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Ge Yanxing is Gao Shi's masterpiece, not only his "first masterpiece" (Zhao Qian's comment), but also a masterpiece of frontier poems in the whole Tang Dynasty, which has been told for generations.

Poetry laments the hardships of the expedition, denounces the pride of the generals in underestimating their enemies, and their debauchery and dereliction of duty lead to the failure of the war, which makes the soldiers suffer great pain and sacrifice, reflecting the different reality of bitterness and joy, solemnity and debauchery between soldiers and generals. Although the poem describes the border war, the focus is not on ethnic contradictions, but on satirizing and resenting the generals who have no sympathy for the soldiers. At the same time, I also wrote about the hardships of defending the country against the enemy. The theme is still vigorous, generous and tragic.

The whole poem describes the whole process of a battle with very concentrated pen and ink: the first paragraph, eight sentences are about division, the second paragraph, eight sentences are about defeat, the third paragraph, eight sentences are about besieged city, and the fourth paragraph and four sentences are about the outcome of a desperate struggle. Between these segments, the pulses are dense.

The first two sentences in the poem show the direction and nature of the war. Seeing refers to current events, and I feel it. "quick march, great minds think alike, and is favored by the emperor", which seems to praise the great power of Korea's voyages to the Western Seas, but actually implies irony and foreshadowing. Fan Kuai said in front of Lv Hou, "I would like to have 100,000 troops running amok among the Huns." Lu Bu rebuked him to his face for cheating the monarch. (See Biography of Historical Records and Ji Bu) Therefore, the origin of this "rampage" is to rely on courage and underestimate the enemy. Then he described the process of marching: "They marched in the sound of gongs and drums and passed through the Yushu Pass. They surrounded the stone tablet with a row of flying flags." We can know the general's arrogant attitude before the war through the scene of beating the sky with a golden drum and swaggering forward, which also played a role in setting off the following. At the beginning of the war, the word "flying" warned the military crisis: "The hunting fire of the Chief Tatar flashed on the Wolf Mountain", just like "watching the Ming king hunt at night, riding the fire clearly, beating drums and wailing, shocking people!" (Zhang Xiaoxiang's Song of Six Kingdoms) Unexpectedly, the "remnant thief" is so powerful. From resigning to the countryside, to Guan Yu, Jieshi, and even Hanhai and Langshan, eight poems summarize the course of the expedition, gradually advancing and the atmosphere gradually tense.

The second paragraph is about losing in a key battle. Putting pen to paper is "the mountains and rivers outside are cold", which shows an open and steep area and brings out a cold atmosphere. "Hu Qi" came quickly and fiercely, rolling in like a storm. The Han army struggled to meet the enemy and was killed in the dark. However, at this moment, the generals are far away from their positions for fun: "There are still beautiful girls dancing and singing for them in the camp!" " Such a harsh contrast of facts has effectively exposed the contradiction between the generals and soldiers in the Han army and hinted at the reasons for the failure. So what follows is the tired soldiers, the difficult encirclement, the lonely city sunset, the decaying grassland and the gloomy scenery, which have distinct frontier characteristics and set off the desolation of the defeated soldiers. When you are lucky, you despise your enemies. However, despite what they have done, Elm Street is still unsafe. In view of the above, Han Jiang's heroic spirit of "rampaging" has vanished, and his guilt is certain.

The description of soldiers' sufferings in the third paragraph is a deeper condemnation of Han Jiang. It should be noted that this is not a general description of the war process, but a portrayal of the soldiers in danger of being besieged. The next trio of "still at the front line, dressed in rags", a sentence of finding a husband and a sentence of losing a wife in the suspense of finding a husband are intertwined, and the pain of parting gradually deepens. The young women in the south of the city are sad day and night, but "the fury of the wind cuts my man?" It is futile to look back on the people in northern Hebei. After all, "in a place of death and blue emptiness, there is nothing ahead!" Leave Wan Li, and you'll never see it again. "Life is here, and Heaven is better!" What's more, what you can see during the day is just that "the clouds of slaughter three times a day rise over the camp"; At night, I only heard that "and the whole night is on the hour-the drums are shaking their chilly rumbling". Such a critical desperate situation really died in front of me, and people can't help but wonder who pushed them to this desperate situation. This is an indispensable part of deepening the theme.

The last four sentences are the whole article, and the tragic feelings are incisively and vividly. "Until the White Sword is seen again, blood is everywhere. When death becomes a responsibility, who will stop to think of fame?" Finally, the soldiers fought hand-to-hand with the enemy and fought bloody battles. Is this the spirit of sacrificing one's life for righteousness? How simple, kind and brave they are, but how sad they are!

The poet's feelings contain sympathy and praise, while Gu Xun is a powerful mockery of the Han generals' rash expansion of territory and rash claim for credit. In the last two sentences, the poet said emotionally: "However, when it comes to the hardships of desert war, today we are going to mention Li, a great general who lived a long time ago!" Eight or nine hundred years ago, Li Guang, a flying general in Weizhenbei, took good care of his foot soldiers everywhere and made them "die of joy". This is in stark contrast to those arrogant generals. It is of great significance for the poet to put forward General Li. From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, there have been thousands of years. There are countless generals who drove the soldiers to the chicken to fly and the dog to jump. There are more soldiers who worked hard to prepare their bodies for burial in foreign countries than Qian Qian! However, there is only one Li Guang for thousands of years, and we should teach people to remember him painfully. Du Fu praised the poems of Gao Shi and Cen Can: "The meaning is just flying, and the articles are always mixed." This poem ends with Li Guang, and its artistic conception is more vigorous and far-reaching.

The whole poem is magnificent and vigorous, but after some bleak management, it has become muddy and seamless. The atmosphere is solemn and stirring, and the thought is profound and implicit. "The mountains and rivers on the border are cold, and soon barbarians are stepping on the wind and rain", "The desert is poor in autumn, and the sunset ruins and grass are crowded with few watchers". The poet deliberately hinted and exaggerated this tragic scene, exposing the sins of generals who are eager to achieve success with desolation and terror. Especially in the fierce war, the poet described the complex and changeable inner activities of soldiers, which was tragic and touching and deepened the theme. The whole poem hides sharp contrast everywhere. From the description throughout the whole article, the soldiers' loyalty to their duties is in sharp contrast with the Han generals' pampering and greed, the soldiers' hard work and long-term separation from their families, and the Han generals' dereliction of duty and debauchery. Finally, Li Guang is put forward, which is a comparison between ancient and modern times. The whole article "Half of our men were killed at the front, but the other half are still alive, and beautiful girls are still dancing and singing for them in the camp" and "Two sentences are the most profound" (Wu Rulun's comments are quoted in Tang and Song poems). This contrast is very obvious, which greatly strengthens the power of irony.

Ge Yanxing is a typical representative of seven-character poems in Tang Dynasty. The rhymes of the whole poem are "Entering Tone", "Deleting Tone", "Singing", "Slight Tone", "Having Tone" and "Writing Tone" in turn, which happens to be even and restrained. In addition to the last two sentences, rhyming sentences and antithetical sentences are self-evident, and non-antithetical sentences are also in line with the level of the sentence, such as "They walked through the elm pass with the sound of gongs and drums, and the noise hindered the stone room"; The rhyming sentences are also very neat, such as "Three times a day, Tuyun rises in the camp, and the drums are chilling all night." The beauty of this tone is "the sound of an iron horse, the festival of singing the ball on a jade plate" ("Tang").

Appendix:

Song of Yan state

Gao Shi in Tang Dynasty

brief introduction

Ge Yanxing is the work of Gao Shi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. This poem mainly reveals that the master is arrogant and underestimates the enemy, and has no sympathy for the foot soldiers, which leads to the defeat of the war. The whole article can be divided into four paragraphs: the first paragraph consists of eight sentences. Among them, the first four sentences say that the dust of war began in the northeast, and the general was ordered to conquer, and the son of heaven gave him special honor. He has always been favored and arrogant, which indicates underestimation of the enemy. The last four sentences are followed by the lineup. Flags are like clouds, drums and horns are ringing, and all the way to the battlefield with great fanfare, as a foil to the embarrassing situation when losing. In the second paragraph, there are eight sentences about this battle. Among them, the first four sentences are written that the enemy was fierce at the beginning of the war, and Tang Jun suffered heavy casualties. The last four sentences said that the serenade was exhausted at the latest and could not be cleared. In the third paragraph, I wrote eight sentences to recruit people, thinking that the two places will face each other and meet again indefinitely. The last four sentences, two of which are written by soldiers, are determined to die for their country when there is no hope of survival; The two poets expressed deep sympathy for the tragic fate of the soldiers. The whole poem is magnificent, vigorous in brushwork, solemn and stirring, and profound in meaning.

Original poem

Yangehang (Parallel Order)

In the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan, a guest returned from the ancient imperial doctor Zhang Gong. Writing "Ge Yanxing" is a sign of comfort and defense, so it is harmonious.

The northeast border of China is shrouded in smoke and dust. In order to repel the barbaric invaders, our generals left their families. Stride forward together, looking like heroes should watch, and received the emperor's most cordial favor.

They walked through the elm pass between the flag stones with the sound of gongs and drums. Until their captain in Shahai gave the order with feathers, the hunting fire of the Tatar chieftain flashed along the Wolf Mountain.

And the high and cold and desolate outer borders of the river, but soon the barbarian's horse got caught in the wind and rain. Half of us were killed at the front, but the other half are still alive, and the beautiful girls are still singing and dancing for them at the camp.

The desert in autumn is barren, and a few surviving watchmen are lonely by the wall at sunset. Serve a good cause and despise life and enemies. However, despite their actions, Elm Street is still unsafe.

Still in the front line, the real armor is worn out and thin, and Yuzhu should cry after parting. Still in this southern city, the young wife's heart is broken, while the soldiers on the northern border look at their hometown in vain.

The wind is blowing, and in the place of death and blue void, there is nothing ahead. Three times a day, the cloud of slaughter rises over the camp, and all night, the drums on the hour are rumbling cold.

Until the white sword is seen again, spattered with red blood, when death becomes a responsibility, who will stop to think about fame? However, when it comes to the hardships of fighting in the desert, today we are going to mention Li, a great general who lived a long time ago. [ 1]

To annotate ...

1, Yan Gexing: Cao Pi, Xiao Yi, and Yu Xin wrote the old title of Yuefu's "Xiang He Ge Ci Ping Diao Qu", mostly thinking about women and husbands.

2. Zhang Gong: refers to Zhang Shousheng. In the twenty-third year of Kaiyuan, he made great contributions to the fight against Qidan, worshipped the general of Fuguo and served as the suggestion.

3. Han family: borrowing refers to the Tang Dynasty. Smoke and dust: beacon smoke and flying dust in the battlefield, referring to war warnings. In May of the 18th year of Kaiyuan (730), the Qidan and Xi people rebelled against the Tang Dynasty. Since then, the war between the Tang Dynasty and Qi and Xi has continued. General Han: It refers to General Zhang Shousheng.

4, "very brilliant": metamorphosis gives glory.

5. "Chu ā ng" golden drum cut: the military sounded the golden drum. Kim: Gong. Guan Yu: Shanhaiguan. Wandering: a tortuous appearance. Jieshi: the name of the mountain, in the north of Changli County, Hebei Province. This refers to the northeast coastal areas.

6. Wei: Military attache, ranking second only to general. Feather book: a feather stick, an emergency military document with feathers inserted. The vast sea: the great desert.

7. Khan: The title of Xiongnu monarch in Qin and Han Dynasties generally refers to the chieftain of the enemy country. Fire hunting: a fire that rises when hunting. Langshan: The western section of the yinshan mountains lies in the middle of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In addition, the vast sea and Wolf Mountain refer to the battlefield at that time.

8. Author: Ling. Invade others by the power of faith.

9. Poor autumn: late autumn. Fei: I'm sick and withered. One is "failure". Sui Yu's "Historical Records" "Dragon Head Yin": "Grass flies in autumn and dust flies beyond the Great Wall."

10, two sentences: first, write that the coach is favored by the emperor and underestimates the enemy; I wrote that the soldiers struggled hard and failed to break through the encirclement of the enemy.

1 1, Tieyi: borrowing soldiers. "Mulan Ci": "Cold light and iron clothes". Jade chopsticks: white chopsticks, metaphorically thinking of women's tears. Jade chopsticks: jade tendons, jade chopsticks, metaphor for tears. Liu Xiaowei's "Dugu": "Who pities the jade chopsticks, the face is complex."

12, south of the city: Chang 'an Community is in the south of the city, so it is cloudy. Shen Quanqi's Lonely: "This is the Red Phoenix, and the autumn night is long." Northern Hebei: Jizhou, Youzhou area, now northern Hebei Province. Here refers to the northeast battlefield.

13, Gone with the Wind in Bian Feng (yáo): A poem "Gone with the Wind in the Border Court" refers to a turbulent and sinister situation. Absolute realm: a more distant boundary. "More": more desolate and barren.

14,3 o'clock: morning, noon and evening. Array cloud: War cloud. Diao Dou: Bronze used to tell the time when the army patrols at night. Diao Dou: The copper pot used by the ancient army for cooking can be used for night shift and patrol.

15, General Li: refers to Li Guang. Being good at fighting, being cherished by foot soldiers and defending right Beiping, Xiongnu dared to invade the south in fear, and was called General Fei. See Historical Records Biography of General Li.

Vernacular translation

In the twenty-sixth year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, a man who came back from the cottage with the head coach wrote a poem "Ge Yanxing" for me to read. I was deeply impressed by the frontier defense, so I wrote this song Ge Yanxing to meet him.

Fireworks rose at the border of the Tang Dynasty, and dust rose in the northeast. The generals of the Tang Dynasty left home to break the cruel border thieves.

The soldiers were invincible on the battlefield, and the emperor gave them rich rewards.

The sound of gongs and drums resounded through the heavy drums, out of Shanhaiguan, and the standard was hunting in Jieshi Mountain.

Captain Yu Shu flew over the vast sand sea, Xiongnu Khan held fire hunting, and the light came to my Wolf Mountain.

The mountains and rivers are desolate and depressed, and desolate to the soil. The sound of the Hu people cavalry fighting powerful weapons was caught in the wind and rain.

In the first half of my life, the soldiers were defeated, and the beauty was still singing and dancing in the camp!

It is late autumn, the grass outside the desert has withered, the lonely city is reflected in the sunset, and fewer and fewer soldiers are fighting.

Deeply indebted to the royal family, he often thinks about serving his country and underestimating his enemy. The frontier fortress has tried its best to break the encirclement of Xiongnu.

I haven't worked hard in a remote battlefield in armor for a long time. My husband left and cried alone.

The young woman lives alone in the south of the city, crying and heartbroken, and the soldiers of the expeditionary force frequently look back in the air in northern Hebei.

The border is foggy and far away. How can you come and go freely? What's more, it is far away and even more uninhabited.

Murder, spring, summer and autumn are like dark clouds, and the cold wind sounds even more shocking overnight.

Looking at each other's white blade mixed with blood flying wildly, dying to serve the country, is it still asking for success?

You don't see how miserable it is to fight on the battlefield, and you are still thinking about General Li, who is brave and good at fighting.

Creation background

Although Ge Yanxing followed the old theme of Yuefu, it was written because of something, which is the development of Yuefu poetry. Go further, and you will arrive at the new Yuefu of Du Fu's "Two Ways, Car Shop, Three Officials and Three Farewells". Ge Yanxing is a theme of Yuefu, which belongs to a part of the flat tune of Xianghe Pavilion. This piece of music has not been recorded before, so it is said that it was composed by Cao Pi. Cao Pi has two poems, one is about Qiu Si, a woman, which was initiated by him. Therefore, future generations should learn from him and write poems that will always be in my heart with the tone of Yan Gexing. Ge Yanxing, written by Gao Shi, is about the life of frontier soldiers. He was the first person to write this theme with Yan Ge's operas. Annotators have never made detailed comments on the preface and literature and history, and they all think it is a satire on Zhang Shousheng. The author feels that Zhang Shoujue, the envoy of Youzhou, lost in the battle with the nation, but lied about his military situation and made a poem of irony.

From the 18th year of Kaiyuan in the Tang Dynasty (730) to the 22nd year in December, the Khitan invaded the border of the Tang Dynasty many times. In the 15th year of Kaiyuan (727), Gao Shi went north to accumulate Yumen. In the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, Li Yi, the king of Xin 'an, conquered Xi and Qidan. He went to Youyan in the north, hoping to work for the Xin 'an shogunate, but failed to do so: "Without the letter of guarantee, the generals would have been in debt. Disappointed with Sun Wu, he went back to the door alone (Ji Zhong Zuo). It can be seen that he has studied the military affairs of the northeast frontier fortress. In the 21st year of Kaiyuan, Youzhou made Zhang Shouxuan make some achievements. But in twenty-four years, Pinglu made An Lushan beg and qidan, saying that "An Lushan relied on courage and lightness skill, and was defeated by Lu" (Zi Jian, Volume 215). In the 26th year of Kaiyuan, Youzhou made Zhao Kan and Bai Zhenduo attack Zhang Shouxuan, forcing Pinglu Army to send Wu Zhiyi to attack Xi and Qidan, winning first and then losing. "Shouxuan hides his appearance, but plays merits" (Biography of Zhang Shouxuan in Old Tang Dynasty). Gao Shi was deeply impressed by the two defeats after Kaiyuan twenty-four years ago, so he wrote this article.

Famous comments

Tang Ruxun said, "It is said that the smoke and dust is in the northeast, but it was not committed in our mainland, and Han will put it out. Gai Ming is heavy and rampant, and the son of heaven is thick and polite. Can you not bother? " (Interpretation of Tang Poetry, Volume 16)

Wang Fuzhi: The words are simple and profound, and the arrangement is ironic. This road comes from "Three Hundred Articles", which was slightly in the Tang Dynasty and lost in the Song Dynasty. (Selected Poems of Tang Dynasty)

Fang: There are four sentences in Han Jia, followed by Jin, mountains and rivers, desert and iron clothes. Li Mu refers to irony. ("Zhao Wei Zhan Yan")

Shen Deqian: In the seven-character ancient poem, the whole sentence is timely, and the situation is not relaxed. If Li and Du are tottering, the fish and dragons are ever-changing, which is different. (Selected Tang Poems)

Wu Qiao: The master, the master of prosperity, can defeat the enemy by remembering the education of general Li. In Duff's time, there must have been a border general who did not sympathize with the soil and pretended to be this poem. The host and guests, "soldiers and soldiers were still alive and dead in the first half, and beautiful girls danced and sang for them in the camp" and "I never cared about Gu Xun" are also four words. The rest are the host and the guest. From "Smoke from the Han Family" to "Unfinished Customs Clearance", it is said that you have met the enemy. Behind this should be the "side yard", but it is straight and tasteless, so the words "young woman" and "recruitment" are used horizontally. "Be there or be square" at such a time is also a matter of benevolence and righteousness. If the article is positive, if it is written in this way, we should tell Li that he can break the enemy's merits and inspire this side. Poetry is more interesting than profile, so only "General Li" is published, which makes people deeply seek and get it. Therefore, it is said that "the speaker is not guilty, and the listener is enough to quit." ("Poetry around the Furnace")