Going out of the fortress

Wang Changling

The bright moon of the Qin Dynasty and the Pass of the Han Dynasty,

The people who marched thousands of miles have not yet returned.

But the flying generals of Dragon City are here,

Don’t teach Hu Ma to cross the Yin Mountain.

[Note]

1. Going out of the fortress: This is a common title used by poets in the Tang Dynasty when they wrote poems about life in the frontier fortress.

2. Mingyue in Qin and Guan in Han: that is, the bright moon in Qin and Han, and the pass in Qin and Han. This means that the war has never stopped on the long border line.

3． But make: as long as.

4. Dragon City Flying General: refers to the famous general Li Guang of the Han Dynasty. The Huns who invaded the south were afraid of him and called him "Flying General". This generally refers to generals who are brave and capable of fighting.

5. Huma: refers to the foreign cavalry that invades the mainland.

6. Yinshan: In today's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, it was often relied on to resist the southern invasion of the Xiongnu in ancient times.

[Brief Analysis]

This is a famous frontier fortress poem, which expresses the poet's hope that a good general will be appointed to quell the war at the frontier as soon as possible so that the people can live a stable life.

The poet starts from describing the scenery. The first sentence outlines a desolate scene with the cold moon shining on the border. "The bright moon of the Qin Dynasty and the Pass of the Han Dynasty" cannot be understood as the bright moon of the Qin Dynasty and the pass of the Han Dynasty. Here, the four characters Qin, Han, Guan, and Yue are used interchangeably. In rhetoric, it is called "intertextual meaning", which means the bright moon in Qin and Han Dynasties and the pass in Qin and Han Dynasties. The poet hinted that the wars here have not stopped since the Qin and Han Dynasties, highlighting the long time. In the second sentence, "Thousands of miles long march, people have not yet returned." "Wanli" refers to the thousands of miles between the frontier and the inland. Although it is a false reference, it highlights the vastness of the space. "People have not yet returned" reminds people of the disasters caused by war and expresses the poet's grief and anger.

How can we relieve the people's suffering? The poet places his hope in a capable general. "But let the flying generals of Longcheng be here and not teach the Hu horses to cross the Yinshan Mountains." As long as Li Guang, the flying general guarding Longcheng, is still alive, the Hu cavalry will not be allowed to cross the Yinshan Mountains. "Dragon City Flying General" refers to Li Guang, the famous general who guarded Lulong City under Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He was brave and good at fighting and defeated the Huns many times. "Don't teach" means not allowed. The word "teach" is pronounced flatly; "Hu Ma" here refers to the cavalry that invaded by foreign nations. "Du Yin Mountain" means crossing Yin Mountain. Yinshan Mountain is a large mountain range running east-west in the north. It was a natural barrier for the northern border defense in the Han Dynasty. The last two sentences are written implicitly and cleverly, allowing people to draw necessary conclusions from the comparison of past events.

This poem is called the masterpiece of the Tang Dynasty. Tragic but not desolate, generous but not superficial, this poem is the first of Wang's two poems "Out of the Fortress".