Cen Shen's "Song of General Zhao": Defending the country and guarding the border without speaking of hardships

"If you wish to serve your country with this life, why should you be born in Yumen Pass?" This is the collective oath of generations of passionate men who have guarded the country's borders. No matter how bad the environment at the border is, no matter how powerful the enemy is, they will They were all fearless and used their flesh and blood to build the Great Wall of Steel for the country. Cen Shen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, praised a typical representative of these passionate men in "Song of General Zhao". The original text of this poem is as follows:

In September, the wind in the Tianshan Mountains is like a knife, and the hunting horses in the south of the city shrink with cold hair. .

The general wins every game, and wins as much as a sable robe.

"The wind in the Tianshan Mountains in September is as sharp as a knife." The cold wind at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains in September is as sharp as a knife. In this sentence, the poet points out the typical bitter cold environment in the border area. In September, it is just autumn in the Central Plains, but in the border area, the wind is already as cold as a knife, and it is a cold winter scene. It can be said that "the north wind blows the white grass on the ground." "It's snowing in Hutian in August." The poet compares the intangible wind to a tangible knife, turning the intangible into something tangible, which further highlights the bitter and cold environment at the border.

"The hunting horses in the south of the city have their hair shrunken." In the countryside south of Beiting Prefecture, the hair of the hunting horses shrank. At that time, the poet served in the Beiting Protectorate Feng Changqing Shogunate, so the "South of the City" in this sentence refers to the state capital of the Beiting Protectorate. Although the cold wind was biting, it did not affect the soldiers stationed in Beiting at all. They braved the cold wind, went hunting on horseback, and held horseback shooting competitions. In this sentence, the poet writes about the severe cold weather from the side with "hunting horses and shrinking their hair", and at the same time highlights the bravery and fearlessness of the soldiers.

"The general wins every game", General Zhao won every game in the riding and shooting competition. In the first two sentences, the poet mainly wrote about the bitter cold environment of the frontier fortress. It was not until this sentence that he responded to the title and began to write about General Zhao from the front. Braving the severe cold, the soldiers guarding the border persisted in military training and launched a riding and shooting competition. Among the soldiers, the one who performed most outstandingly was General Zhao. The poet used slightly exaggerated words such as "victory in every battle" to praise General Zhao's might and bravery.

"Bet on Chanyu's mink robe" and win the robe made of mink skin worn by Chanyu. In order to increase the enthusiasm of the soldiers, the "Chan Yu Erzhi Robe" was set as a prize in the riding and archery competition. The "Chanyu Ermine Robe" is a trophy of the soldiers of the Beiting Protectorate. Whoever can win it in the competition will be the bravest among warriors. Without any surprise, General Zhao won a trophy that symbolized bravery. On the one hand, it highlighted General Zhao's martial arts skills, and on the other hand, it praised General Zhao's bravery and prowess in battle.

In this poem, the poet writes about the bitter cold frontier environment and the heroic and fearless General Zhao in powerful language. On the surface, the poet is praising General Zhao. However, if we delve deeper, the General Zhao described by the poet is actually a representative of the soldiers who guard the country's borders. The qualities of General Zhao are the qualities that are unique to thousands of soldiers who guard the country's borders. It is precisely because of thousands of "General Zhao" that our country is safe, prosperous and strong.