58. A Song of Luntai: Sending Off Senior Official Feng, Who Is Launching a Military Expedition to the West

A poem by Cen Can, translated by Hyun Woo Kim

On the top of Luntai Castle, a horn blows at night;

To the north of Luntai Castle, Maotou falls.

The report passed through Quili last night:

The Chanyu is already in the west of Jin Mountain.

Looking west from the battlement, black are the smoke and dust;

The Han soldiers are embattled in the north of Luntai.

The grand general, holding the flagstaff, goes on an expedition to the west;

The day breaks, pipes blow, and the grand army is marching.

With drums playing on four sides, surges the sea of snow;

With the Three Armies shouting, move the shaded mountains.

The spirit of soldiers at the barbarian fortress reaches the clouds;

The white skeletons of the battlefield are tangled with the roots of grass.

At Jianhe, the winds are in a hurry, and the snowflakes are scattered far apart;

At Shakou, the rocks are frozen, and the horses' hooves come off.

The Second-to-Premier serves the king, whether it be sweet, bitter, or spicy,

Having sworn that he will return his favor to the monarch and quell the frontier.

Who has not seen the blue history from ancient times?

Now, it will be seen that his glory shall exceed the people of the past.

「輪臺歌奉送封大夫出師西征」

輪臺城頭夜吹角

輪臺城北旄頭落

羽書昨夜過渠黎

單于已在金山西

戍樓西望煙塵黑

漢兵屯在輪臺北

上將擁旄西出征

平明吹笛大軍行

四邊伐鼓雪海湧

三軍大呼陰山動

虜塞兵氣連雲屯

戰場白骨纏草根

劒河風急雪片闊

沙口石凍馬蹄脫

亞相勤王甘苦辛

誓將報主靜邊塵

古來青史誰不見

今見功名勝古人

From Hyun Woo:

Another poem from Cen Can, and another mention of General Feng. Now I am wondering why Cen Can used the phrase “Sending Off Senior Officer Feng” twice, while he was actually together with Feng in the expedition. If anyone knows a good explanation on this, please let me know.

From today’s poem, I really like the first four lines. They effectively show the urgent situation at the front, dragging the readers right into the world the poet is in. “Maotou” refers to a star that was believed to control the destiny of northern barbarians, and “Chanyu” technically is the title of the Hun monarch, but the term is used in a rather loose way, referring to the leader of Boxian people. Looking up at the night sky from Luntai Castle, the poet, a Han Chinese, understand that the barbarians will strike any time now.

This does not mean that the Han soldiers are in low spirit. They march with Feng, who is referred to as “grand general” and the “Second-to-Premier”. Whether “it be sweet, bitter, or spicy”, a Chinese way of saying “for better or for worse”, he and the soldiers will “quell the frontier”, to be remembered as great men in “blue history”, a way of expressing that their memories will be glorious.

P.S. To those who gave me their address, the Classical Chinese poetry cards have been sent!

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