Lu Lun's pinyin of "Song of Saixia"

Original text

"Song of Saixia"

Lulun [Tang Dynasty]< /p>

yuè hēi yàn fēi ɡāo

Moon Black Goose Flying High

chán yú yè dùn táo

Chan Yu fled at night

yù jiānɡ qīnɡ qí zhú

Want to drive Qingqi away

dà xuě mǎn ɡōnɡ dāo

Heavy snow full of bows and knives

Translation

On a dead night, dark clouds cover the moon, and wild geese fly in the sky. Shanyu's army wants to sneak away under the cover of night.

Just as he was about to lead the light cavalry in pursuit, heavy snow fell on his bows and knives.

Notes

Fortress Song: a military song from the ancient frontier fortress.

Dark Moon: No moonlight.

Chan Yu (chán yú): leader of the Huns. This refers to the supreme commander of the invaders.

Escape: escape.

General: leader.

Light cavalry: light and fast cavalry.

Chase: chase.

Man: full.

Appreciation

"The Song under the Fortress" is an old title of Han Dynasty Yuefu and belongs to the "Hengchui Song Ci". The content is mostly about the frontier fortress. Of the original six poems, Hengtang retired scholars selected four of them. This is the third poem in Lu Lun's poem "Song under the Sai". Lu Lun once served as a marshal judge in the shogunate and had experience in military life. His poems describing this kind of life are relatively substantial and vigorous in style. This poem describes the heroism of General Xue Ye as he prepares to lead his troops to chase the enemy.

The poem begins with a description of the scene. "Moonlight and black geese flying high" is not the scene in the eyes, but the scene in the mind. The snowy night and dark moon were not a normal time for wild geese to fly; but the startled flying geese revealed that the enemy was taking action. These five words not only indicate that the time is winter, but also highlight the tense atmosphere before the war.

"The Shan Yu fled at night", the enemy moved at night, not leading troops to attack, but fleeing hastily under the cover of the moonlight. The tone of the poem is affirmative, the judgment is clear, and it is full of contempt for the enemy and our army's belief in victory, which makes readers excited.

The last two sentences describe the scene of the general preparing to chase the enemy, which is extraordinary. "In order to drive the light cavalry away", the general discovered that the enemy was absconding and wanted to lead the light cavalry to pursue him; not only because the light cavalry was fast, but also showed a high degree of confidence. When the warriors lined up and prepared to set off, a heavy snow began to fall. Although they could not stand for a moment, the bows and swords were covered with snowflakes in an instant. The cold light that obscured their weapons. They are like arrows about to leave the string. Although they have not yet set off, they are full of confidence that they will win.

The last sentence, "The bows and knives are covered with heavy snow" is a description of the severe cold scene, which highlights the hardship of the battle and the brave spirit of the soldiers.

Although this poem only has twenty words, it describes the actual situation at that time: Chanyu led his army to flee under the scene of "black moon and wild geese flying high", and the general was in "heavy snow full of bows and swords". Prepare to lead the army to attack under extremely cold weather conditions. The escape and pursuit exaggerated the tense atmosphere. Although the poem does not directly describe a fierce battle scene, it leaves readers with a broad imagination and creates an atmosphere of long-lasting meaning in the poem.

Creative background

When the author wrote this poem, his life and career were extremely difficult. After the Zhusi Rebellion, King Hunyang of Xianning came out of Zhenhezhong and promoted Lu Lun to be the judge of the Marshal's Mansion. In the military camp, all Lu Lun saw were the majestic and solemn frontier fortress scenes, and all he came into contact with were rugged and heroic soldiers, so he composed this frontier fortress poem.

About the author

Lulun (739-799), courtesy name Yunyan, was a native of Puzhou in Hezhong (now Yongji County, Shanxi). A poet of the Tang Dynasty, he was one of the ten talented men in Dali. In the last years of Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao reign of the Tang Dynasty, he was promoted to Jinshi, but he failed in the chaos. In the Tang Dynasty, Zong Dynasty applied for the imperial examination again, but failed in repeated attempts. In the sixth year of Dali, he was recommended by Prime Minister Yuan Zai and was awarded the title of Lieutenant of Xiangxiang. Later, Prime Minister Wang Jin recommended him as Bachelor of Jixian, Secretary of the Provincial School, and promoted to Supervisory Censor. He was promoted to Hucao in Shaanzhou and magistrate of Mi County in Henan. Later, Yuan Zai and Wang Jin were convicted and implicated. During the Dezong Dynasty of the Tang Dynasty, he was restored as the magistrate of Zhaoying County and served as the judge of Hunyang Mansion, Marshal in Hezhong. His official position was as a doctor in the household department of the school inspection department. Died soon. Author of "Collection of Poems by Lu Hubu".