Source: Ji Haisui by Cao Song in the late Tang Dynasty.
Original poem:
The fertile water of the river was painted as a war picture, and the people had to collect firewood to support their feet.
Please don't mention anything about Hou Feng, how many lives will be sacrificed for a person's success!
Translation:
Water-rich mountains are included in the battle map, and the people have to cut wood and grass to make a living. Please don't mention the title of marquis, how many soldiers' lives will be sacrificed for a general's success!
Poetry appreciation
The title "My Years Old" shows that it was written to recall the current events of last year. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was in a period of decline, and the peasant uprising was madly suppressed. Not only the two rivers and the Central Plains, but also the south of the great river became a battlefield.
In order to suppress the peasants' resistance, the Tang Dynasty expanded the army and trained generals. Some landlords and individual careerists worked for the Tang Dynasty, attacked the rebels, and the warlords massacred the people even more brutally, and the people suffered great disasters in the war. This poem feels the bloody reality and sends a cry of justice to the people.
A general became famous and made a fortune, but 10,000 ordinary people died in the wilderness.
In this sentence, "one" and "ten thousand" are comparisons, and "success" and "bones" are comparisons. The image is extremely vivid, revealing the essence of the anti-people war launched by the ruling class. The military exploits of the generals were exchanged with the great sacrifices of the soldiers. Their medals were dyed red with the blood of the general public. They built their paradise on the bones of thousands of people. This sentence is shocking, the crowning touch of the whole poem, and the warning strategy is powerful.