Wang Han.

"One of Two Poems from Liangzhou"

Author Wang Han? Dynasty Tang Dynasty

The luminous cup of grape wine reminds me to drink pipa immediately.

Lord Grim, lying drunk on the battlefield, how many people have fought in ancient times?

Translation:

At the wine feast, the mellow grape wine was filled into exquisite luminous cups, and the singers played rapid and cheerful pipa sounds to encourage drinking. They are about to mount their horses and rush to the battlefield to kill the enemy and serve the country. All the soldiers are full of pride.

You must get drunk today before you can rest. So what if you fall drunk on the battlefield? This time I went on an expedition to serve my country. I originally planned to wrap my body in horse leather, but I didn't plan to come back alive.

Appreciation:

Liangzhou is located in Wuwei, Gansu Province, and belonged to Longyou Road in the Tang Dynasty. The music is mostly mixed with Hu music from various countries in Qiuci (now Kuqa, Xinjiang) in the Western Region. During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Guo Zhiyun, the envoy of Longyou Jinglue in Longyou, presented Liangzhou music score to Xuanzong, and it quickly became popular. Many poets composed "Liangzhou Song" and "Liangzhou Ci" based on the score to express the customs of the frontier fortress.

This reflects the Tang people’s great courage and great-power demeanor in absorbing, digesting and innovating foreign culture with a nonchalant attitude. Grapes were introduced to the Central Plains from the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, but the custom of making wine was still prevalent in the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty. According to legend, the luminous cup was made of white jade during the reign of King Mu of Zhou Dynasty. It was named after its "bright light at night".

This is a group of frontier poems, and its specific creation time cannot be confirmed. "Liangzhou Ci" is Yuefu lyrics, sung according to the local tunes of Liangzhou (now Wuwei, Gansu). "New Tang Book·Le Zhi" says: "Tianbaojian music tunes are all named after border areas, such as Liangzhou, Yizhou, Ganzhou and so on." This poem has a strong local color.

Judging from the title, Liangzhou belongs to the northwest frontier; judging from the content, wine was a specialty of the Western Regions at that time, luminous cups were imported from the Western Regions, pipa was produced in the Western Regions, and Hujia was a popular musical instrument in the Northwest. These are all related to the northwest frontier style.