Exploring the Poetic Character of Liangzhou Ci

The Yellow River is far above the white clouds.

Wan Ren is an isolated city.

Why should a strong brother complain about willow?

The spring breeze does not pass through Yumen Pass.

(Wang Zhihuan)

[Notes]

1. Liangzhou Ci: The lyrics of a popular tune (Liangzhou Ci) at that time.

2. The Yellow River is far away: looking at the source of the Yellow River.

3. Lonely city: refers to the lonely castle guarding the border.

4. Qi: ancient unit of length. One breath is equivalent to seven or eight feet.

5. Qiang flute: Qiang musical instrument.

6. Liu Yang: It refers to a song called Folding Liu Yang. There is a custom of breaking willows to bid farewell in the Tang Dynasty.

7. Degree: crossing. The last two sentences are: Why did Qiangdi play such a sad tune as "Folding Willow", complaining that the willow didn't grow and spring came late? You know, the spring breeze outside Yumenguan can't blow!

[Brief analysis]

From a distance, the rushing Yellow River seems to be connected with white clouds in the sky, and Yumenguan stands alone among the mountains. Don't use that sad> to complain that spring is late, because spring breeze can't blow around Yumenguan at all.

"Liangzhou Ci" is the lyrics of Liangzhou Song, not the title of a poem, but the name of a popular tune in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. During the Kaiyuan period, Guo Zhiyun, the Chinese ambassador to Longyou, collected a batch of western music scores and presented them to Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Xuanzong handed it to Jiao Fang to translate it into China's music score, sang it with new lyrics, and took the place names produced by these music scores as the title of the song. Later, many poets liked this tune and filled it with new words, so many poets in the Tang Dynasty wrote Liangzhou Ci.

Wang Zhihuan wrote this poem about the homesickness of frontier soldiers. It is desolate and generous, sad without losing strength. Although he tried his best to exaggerate the resentment that the garrison soldiers were not allowed to go home, he did not feel depressed, which fully showed the broad-minded mind of the poets in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

The first sentence, "The Yellow River is far above the white clouds", captures the characteristics of overlooking and depicts a moving picture: on the vast plateau, the Yellow River runs down and looks at the west as if it were flowing out of the white clouds. The second sentence, "An isolated city, Wan Ren Mountain", is about an isolated city in the fortress. A lonely city located in the frontier fortress, standing tall by mountains and waters. These two sentences describe the majestic momentum of the motherland's mountains and rivers, outline the geographical situation of this important national defense town, highlight the desolate situation of foot soldiers guarding the border, and provide a typical environment for the latter two sentences to describe the psychology of defending the army.

In this environment, I suddenly heard the sound of Qiangdi, and the tune I played happened to be "Folding Willow", which aroused the sadness of the garrison. The ancients had the custom of parting and giving gifts. "Liu" and "Liu" are homophonic and presented to Liu as a souvenir. In the Northern Dynasty Yuefu's "Blowing the Drum Horn Across", there is "Folding Yang Liuzhi", and the lyrics say: "If you don't catch the whip when you get on the horse, you will hit Yang Liuzhi instead. Dismount and play the flute, worrying about killing travelers. " It is mentioned in the song that pedestrians break willows when they walk. This kind of farewell wind was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. Thus, there is a close relationship between willow and parting. Nowadays, when the foot soldiers guarding the border pass hear the sad tune of "Folding Willow" played by Qiangdi, it is inevitable that they will feel sad and not hate it. Therefore, the poet explained in an open-minded tone: Why does Qiangdi always play the sad tune of "breaking willow"? You know, outside Yumenguan is a place where the spring breeze can't blow, and no willow can be folded! To say "why complain" is not to complain, nor to persuade the guards not to complain, but to complain is useless. The use of the word "why complain" makes poetry more economical and meaningful.

Three or four sentences, which Yang Shen thought contained irony: "This poem is not as good as frontier fortress, and the so-called military gate is far more than Wan Li." China's ancient poetry has always had a tradition of "happiness", not to mention "poetry fails to express its meaning". We think readers can't help but understand it, but we are not sure whether the author really means it.

About the author:

Wang Zhihuan (688-742) was born in Ji Ling and Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi) and moved to Jiangzhou (now Jiangxian, Shanxi). Poets in Tang Dynasty.

William Wang: Yu Zi, a native of Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi). In the first year of Zongrui Jingyun (7 10), he was a scholar. When Xuanzong became an official, he was demoted to Daozhou Sima and died in the relegated place. Bold sex, like to play and drink, can write lyrics. Singing and dancing. "All Tang Poems" includes one volume of his poems. Especially "Liangzhou Ci" is widely circulated.

Most of the Seven Unique Poems in Tang Dynasty are Yuefu Ci, and Liangzhou Ci is one of them. Sing according to the local music tunes of Liangzhou (now Hexi and Longyou in Gansu). The Book of the New Tang Dynasty says, "Tianbao music tunes are all named after border areas, such as Liangzhou, Yizhou and Ganzhou." This poem has a strong local color. From the title, Liangzhou belongs to the northwest border; From the content, wine was a specialty of the western regions at that time, the luminous cup was introduced from the western regions, and the pipa was produced in the western regions. These are all related to the customs of the northwest frontier fortress. This four-line poem is a beautiful frontier poem. Frontier poems, if based on the attitude towards war. It can be divided into two categories: praising war and exposing war. The nature and background of the war written in this poem can no longer be verified, but judging from the pulse of the poet's feelings, it is undoubtedly an anti-war poem. But it did not describe the war positively, but expressed the grief of soldiers who were tired of the war by drinking before the war. The pen is hidden and tortuous.

The first sentence is brightly colored, deliberately boasting about the beauty of the banquet: the sparkling wine glasses contain grapes and wine, and the soldiers get together to prepare for drinking. Writing here, I suddenly suffered setbacks: "I want to drink" but I can't help but "Pipa urges me at once". The beauty of this sentence pattern is that it suddenly leads to the turning point of text and meaning. Immediately, the band played pipa to urge people to start, which greatly changed the mood of the soldiers and forced them from a lively and comfortable drinking environment to a tense and warm pre-war atmosphere. I can't seem to drink any more! However, "you can't laugh when you are drunk in the sand." The meaning of the third sentence has changed again, telling us that the military orders are like a mountain, but it is the urging person who urges himself, and the drinker drinks for himself. He has made up his mind to "get drunk before taking a rest." The poet seems to be pouring out his heart for the soldiers: who cares? Although we were about to leave, we still drank and got drunk. You won't laugh at this binge drinking, will you? The word "don't laugh" was provoked in frustration, which led to the saddest and most decisive sentence in the whole poem. This is the ending, "How many people fought in ancient times?" This kind of cross-examination exaggerates the cruel consequences of war, reveals universality and deepens the theme of poetry. Obviously, it's not just the battle that the soldiers are facing, but the "ancient" war that all the ruling classes launched for their own interests and killed thousands of soldiers in Qian Qian! The whole poem expresses the sadness of anti-war and reveals the tragic fact that there are few survivors since the war, but it shows a tragic mood of death with heroic and broad-minded brushwork. Through this seemingly heroic and broad-minded mind, people feel more sad and disillusioned in the hearts of soldiers. The Collection of Tang Poems says that this poem "pretends to be bold and unrestrained, but in fact it is extremely sad." It can be said that it won the author's favor. This poem does reveal the negative emotions criticized by contemporary theorists, but at that time, in that cruel environment, soldiers and poets could only have such sad emotions about the endless fighting in the border court, and we don't have to be demanding about it.

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