuan Collection". Tang Ru inquired: "This man in Yingchuan is determined to join the army because he has not met the talented people. He feels unfair because the imperial court favors military ministers and makes poverty deeper. Although he is not immune to the hardships of wind and snow, he has the title of Mao Shi, which is the title of a hundred men." You will always be better than our generation."
This poem borrows the old Yuefu title "Joining the Army" to describe the whole process of a scholar joining the army and participating in the battle. In just forty words, it not only reveals the psychological activities of the characters, but also exaggerates the atmosphere of the environment. The writing is extremely powerful.
The first two sentences were written in a side newspaper and aroused the patriotic enthusiasm of the patriots. The poet did not directly state the emergency of the military situation, but said that "the beacon fire shines on Xijing", expressing the emergency of the military situation through the visual scene of "beacon fire". The word "zhao" exaggerates the tense atmosphere.
"I feel uneasy" was caused by the war. Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of a country. He does not want to waste his youth between pens and inkstones. The word "自" expresses the scholar's heartfelt patriotic passion and describes the character's spiritual state. The first two sentences explain the background of the entire incident. The third sentence, "Yazhang resigned from Fengque", describes the scene of the army resigning from the capital. "Yazhang" is the emperor's talisman for mobilizing troops. It is divided into two parts: concave and convex, which are in the hands of the emperor and the general respectively. "Fengque" is the nickname of the imperial palace. Here, the poet uses the words "Yazhang" and "Fengque", which appear elegant and steady. It not only shows that the soldiers on the expedition have a lofty mission, but also shows the grandness and solemnity of the scene. The fourth sentence "Iron cavalry surrounds the Dragon City", it is obvious that the Tang army has reached the front line quickly and surrounded the enemy castle. The "Iron Cavalry" and "Dragon City" face each other, exaggerating the war atmosphere of fighting between dragons and tigers. The word "circle" vividly describes the Tang army's military posture of surrounding the enemy. In the fifth and sixth sentences, he begins to write about the battle, but the poet does not write from the front, but uses the description of the scenery to highlight it. "The snow darkens the flag painting, and the wind adds to the sound of drums." The first sentence starts from human vision: the heavy snow covers the sky and the sun, making the colorful paintings on the military flag look eclipsed; the second sentence starts from human hearing: strong wind Howling, intertwined with the majestic marching drums. The two poems are full of sound and color, and each is wonderful in its own way. The poet has a unique expression, using the "flag" and "drum" that symbolize the army to show the strong and fearless spirit of the soldiers fighting the enemy in the snow and the tragic and fierce scenes of fighting the enemy bravely inspired by the sound of the war drum. The last two sentences of the poem: "It is better to be a centurion than a scholar." This directly expresses the ambition and pride of the scholar who joined the army to defend the border and the country. The arduous and fierce battles only increased his love for this extraordinary life. He would rather gallop on the battlefield and fight to defend the frontier than be a scholar in a study.
This short poem describes the whole process of a scholar joining the army and going out to join the war. Being able to condense such rich content into a limited space shows the poet's artistic skill. First of all, the poet grasped the most representative fragments of the whole process and made a vivid description. As for how the scholar joined the army, how he said goodbye to his parents and wife, and what the march was like along the way... A summary of the poet Secondly, the poem adopts a jumping structure, jumping from one typical scene to another, developing and moving forward in leaps and bounds. For example, the third sentence has just written "Resigning to Beijing", and the fourth sentence has already surrounded the enemy, and then shows the scene of fierce battle. However, this kind of jump is very natural, and each span leaves a lot of room for imagination. At the same time, this jumping structure gives the poem a lively rhythm, like the rushing water on the cliff, giving people a straight-forward and indomitable momentum, which effectively highlights the strong patriotic passion of the scholar and the heroic spirit of the Tang army generals. face.
The Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty were very dissatisfied with the slender and graceful poetry style at that time. They had made quite effective pioneering and innovation in the content and form of poetry. The style of Yang Jiong's poem is very vigorous, vigorous and impassioned. . In particular, a poem like this, which describes the killing of the golden drum, is written in the form of rhythmic poetry with strict rules, which is not simple. Rhymed poetry generally only requires the two middle couplets to be in opposition. In this poem, except for the first couplet, all three couplets are correct. Not only are there pairs between sentences, but they are also pairs within the same sentence, such as "Yazhang" vs. "Fengque", and "Tiaqi" vs. "Dragon City". Neat antithesis makes the poem more rhythmic and powerful, which is very valuable in the poetry world of the early Tang Dynasty.
Joining the Army Part 3
Chen Yu
The wind blows and the frozen mud cracks by the seaside, and the withered tung leaves fall off and the branches break.
No one can be seen after hearing the sound of the horizontal flute, and the red flag goes straight up to the snow of Tianshan Mountain.
Appreciation
This is a quatrain in oblique rhyme about marching in the snow, and the whole poem is very magnificent. The first and second sentences describe the extremely harsh environment faced by the soldiers in the army: the cold wind blew strongly at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, the frozen mud at the lakeside ("seaside") cracked, the leaves on the sycamore trees had been shaved off, and the branches were broken by the strong wind. On this harsh background, the snow-capped mountains are reflected, and the high-pitched flute sounds are heard. The poet uses the sound of the flute to make people think that there is someone here, but at the same time he hides the person, creating suspense by "not seeing the person" - where does the sound of the flute coming from the wind come from? This naturally leads to the last sentence: Looking for reputation, I saw a line of red flags moving towards the top of the mountain against the backdrop of the white snow of the Tianshan Mountains. The red flag remains undisturbed in the wind and snow, which fully reflects the spirit of the soldiers. The dynamic description of "straight up" makes the picture full of vitality. The high morale and indomitable spirit are all overflowed in the word "straight up".
This poem is good at contrasting and subtly using references in art. The description of the environment in the first and second sentences strives to highlight the harshness of the natural environment, and uses a strong atmosphere to reflect the fearless spirit of the soldiers. Just imagine, if we were marching under the conditions of calm wind, beautiful sun, clear mountains and clear water, how could we see the high and strong morale? To meet the needs of describing the atmosphere, the rhyme rhyme is in the rhyme tone. One word at the end of the first, second, and fourth sentences enters the rhyme. "Crack", "Zhe", and "雪" are all rhyme characters with the rhyme "crumb" in the rhyme. It has a tip-of-the-tongue sound with a short ending, which is suitable for expressing sad or heroic poetry.
The description of the atmosphere and the choice of rhyme in the first two sentences lay a good foundation for expressing the magnificent poetry. But the foil is the companion after all, and the key to the success or failure of the description lies in the three or four sentences that serve as the main body. The last two sentences are intended to describe people, but they do not write them directly, let alone tell the whole story. Instead, they only mention two things related to people - "Flute" and "Red Flag". They do not mention people but they are there.
The use of this referential technique not only saves pen and ink, but also enriches the artistic capacity of the work and gives readers a broad space for imagination. There are countless items in the army, but only the flute and the flag are mentioned, not only because only the sound of the flute and the red flag can be seen from a distance, but also because only these two items can best express the spirit of the marching officers. In terms of writing, first write "the sound of the flute is heard" and then "the red flag goes straight up", which is in line with the general habit of people paying attention to distant things "first the sound and then the shape". What is particularly clever is the embedding of the three words "不见人". "Hearing the sound" and looking for the person, looking but "not seeing", thus forming the ups and downs of the writing style, making the moving scene of the last sentence more vividly burst into people's eyes.
"Military March" has the beauty of poetry and painting. The vast mountains and rows of red flags, the white of the snow, the red of the flags, the stillness of the mountains and the movement of the flags, show a magnificent picture of marching in the wind and snow.