On Wheel Tower parapets night-bugles are blowing,
Though the flag at the northern end hangs limp.
Scouts, in the darkness, are passing Quli,
Where, west of the Hill of Gold, the Tartar chieftain has halted
We can see, from the look-out, the dust and black smoke
Where Chinese troops are camping, north of Wheel Tower.
...Our flags now beckon the General farther west-
With bugles in the dawn he rouses his Grand Army;
Drums like a tempest pound on four sides
And the Yin Mountains shake with the shouts of ten thousand;
Clouds and the war-wind whirl up in a point
Over fields where grass-roots will tighten around white bones;
In the Dagger River mist, through a biting wind,
Horseshoes, at the Sand Mouth line, break on icy boulders.
...Our General endures every pain, every hardship,
Commanded to settle the dust along the border.
We have read, in the Green Books, tales of old days-
But here we behold a living man, mightier than the dead.
Original Poem
「轮台歌奉送封大夫出师西征」
岑参
轮台城头夜吹角，轮台城北旄头落。
羽书昨夜过渠黎，单于已在金山西。
戍楼西望烟尘黑，汉兵屯在轮台北。
上将拥旄西出征，平明吹笛大军行。
四边伐鼓雪海涌，三军大呼阴山动。
虏塞兵气连云屯，战场白骨缠草根。
剑河风急雪片阔，沙口石冻马蹄脱。
亚相勤王甘苦辛，誓将报主静边尘。
古来青史谁不见？今见功名胜古人。
Interpretation
This poem was composed between 754 and 755 AD, during the Tianbao era of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, coinciding with Cen Shen's second tour of frontier duty where he served as a Military Judge under the governors of Anxi and Beiting. At that time, Feng Changqing, the Military Governor of Anxi, led an army westward to quell a rebellion in the Western Regions and consolidate the northwestern frontier defenses. Cen Shen, accompanying the army as a staff officer, personally experienced the atmosphere of war and the extreme environment of the borderlands. Although titled as a "farewell," this poem is in fact an artistic reconstruction of an entire military campaign—progressing layer by layer from pre-battle warnings and the army's departure to imagined scenes of battle. It is both a tribute to Feng Changqing's military might and a profound distillation of the aesthetics of frontier warfare characteristic of the High Tang. The poem incorporates the poet's firsthand geographical experience of the Western Regions (Wheel Tower, Gold Mountain, Sword River), his authentic observations of army life, and the unique historical confidence of the High Tang, making it one of the most epic in spirit among Cen Shen's frontier poems.
Stanza 1:
轮台城头夜吹角，轮台城北旄头落。
Lúntái chéng tóu yè chuī jiǎo, Lúntái chéng běi máo tóu luò.
羽书昨夜过渠黎，单于已在金山西。
Yǔshū zuóyè guò Qúlí, Chányú yǐ zài Jīnshān xī.
On Wheel Tower's wall at night the bugles sound; / North of Wheel Tower, the comet's banner falls. / Last night dispatches sped through Quli town; / West of Gold Mountain now the Khan's force camps.
The opening introduces two images charged with tension: "the bugles sound at night" tears through the frontier silence, hinting at urgent military developments; "the comet's banner falls" uses celestial phenomena to portend the decline of barbarian fortunes, skillfully merging natural signs with omens of war. The next two lines, through the spatial leap of "dispatches sped through Quli" and the positioning of the enemy at "the Khan's force camps west of Gold Mountain," instantly construct a strategic vista spanning thousands of miles. These four lines unfold across multiple dimensions—time (from last night to this moment), space (Wheel Tower—Quli—Gold Mountain), and the relationship between heaven and human affairs (celestial signs—worldly events)—establishing the poem's grand yet tense foundation.
Stanza 2:
戍楼西望烟尘黑，汉兵屯在轮台北。
Shù lóu xī wàng yānchén hēi, Hàn bīng tún zài Lúntái běi.
上将拥旄西出征，平明吹笛大军行。
Shàngjiàng yōng máo xī chūzhēng, píngmíng chuī dí dàjūn xíng.
From watchtowers westward, smoke and dust loom black; / North of Wheel Tower Han troops are garrisoned. / Our highest general, holding his tasseled staff, leads west; / At dawn, with flutes playing, the grand army marches.
The focus moves from far to near, from stillness to motion. "Smoke and dust loom black" evokes the enemy threat with a sense of visual oppression, while "Han troops are garrisoned" displays the poised readiness of the Tang forces. The latter two lines focus on the departure ceremony: "holding his tasseled staff" shows the commander's authority and dignity, and "with flutes playing" expresses the solemnity of the march. At the moment of "dawn," when day and night交替, light and sound together weave a solemn picture of departure. The sound of flutes, replacing drums and bugles, injects a note of tragic grandeur into the grimness, reflecting Cen Shen's unique aesthetic treatment of war scenes.
Stanza 3:
四边伐鼓雪海涌，三军大呼阴山动。
Sìbiān fá gǔ xuě hǎi yǒng, sān jūn dàhū Yīnshān dòng.
虏塞兵气连云屯，战场白骨缠草根。
Lǔ sài bīng qì lián yún tún, zhànchǎng báigǔ chán cǎogēn.
On all sides drums pound, the Sea of Snow surges; / Three armies' great shouts make the Yin Mountains shake. / Over the foe's fort, war-aura crowds the clouds; / On old battlegrounds, white bones twine with grass roots.
This section elevates the depiction of war to a mythic dimension with surreal strokes. "The Sea of Snow surges" and "the Yin Mountains shake" are not merely hyperbolic rhetoric but spiritual symbols that transform natural geography into the kinetic energy of war—the Tang army's formidable presence is capable of shaking heaven and earth. The perspective then abruptly shifts: first looking up at the oppressive sky filled with "war-aura crowding the clouds," then looking down at the cruel ground with "white bones twining with grass roots," creating a dual depth in both space and time. The insertion of the image of white bones creates a dialogue between the current campaign and historical sacrifices, lending the war a heavy sense of historical depth.
Stanza 4:
剑河风急雪片阔，沙口石冻马蹄脱。
Jiànhé fēng jí xuě piàn kuò, shā kǒu shí dòng mǎtí tuō.
亚相勤王甘苦辛，誓将报主静边尘。
Yàxiàng qín wáng gān kǔxīn, shì jiāng bào zhǔ jìng biān chén.
On Sword River winds rage, snowflakes are vast; / At Sandy Pass stones freeze, horseshoes come loose. / The Vice-Marshal serves his king, bitter toil gladly borne; / He vows to repay his lord, to calm the border dust.
The focus shifts from the macro battlefield to the micro experience of the environment. "Winds rage, snowflakes are vast" describes the violent climate; "stones freeze, horseshoes come loose" portrays the harsh conditions—these two details give concrete form to the material hardships of frontier warfare. The latter two lines return to praising the figure: "Vice-Marshal" is a respectful title showing Feng Changqing's status; "bitter toil gladly borne" embodies his sharing of hardships with his soldiers; "to calm the border dust" elevates his military action to the historical plane of pacifying the nation, completing the elevation from specific combat to political significance.
Stanza 5:
古来青史谁不见？今见功名胜古人。
Gǔ lái qīngshǐ shuí bú jiàn? Jīn jiàn gōngmíng shèng gǔrén.
In all of history, whose name in annals has not been seen? / But the merit and fame we witness now surpass the ancients' own.
The poem concludes with a bold historical judgment. The poet juxtaposes "in all of history" with "we witness now," placing Feng Changqing's western campaign within the context of the long river of history. The rhetorical question "whose name… has not been seen?" implies a recognition of famous generals throughout the ages; the assertion "surpass the ancients' own" bursts forth with the unique cultural confidence and heroic spirit of the High Tang era. The ending resonates like the toll of a great bell, its echoes lingering, elevating the entire poem beyond a record of a single moment or campaign into a tribute to the eternal value of the heroic spirit.
Holistic Appreciation
The artistic achievement of this poem lies in its successful construction of a "three-dimensional poetics of war." Spatially, it achieves a multi-layered unfolding from the city walls to the battlefield, from the ground to the sky, from Wheel Tower to Gold Mountain. Temporally, it weaves a complete narrative encompassing pre-battle warnings, deployment for battle, imagined fierce combat, and historical resonance. Spiritually, it blends a multi-voiced symphony of natural power, military action, and historical contemplation. Compared to the linear narrative focused on the marching process in "Song of Running-Horse River," this poem emphasizes a macro grasp and ritualized presentation of the war's totality.
Here, Cen Shen displays unique wisdom in handling the theme of war: he does not hesitate to amplify the Tang army's formidable presence with the romantic exaggerations of "the Sea of Snow surges" and "the Yin Mountains shake," yet does not forget to reveal the cost of war with the unflinching depiction of "white bones twine with grass roots"; he can capture the bitter cold of the frontier with the detail of "winds rage on Sword River," and can elevate the spirit of the age with the sweeping declaration "merit and fame… surpass the ancients' own." This intertwining of boldness and depth, imagination and realism, the momentary and the eternal, allows the poem to rise above the conventional celebratory mode of ordinary frontier poetry, attaining an epic-like richness and tension.
Artistic Merits
- Constructing Layered War Atmosphere through Soundscapes
The poet skillfully employs different sound imagery to link the entire poem: the piercing warning of "the bugles sound at night" at the opening; the solemn movement of "with flutes playing" at departure; the thunderous impact of "drums pound on all sides" during fierce battle; and the resonant shouts of "three armies' great shouts" that seem to shake the mountains and rivers. This sonic progression from warning to charge not only recreates the authentic auditory experience of war but also forms an emotional curve in rhythm from tension to climax, immersing the reader in the soundscape of the battlefield. - Bold Technique of Transforming Natural Geography into War Imagery
Cen Shen creatively endows frontier geography with dynamic warlike attributes: "the Sea of Snow surges" transforms the static snowy plain into an ocean boiling with the drumbeats; "the Yin Mountains shake" makes the towering mountains tremble with the shouts. This method of "militarizing" the natural environment breaks through the contemplative mode of traditional landscape description, causing heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers to become extensions and proofs of war's power, greatly expanding the spatial expressive power of frontier poetry. - Polyphonic Structure: Inserting Historical Contemplation into the Stirring Main Theme
Amidst the poem's triumphant advance, the poet suddenly inserts the stark close-up of "white bones twine with grass roots." This stroke is like a somber bass note abruptly appearing within a stirring symphony, instantly connecting the present campaign with the historical depth of sacrifices made at the frontier through the ages. This technique of maintaining historical clarity within passionate praise allows the poem to avoid a simplistic heroic ode format, presenting a more complex and profound emotional dimension. - Art of Temporal Compression: A Complete Narrative from Pre-war to Post-war
Within eighteen lines, the poem completes a full war narrative from the warning of "bugles sound at night," the "dawn" departure, to the imagined "fierce battle" and the judgment of "merit and fame surpass the ancients'." By selecting typical scenes (watching dust from watchtowers, the grand army's march, battlefield struggle, marching through wind and snow) and omitting specific combat processes, the poet uses montage-like jump cuts that both maintain narrative coherence and endow the poem with an epic-like power of synthesis and rhythm.
Insights
The primary insight this work offers modern readers concerns understanding the complexity of "war narratives." Cen Shen both celebrates the glory of "merit and fame surpass the ancients" and gazes upon the tragedy of "white bones twine with grass roots"—this dual perspective reminds us that any grand historical narrative must contain compassion for individual fate and a clear understanding of war's cost. Feng Changqing in the poem is both the hero "holding his tasseled staff" on campaign and the one who bears "bitter toil gladly borne"; this complete portraiture avoids oversimplification in the glorification of war.
Secondly, the poem demonstrates the spiritual value of ritual in significant endeavors. From the warning of "bugles sound at night" to the departure at "dawn, with flutes playing," each stage is imbued with ritual significance. In a modern society that often prioritizes efficiency above all, this practice of constructing meaning and concentrating spirit through ritual remains deeply instructive—major challenges require not only material preparation but also spiritual "ritualized mobilization."
Finally, the poem's consciousness of historical dialogue in "In all of history, whose name in annals has not been seen?" is particularly valuable. By considering the current military affair within the context of history's long river, Cen Shen displays a "historical sense of immediacy" that enlightens us: individual actions gain eternal significance only when connected to the thread of history, transcending temporary gains and losses. In our contemporary fragmented, instant-gratification context, rebuilding this capacity for dialogue with history may be an important way to resist the nihilism of meaning.
Poem translator
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet
Cen Can(岑参), 715-770 AD, was a native of Jingzhou, Hubei Province. He studied at Mt. Songshan when he was young, and later traveled to Beijing, Luoyang and Shuohe. Cen Can was famous for his border poems, in which he wrote about the border scenery and the life of generals in a majestic and unrestrained manner, and together with Gao Shi, he was an outstanding representative of the border poetry school of the Sheng Tang Dynasty.
