The messenger arrived at the fortress, Wang Wei

The bicycle wanted to ask about the border, but the country he belonged to was passing by and he was in Yan.

Zheng Peng left Hansai, and returned to Yan and entered Hutian.

The lonely smoke in the desert is straight, and the sun is setting in the long river.

When Xiao Guan is waiting to ride, he will protect Yan Ran.

About the author

Wang Wei (700-761 AD), also known as Mojie, was a great poet, painter and musician in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. His poems are subtle in style, vivid in description, fresh and refined, and unique. Together with Li Xin, Gao Shi, Cen Shen and Wang Changling, he is collectively known as "Wang Li Gaocen" and is a representative figure of frontier poetry; together with Meng Haoran, he is collectively known as "Wang Meng" and is also a representative figure of pastoral poetry. As for "Zen poetry", he is unparalleled in ancient and modern times. Su Shi said that "there is painting in the poem, and there is poetry in the painting".

A brief explanation of the words

Solution: In 737 AD, Cui Xiyi, the deputy ambassador of Hexi Jiedu, defeated Tubo. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered Wang Wei to go to the fortress to "preach comfort" and inspect the military situation. In fact, it was Exclude him from the court. This poem was written by him on his way to the frontier fortress. Envoy: Go on a mission, go somewhere as an envoy. Question: Condolences. Bian: frontier fortress, border pass. Subordinate country: An official name in the Qin and Han Dynasties, here it refers to envoys, that is, Wang Wei refers to himself. Juyan: In the northwest of Zhangye County, Gansu Province today, it was the northwest frontier fortress at that time. Zhengpeng: tent grass for traveling far away. The awning and grass blowing in the wind are often used as a metaphor for wandering wanderers in ancient poems. Hansai: A pass established in the Han Dynasty. Smoke: It is beacon smoke, also called wolf smoke. The smoke column produced by burning wolf dung is a signal to convey military information. Xiaoguan: in the southeast of Guyuan County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Waiting cavalry (calculation): reconnaissance cavalry. Duhu: The chief of Duhufu, an important border town in the Tang Dynasty, here refers to the Hexi Jiedushi. Yan (Yan) Ran: The name of the mountain is Hangai Mountain, which is located in the present-day Mongolian People's Republic of China. But this is used to refer to the front line, not the actual point.

A series of poems

Going to the fortress as an envoy

Wang Wei

A car showing condolences The troops were going to the border, and as envoys they passed through the remote Juyan.

The canopy of grass drifts away from the fortress of the Han Dynasty, and the wild geese return and fly into the high sky of the Hu Kingdom.

A stream of wolf smoke stretches straight across the vast desert, and only the setting sun can be seen beside the long Yellow River***.

In Xiaoguan, I encountered a cavalry reconnaissance and found out that the Hexi Jiedushi was at the forefront.

The implication

The emperor personally appointed him as a supervisory censor to "consol" the troops outside the Great Wall, but he left on a "bicycle". The word "single" implies that the author has no real important reason for this trip. The two sentences "Zhengfeng" and "Guiyan" are purely descriptive, but they are full of the author's unspeakable emotions: I am like a canopy grass floating out of the capital, all the way out of the border fortress of Han Dynasty, symbolizing my rise from the political center and warmth They were squeezed out of their home; although the wild geese also flew in the same direction and flew into the sky of Hudi, they were "returning" and going home, which was in sharp contrast to their own "exiting". What was the author's feeling? , it is not difficult to imagine. The two sentences "desert" and "long river" are also purely descriptive sentences, but their images are spectacular, and their connotations are rich and subtle. "The solitary smoke is straight" is not because there is no wind, but because the smoke produced by burning wolf dung is dense and difficult to blow even if there is wind. At the same time, it is pointed out here that the war is not completely over (where there is smoke, the police are called, and the last sentence is also a proof), which creates the frontier atmosphere of a desert war. However, the author writes the word "round" for the setting sun on the long and winding Yellow River. On the one hand, there are no mountains and forests to cover it, and the setting sun is round by itself. However, such a seemingly redundant word "round" gives people a special feeling and aftertaste. Perhaps It is the author's strong hope that this mission and the small-scale battle after the war will have a happy ending. The experience of this mission outside the Great Wall may have laid a clue for the author to look down on his official career and eventually retire to practice Zen.

But in addition, the author also gained something from this trip: "The solitary smoke is straight in the desert, and the sun is setting in the long river." Since then, these two lines have become famous lines in Tang poetry that have been recited through the ages, until modern times. Poetry critics also praised it as "eternally spectacular".