Why should the Qiang flute blame the willows? What does it mean that the spring breeze does not pass through Yumen Pass?

1. Meaning of the sentence

"Why should the Qiang flute complain about the willows? The spring breeze does not reach Yumen Pass" The sentence means: Why use the Qiang flute to play the plaintive "Willow Song" to complain about the delay in spring? If it doesn't come, the spring breeze won't be able to blow outside Yumen Pass.

2. The original text of the sentence

This sentence comes from "Two Liangzhou Ci Poems: One" by Wang Zhihuan, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The original text is as follows:

"One of Two Poems from Liangzhou"

(Tang Dynasty) Wang Zhihuan

Far above the Yellow River, among the white clouds, there is an isolated city called Wanren Mountain.

Why should the Qiang flute blame the willows? The spring breeze does not pass through Yumen Pass.

3. Translation

The Yellow River seems to be rushing from the white clouds, and Yumen Pass stands alone in the mountains.

Why use the Qiang flute to play the sad "Willow Song" to complain that the spring is not coming? The spring breeze cannot blow outside Yumen Pass.

4. Notes

Liangzhou Ci: also known as "Crossing the Fortress". Lyrics for a popular song at the time ("Liangzhou Ci").

Far up; looking far to the west. "Far" means "straight".

Yellow River Far Up: Looking at the source of the Yellow River from a distance.

Gucheng: refers to a lonely border guarding castle.

Ren: An ancient unit of length. One ren is equivalent to eight or seven feet in circumference. One foot is approximately twenty-three centimeters.

Qiang Di: The ancient Qiang people were mainly distributed in the Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan areas. The Qiang flute is a Qiang musical instrument and is a horizontal wind instrument. Belongs to a musical instrument.

Why bother: Why bother.

Why complain: Why complain.

Yangliu: refers to "Yangliu Song". Willows are often used as a metaphor for farewell in ancient poems.

Degree: I have blown it.

Budu: Can’t blow.

Yumen Pass: Built by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it was named after the jade imported from the Western Regions passed here. The former site was located in the small Fangpan City northwest of Dunhuang, Gansu Province, which was an important route to the Western Regions in ancient times. During the Six Dynasties, the pass site was moved eastward and is now near the Anxi Twin Towers.

5. Appreciation

When the poet first arrived in Liangzhou, he faced the vast scenery of the Yellow River and border towns, and listened to the song "Folding Willows". He wrote this poem out of emotion. This is a poem that expresses the feelings of soldiers guarding the border who miss their hometown.

The tone of this poem is desolate and tragic. Although it is full of complaints, it is not negative and decadent. It shows the broad and open-minded mind of people in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The use of contrasting techniques in poetry makes the poetic expression more tense. The language is tactful and precise, and the thoughts and feelings are expressed appropriately.

It should be written in a desolate and generous way, sad without losing its grandeur. Although he tried his best to exaggerate the resentment of the garrison soldiers who were unable to return home, the poet did not have the slightest sense of decadence and depression, fully demonstrating the open-mindedness of the poets in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Broad mind.

6. Creative background

According to Wang Zhihuan’s epitaph, we know that in 726 (the fourteenth year of Emperor Xuanzong’s founding of the Tang Dynasty) Wang Zhihuan resigned from office and lived a free life for 15 years. "Two Poems of Liangzhou" is considered to be during the 15 years when he resigned from office, that is, from 727 (the fifteenth year of Kaiyuan) to 741 (the twenty-ninth year).

7. Introduction to the author

Wang Zhihuan (688-742), a famous poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, named Jiling, Han nationality, Jiangzhou (now Xinjiang County, Shanxi) people. He was uninhibited and uninhibited, and often sang tragic songs about fencing. Many of his poems were composed and sung by musicians at that time. He became famous for a while, and he often sang harmoniously with Gao Shi, Wang Changling, etc., and was famous for his ability to describe the scenery of frontier fortresses. His representative works include "Climbing the Stork Tower" and "Liangzhou Ci". "The sun sets over the mountains, and the Yellow River flows into the sea. If you want to see a thousand miles away, go to the next level." This is an eternal masterpiece.