On Wang Wei's Frontier Messenger

Wang Wei's Frontier Messenger is a well-known masterpiece, which is selected from middle school Chinese textbooks and college Chinese textbooks. There are different opinions on the interpretation and appreciation of this poem. For example, Chinese teaching in middle schools emphasizes the analysis of the artistic techniques of poetry, paying special attention to its famous sentence "The desert is lonely and the smoke is straight, and the long river falls in the yen", which is considered to be a blend of scenes. Through the description of desert scenery, the poet's lonely mood is reflected, and the realm of "painting in poetry and poetry in painting" is achieved. Another example is that some people interpret this poem from a systematic perspective, thinking that it is an important historical material for understanding the ancient military system of China. But in fact, if we want to deeply analyze this poem and fully understand its feelings, plots, events and reasons, we must further explore it. Mr. Chen Yinque once put forward the literary research methods of "proving history with poetry" and "mutual proof of poetry and history". He emphasized that China's ancient poems have three basic elements, namely, time, place and people. This paper takes the three elements put forward by Mr. Chen as the basic program for analyzing this poem.

Let's talk about time first. It is generally believed that this poem was written in the summer of the 25th year of Kaiyuan (737), and there is basically no objection. Influenced by the Liang incident, Zhang Jiuling moved to Jingzhou in April of the 25th year of Kaiyuan (737). Wang Wei's going to Hexi is also related to this matter. So the time for him to leave Chang 'an should be April this year. In the poem, "the geese return to the lake field" means that the weather is getting warmer and the geese are going from south to north, which also means that the writing time is in early summer.

Tell me the location. The place in poetry includes the place of writing and the place names recorded in the works. Where "Braving the Guandong" is written, let's leave it at that time. Look at the place names involved in the poem first. The place names in this poem are Juyan, Sai Han, Hutian, Desert, Long River, Xiaoguan and Yanran, among which Hutian and Desert are generic names, and it is common sense that the long river is the Yellow River. These need not be repeated. The word "Juyan" in the sentence "Belonging to the country over Juyan" is the "Belonging to the country" in the Han Dynasty, which is on the northern border of Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia today. In the Han Dynasty, there was Juyan County in Zhangye County, so the old city was in the southeast of Ejina Banner. From Chang 'an to Hexi, it is impossible for Wang Wei to pass through Juyan's old city. Here is nothing more than saying that the place he passed through was once a country in the Han Dynasty. Sai Han refers to the Great Wall of Han Dynasty. According to the biography of Han Huo Qubing, after Huo Qubing defeated the Huns, he put his troops away from the five border counties, that is, the Great Wall of Qin and Han Dynasties. The Great Wall is the dividing line between Han and Hu. Sai Han in the poem refers to a section of the Great Wall of Han Dynasty from Xinquan Army to Liangzhou, which is the only place Wang Wei must pass when he travels west to Liangzhou. Xinquan Army belongs to one of the Eighth Army in Hexi, which is under the jurisdiction of our ambassador. It is located on the northwest bank of Wulan Ferry on the Yellow River, opposite to Wulan County on the east coast. There should be a post road from Xinquan Army to Liangzhou, which is the only way for Wang Wei. Yanran is the name of Gu Shan, which is today's Mongolian * * * and the national Hangzhou Ai Shan. After Dou Xian defeated the Huns in the Han Dynasty, he climbed the mountain to carve stones to record his merits. Ban Gu once wrote Ran Yan Mingshan, which was discovered today. Later generations often use this allusion to express their desire to make contributions. Obviously, Wang Wei will not pass through this place when he goes to Hexi. The poem "Everything in Yanran is protected" is nothing more than a metaphor for today.

The most important place name in the poem is "Xiaoguan". There were two Xiao Guan in the Tang Dynasty. One is Xiaoguan in the Han Dynasty, 30 miles southeast of Gao Ping County (now Guyuan, Ningxia). The small pass of the Han Dynasty was abandoned in the Tang Dynasty, and the new town of Xiaoguan was established in the Tang Dynasty. Xiaoguan New Town is located in the north of Yuanzhou Branch (now Guyuan, Ningxia) 180, and on the east bank of Weiruchuan (now Qingshuihe), from which you can reach Lingzhou (now Wuzhong, Ningxia). The poem says, "Little Guan rides every hour". So did Wang Wei pass Xiao Guan in the Tang Dynasty or the Han Dynasty? This problem involves Wang Wei's route to Hexi. According to Mr. Yan Gengwang's textual research on the traffic map of Tang Dynasty, there are two main routes from Chang 'an to Liangzhou in Tang Dynasty. One is to reach Liangzhou via Qi Long, Qin, Wei and Lan, with a mileage of about 2,000 Li. The other reaches Liangzhou via Taiwan, Beijing, Yuan and Hui, with a distance of about 1800 Li. Because the second line is north of the first line, it is called the first south road and the second north road. Locked in 30 miles southeast of Yuanzhou City, North Road. Judging from his poems, Wang Wei's route should be North Road. Because the things written in the poem, such as Xiao Guan, lonely smoke in the desert, long river sunset and so on, are not in the South Island. The poet took the northern route, that is, starting from Chang 'an, marching northwest, passing through Zhangzhou and Jingzhou, and reaching Yuanzhou. In Yuanzhou, it starts from the northwest, passes through Shimenguan and Hechi, reaches Huining County (now Jingyuan County, Gansu Province), leaves Huining Pass, then goes north along the east bank of the Yellow River and crosses the river at Wulan Ferry. This section is the meandering of the Yellow River, and the river flows westward. There are often fifty ferrymen at Wulan Ferry, which is the most important ferry in Hequ. Opposite Wulan Ferry is Xinquan Army. From here to the west, through the southern end of Tengger Desert, to Liangzhou (now Wuwei, Gansu). Wang Wei went north to Liangzhou, and the Xiao Pass was a pass, not a pass.

After figuring out Wang Wei's route to our ambassador in Hexi, let's look at the writing place of Ambassador Frontier. Obviously, poetry will not be written in Xiaoguan, because Guanguan, that is, 30 miles southeast of Yuanzhou City, is still 390 miles away from Huizhou (now Jingyuan County, Gansu Province, on the east bank of the Yellow River), and there is no solitary smoke in the desert or sunset in the long river. Some people say that this poem is Juyansai, and the poet looks out from Juyansai. The long river he saw was not the Yellow River, but the present Ejina River (called weak water in ancient times), and the desert he saw was the endless Badain Jaran Desert. Press: Weak water is located hundreds of miles northwest of Liangzhou, which originates from Qilian Mountain and flows into Zhangye River in the ancient city of Ganzhou. So this statement is not reliable. The ancient city of Liangzhou is close to Macheng River and flows into Xiutuze and Baiting Sea in Tengger Desert. This river is in the northwest of Liangzhou City, but it is not the only place for poets. Therefore, the writing place of poetry should be Liangzhou. Furthermore, this poem is a memory of the poet after he arrived in Liangzhou. The poet's memory is from near to far, starting from Sai Han, which belongs to the country, to the desert, to the long river, and finally to Xiaoguan. So "Lonely Smoke in the Desert" and "Long River Sunset" are not the same scene, but two different time and space scenes. Lonely smoke in the desert is what the poet saw after crossing the Yellow River into Liangzhou. The long river sunset was seen by the poet on his way to the east bank of the Yellow River. I chose to write here because these place names and scenes have a sense of history and realism. "Sai Han" and "Xiao Guan" belong to the Han Dynasty and have a profound sense of historical vicissitudes. Desert and Long River are magnificent, representative and typical road scenes. Memories in the poem are just opposite to the direction in which the author entered Liangzhou. The poet started from Yuanzhou, where Han Xiaoguan was located, went west to Huizhou, then traveled along the east bank of the Yellow River 180 Li to Wulan Ferry, crossed the river to Xinquan Army, along the Great Wall of Han Dynasty (also known as "Sai Han" in the poem), and passed through the southern end of Tengger Desert to Liangzhou. It can be said that To the Frontier is a travel note of Wang Wei's trip to Hexi.

The people involved in the poem are more complicated. Before Wang Wei went to Hexi, he was the right prime minister in the imperial court. In the 23rd year of Kaiyuan (735), Wang Wei left Songshan, a hermit, to work in Luoyang, the eastern capital. In the 25th year of Kaiyuan (737), Zhou Zi, the supervisor of the army, wrote to Niu Xianke, the new prime minister, saying that he had no talent and was sent to Lantian to die. Because Zhang Jiuling had recommended Zhou Zixin as his appointment, he was implicated and transferred to Jingzhou as a magistrate. Wang Wei was appreciated and recommended by Zhang Jiuling, so he was implicated and had to leave Beijing. This actually involves the issue of party struggle. Niu Xianke, Cui, Li and others are on one side, while Zhang Jiuling and others are on the other. Niu Xianke was originally our envoy to Hexi. In the autumn of the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan (736), he was appointed as the general manager of the North March. In November of the same year, Zhang Jiuling went on strike, and Niu Xianke entered the DPRK, where he served as a minister of the Ministry of Industry and a scholar with the same book. After Niu Xianke left office, Cui Yi Xi succeeded him. When officials in the Tang Dynasty left their posts, they often needed promotion from generation to generation. Cui Yi Xi should be recommended by Niu Xianke to take over as our envoy in Hexi. So Wang Wei was forced to go to Hexi, a little impeded. However, Cui himself is still elegant. After he arrived in Hexi, he entered into a peaceful and non-aggression alliance with Tubo. The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty: Biography of Tubo records that Cui "made an alliance with Qiu Xu to kill the white dog, and each went to the defensive". Moreover, Wang Wei later directly participated in Cui's family affairs. Wang Wei once wrote "Ode to Buddha" for Cui's "The Fifteenth Female Monk" and "Praise of Western Painting" after Cui's wife Li's father died. In May of the 26th year of Kaiyuan (738), Cui left Hexi, and Wang Wei left with him. These things show that the process of Wang Wei's mission to Hexi is very complicated, but Cui still quite appreciates him.

Another thing involved in the poem is Cui's broken Tubo. Some scholars believe that this poem by Wang Wei has nothing to do with Cui's breaking Tubo. The main evidence is Fan Heng's Exposing the Thief of Breaking Tubo in Hexi, which is included in the Book of the Whole Tang Dynasty. He believes that the war to break Tubo happened after Wang Wei arrived in Hexi, so it has nothing to do with the reason why Wang Wei arrived in Hexi. In other words, Wang Wei was not ordered by the imperial court to supervise Hexi as an empire. However, according to textual research, the war contained in this cloth occurred in the first year of Tianbao (742) and after the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan (737). According to the records in the Biography of Xuanzong in Tang Dynasty and Zi Jian, in March of the 25th year of Kaiyuan (737), Cui fought with Tubo and won a great victory, with more than 2,000 heads. In May of the 26th year of Kaiyuan (738), Cui left Hexi and transferred to Henan Yin. He was often depressed because he broke his word in Tubo, and soon died. Wang Wei's poems are obviously related to this matter, including two places: one is the ending couplet "Xiaoguan is protecting every time he rides a horse". Dou Xian defeated Xiongnu in Han Dynasty, which made great contributions to the inscription on Yanran Mountain. Wang Wei used this code name, just like Dou Xian, to praise Cui Yi Xi's great achievements in breaking Tubo. This connection is very direct and easy to understand. The second is the first sentence in the neck couplet, "The desert is lonely and straight." At first glance, this sentence is just a landscape. But on closer reading, it's not that simple. Du You's "General Code" volume 152 records: "Every morning and evening, there is a fire; Hearing the police holding two fires; See smoke, raise three fires; See a thief, burn a firewood cage; If the fire doesn't come every morning and evening, the bonfire will be caught by thieves. " In other words, solitary smoke is not only a visible sight, but more importantly, as a military signal, solitary smoke reports peace. There are poems as evidence, such as Du Fu's "Xifeng", "Xifeng is not close, and the daily newspaper is safe" ("All Tang Poems" volume 225); Liu Yuxi's "Hu Ling's" xianggong "has repeatedly appeared new poems since Taiyuan, because it was sent as a reward" and "Wan Li Lake is not surprised, a cage of bonfires is safe" (Volume 36 of all Tang poems); Liu Yanshi's "Fu Fan Zi Mu Ma" "Qi Jingshan sees the extreme edge, and the lonely beacon attracts a smoke" ("All Tang Poems" volume 468). So the real meaning of this sentence is to euphemistically praise those soldiers who guard the border by means of peace and fire. Obviously, Wang Wei praised Cui in this poem.

But did Wang Wei go to Hexi to supervise the army as an empire? According to the word "envoy" in Frontier Messenger and the self-annotation in Frontier Talks, some scholars believe that Wang Wei was ordered by the imperial court to supervise our time in Hexi. But in fact, in Cui's curtain, Wang Wei is the judge of the film festival. It is common for the army to supervise the imperial history in the Tang Dynasty, and it is also the duty of the imperial history. But there is no precedent and no precedent for those who are kept in the curtain for supervision. Two poems written by Wang Wei in Hexi, "Song of Double Orioles Farewell" and "Liangzhou Saishen", are all annotated by himself, "When the time comes, it will be done in Liangzhou", and it is clearly stated that he is our time envoy of Hexi Shogunate. According to the "Official Fourteen" in Volume 32 of Tongdian, the assistants of our time, such as Changshi and Sima, are official names, and the deputy envoys, deputy envoys and provincial judges are the posts. There are two judges in the festival, namely, warehouse, soldier, rider and Cao Cao on Thursday. "Official One", Volume 19 of the General Code, said that judges and others "are all imperial edicts, not righteous orders". "Unjust life" means that a judge is not an official name, but an official position. This is the origin of the first sentence of "Wen Yuan Hua Ying", which means that when we are in Hexi, it is "imperial decree". In addition to our judges in Hexi, Wang Wei also took the constitutional title of "supervising the imperial history" There are three main functions of this title: First, because the judge is an official and has no rank, the title is the basis of his salary. The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty (Volume 43) says that "the salary of the town army Sima and the judge is the same as that of the Beijing official", so Wang Wei's salary in Hexi is the same as that of other people who serve as supervisors and censors in Beijing. Second, titles can also play the role of official tone. Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, Volume XIII, De Zong Ji recorded the ninth year of Zhenyuan (793) in December, which was written as follows: "After that, the official, the deputy envoy and the March song have been written, and then the officials above level 5 will be checked, and they will not be accepted for appointment in the official department, and they will be allowed to stop working as lang officials, and they will be discussed and recorded in winter." It can be seen that the constitutional title and Beijing title carried by the curtain post are closely related to job transfer. After Wang Wei left Hexi, he was transferred to the post of assistant of imperial history in the temple, which was not unrelated to the constitutional title of "supervising imperial history". Third, people with constitutional titles in the army also have a special role, that is, they can participate in the trial of local cases. In August of the fourth year of Xuanzong (850), Cheng Wei, assistant minister of punishments and suggestion, played: "People in various counties and counties complain about Taiwan, which may annoy them ... There are no fewer than five or six judges in the curtain. Please ask those who have constitutional titles to appoint an order to dismiss them. " It means that the magistrate with the constitutional title of "supervising the imperial history" has the qualification and power to participate in local cases. Therefore, the "envoy" in Wang Wei's Bian Bian Ji was not entrusted by the court to investigate and verify Cui's destruction of Tubo, but was canonized by the court as a provincial judge in Hexi, and was awarded the constitutional title of "supervising the imperial history" according to the system at that time.

If we study it further, this poem can still cause the following thoughts.

First, Wei Wang's return route. Wang Wei takes the North Road to Hexi. So, in the 26th year of Kaiyuan (738), which way did he leave Hexi for Beijing? As mentioned above, North Road is 200 miles less than South Road. However, the south road is relatively smoother, the places it passes through are more prosperous, and there are more stations. Judging from the poems written by Wang Wei this year, he and Cui should return to Beijing by the southern route, that is, they should start from Liangzhou and enter Beijing through Lanzhou, Weihe, Qin, Gansu and Qi. The most difficult part of this line is Tommy Tam, which has three passes, namely Dazhengguan, Rong 'an Pass and Anyi Pass, which are adjacent to Longzhou and Qinzhou. These passes are important military strongholds, which have always been battlegrounds for military strategists, so they are also the objects described in frontier fortress poems. Poems written by Wang Wei on his way home, such as Journey to the West in Longxi, Ode to the Dragon Head, Old General, etc., should use the method of "writing Yuefu" to describe thoughts and feelings on the way. Among them, there are many memorable works, such as "West Longxi Westbound": "All protect the army and the Xiongnu surround Jiuquan. It snows in Guanshan and there is no smoke. " The "Kansai veteran" in "The Song of the Dragon Head" and the "veteran" in "The Old General" are probably sympathetic to Cui. Because Cui should have made great contributions after breaking Tubo, in fact, he was transferred from Hexi to Henan Yin in the second year, which is exactly in line with the poems of "cherishing the trust of his subordinates", "Su is a vassal country" and "This man looks old and haggard after retirement, and things are speeding up." Of course, the meanings of these sighs are rich, which can also be understood as the poet's lament for himself, and even his sadness about Zhang Jiuling's move to Jingzhou.

Secondly, the creative changes brought by Wang Wei to Hexi. There are not many existing works of Wang Wei's After Hexi. Among them, there are only a few poems, such as Ambassador to the Great Wall, A Trip to the Great Wall, An Outing in Liangzhou, Liangzhou Divine Bureau, A Farewell Song of Double Orioles, A Journey with the Army, A Journey to Longxi, and A Song of the Dragon Head. But these poems are quite different from those written by his right-hander when he lived in seclusion in Songshan. These poems, written in frontier fortress, are not only closely related to the military situation, but also describe the border customs. It can be said that the trip to Hexi changed Wang Wei's poetic style. This is a private matter. If we look at the whole history of Tang poetry, Zhang Jiuling's relegation to Jingzhou is not only a watershed in Tang politics, but also a watershed in the history of poetry. Wang Wei went to Hexi because he was approved by Zhang Jiuling. Zhang Jiuling relegated Jingzhou, and many young talents who had been rewarded by him were also relegated. For example, besides Wang Wei, there are Wang Changling and others. Therefore, it can be said that the change of poetic style brought by Wang Wei's trip to Hexi is only a case of the change of poetic style caused by Zhang Jiuling's demotion to Jingzhou. In fact, the poetic styles of Zhang Jiuling, Wang Changling and Wang Wei have all changed due to this influence.

Thirdly, the status of Wang Wei's poems as "authentic in the prosperous Tang Dynasty". Mr. Qian has had an in-depth discussion on this issue. Mr. Qian compared Wang Wei's poems with those of his contemporaries, such as Li, Du, Gao and Cen, and thought that Wang Wei's poems were authentic works in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Its characteristics are what Wang Wei himself called "Migong Jian 'an style" and "Xing He Zuo Feng". In particular, Mr. Qian pointed out that one of the greatest manifestations of Wang Wei's poems in the Wei and Jin Dynasties was the separation of feelings, and the examples cited included some poems written by Wang Wei when he went to Hexi. As far as genre is concerned, To the Frontier is a neat five-character poem. But as the above analysis shows, this poem is actually a travel note, which is narrated in a way of changing scenery. From this perspective, To the Frontier is also a typical work of Wang Wei's "Migong Jian 'an Style".

Finally, let me talk about Wang Wei's view of war. The "belligerence" at the end of Kaiyuan, especially the destruction of Tubo by Cui, was an act of treachery. Before Wang Wei went to Hexi, it was impossible not to know about it. However, does his praise for the frontier soldiers revealed in "Going to the Frontier" mean that he agrees with this military action? The answer should beno. In fact, Wang Wei's heart is extremely complicated. The reason why he praises Bian is because he will serve in this scene after all. It can be inferred from his previous behavior of learning Buddhism and living in seclusion in Songshan Mountain that he is in favor of the strategy of peaceful border defense. This idea is also reflected in his poems that sympathize with Cui many times.

(Author: College of Literature, Guizhou Normal University)