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明 Ming · 诗 Poem

过文登营

Passing Wendeng Camp

戚继光

Qi Jiguang

爱国patriotism 边塞frontier

冉冉双幡度海涯，晓烟低护野人家。
谁将春色来残堞，独有天风送短笳。
水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎。
遥知百国微茫外，未敢忘危负岁华。

Slowly, two banners cross the sea's edge;
Dawn mist lowly shelters the village homes.
Who has brought spring color to the broken rampart?
Only the heavenly wind sends a short horn.
When waters fall, the Qin-dynasty stone still stands;
When tides rise, the Han-dynasty raft is no more seen.
Far I know, beyond the hazy hundred lands,
I dare not forget the peril nor waste the fair years.

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Meaning

Two banners slowly cross the sea's edge; dawn mist lowly shelters the riverside homes. Who has brought spring color to the broken rampart? Only the heavenly wind sends a short horn. When the water falls, the Qin-dynasty stone still remains; when the tide comes, the Han-dynasty raft is seen no more. Far off I know, beyond the hazy hundred lands, I dare not forget the peril nor waste the fair years.

双帆的船缓缓驶过海边，清晨的烟霭低低笼罩着岸上人家。是谁把春色带到了残破的城堞，唯有天风送来短促的笳声。潮水退去还留着秦代记功的刻石，潮水涌来却不见汉代的浮槎。遥想那茫茫海外还有许多国家（敌寇），我不敢忘却危难、辜负这大好年华。

Appreciation

Qi Jiguang's regulated poem opens 'Slowly, two banners cross the sea's edge; dawn mist lowly shelters the village homes', writing both the majesty of the patrol and the peace of the shore - military bearing and common life seen together. The second couplet 'Who has brought spring color to the broken rampart? Only the heavenly wind sends a short horn' uses a rhetorical question to set borderland spring against the military call, hardness and softness aiding each other. The third couplet 'When waters fall, the Qin-dynasty stone still stands; when tides rise, the Han-dynasty raft is no more seen' looks back to antiquity, sighing at the long history of coastal defense and the lingering danger. The closing 'I dare not forget the peril nor waste the fair years' speaks straight from the breast, closing on a scholar-general's vigilance and charge. Scene and feeling blend; the tone is firm and healthy.

【白话串讲】戚继光巡视文登营：“冉冉双幡度海涯，晓烟低护野人家”。“水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎”——他看秦代石碑、汉代遗迹。“遥知百国微茫外，未敢忘危负岁华”——他知道海外的威胁，不敢辜负岁月。一个将军的警觉。【意象与手法】首联“冉冉双幡度海涯，晓烟低护野人家”写巡航威仪与岸上宁和，军容民情并见【情感与主旨】戚继光（1528—1588），字元敬，号南塘，登州人，明代抗倭名将、军事家，著有《纪效新书》《止止堂集》【名句点睛】常考：一、赏析“冉冉双幡度海涯，晓烟低护野人家”——写将帅巡航之威仪与军民相安之静好，为“未敢忘危”蓄势

Background

Qi Jiguang (1528-1588), courtesy Yuanjing, style Nantang, of Dengzhou, was a famous Ming anti-Wokou (Japanese pirate) general and strategist, author of the New Book of Effective Discipline and the Hall of Stopping. This poem was written in the spring of the thirty-third year of Jiajing (1554), when Qi was commander of the Dengzhou guard, overseeing the coastal defense of the three camps of Dengzhou, Wendeng and Jimo, and on a sea patrol to Wendeng Camp (below Wendeng mountain; legend says the First Qin Emperor on his eastern tour gathered scholars here to sing of his merit, hence the name). Amid the scenery he never forgets his duty against the Wokou - a true portrait of a scholar-general's breast.

《过文登营》为明代戚继光所作，是写巡海过营之感的七律。戚继光（1528—1588），字元敬，号南塘，登州人，明代抗倭名将。此诗：冉冉双幡度海涯，晓烟低护野人家。谁将春色来残堞，独有天风送短笳。水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎。遥知百国微茫外，未敢忘危负岁华。全诗写巡海过营、忧国不忘，是戚继光诗的代表作。

Art

The first couplet 'Slowly, two banners cross the sea's edge; dawn mist lowly shelters the village homes' writes the patrol's majesty and the shore's peace, military and civil seen together; the second 'Who has brought spring color to the broken rampart? Only the heavenly wind sends a short horn' uses a rhetorical question to set borderland spring and the war-horn born together, hardness and softness aiding; the third 'When waters fall, the Qin-dynasty stone still stands; when tides rise, the Han-dynasty raft is no more seen' recalls antiquity, sighing at coastal defense's long history and the lingering hidden peril through 'still stands' and 'no more seen'; the closing 'I dare not forget the peril nor waste the fair years' speaks straight from the breast, closing on a scholar-general's vigilance and charge. Scene and feeling merge; the manner is firm and strong.

《过文登营》艺术上以边海之景的写实与忧国之情的高亢见长。全诗八句，层层写来：前二句写渡海过营——“冉冉双幡度海涯，晓烟低护野人家”写双幡度海、晓烟野家；中四句写边海之景——“谁将春色来残堞，独有天风送短笳”写春色残堞、天风短笳，“水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎”写秦石汉槎；末二句写忧国不忘——“遥知百国微茫外，未敢忘危负岁华”写百国微茫、未敢忘危。全诗以边海之景写忧国之情，正是戚继光诗高亢的笔法。

Allusions

The third couplet uses two allusions: 'Qin-dynasty stone' refers to the merit stone the First Qin Emperor erected on his eastern tour at Wendeng ('set up a stone on the sea's eastern Xu border', in the Records of the Grand Historian); 'Han-dynasty raft' uses Zhang Qian's riding a raft to the Heavenly River (from the Records of Strange Things). Taking Qin-Han relics to set off the present coastal defense, it darkly holds historical depth and the thought of resisting the foe. 'Hundred lands' may mean the foreign states beyond the sea (some say 'barbarian isles', i.e. the Wokou), showing his world-vision and peril-awareness - enough to prove the poet was not only skilled in war but deep in forethought.

《过文登营》用典在“秦代石”“汉时槎”“百国”。“秦代石”写秦皇东巡所立之石（或指文登山秦石）；“汉时槎”用“乘槎到天河”之典，写汉使之槎；“百国”写海外诸国。全诗以这些典故写边海沧桑、忧国不忘，用典自然而情志自高，正是戚继光诗的笔法。

Commentary

The Si Ku summary says of Qi's poetry 'generous and full of spirit, as is his man'. This regulated poem is ranked first-rate among Ming martial-generals' verse; a modern critic says 'in sea-defense poetry one sees a world-vision'. Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang are called 'Yu the dragon, Qi the tiger'; his poetry is like his warcraft, strict yet at ease. The closing line 'I dare not forget the peril' suffices to show a scholar-general's breast, of one liver and gall with Yue Fei's 'wait till I' - a sterling piece among Ming patriotic poems.

《过文登营》是戚继光诗的代表作，也是明代边塞诗中写海防忧国之名篇。此诗写巡海过营、忧国不忘，向为论者称道。论者多赏其边海之景的写实——“水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎”写秦石汉槎，沧桑之感尽在其中；“遥知百国微茫外，未敢忘危负岁华”写未敢忘危，更见其志。戚继光为抗倭名将，其诗以慷慨高亢著称，此诗正是其代表——以边海之景写忧国之情，正是其诗风。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated poem (seven-character lu)七言律诗

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, lower-level six ma group (edge, homes, horn, raft, years)《过文登营》为七言律诗，八句，押平声韵。此诗用韵：涯、家、笳、槎、华（麻部），一韵到底，对仗工整，音节高亢。

Tone pattern First-line-enters-rhyme, level-onset first-line-enters-rhyme form七言律诗以音节高亢、对仗工整见长。此诗写巡海过营、忧国不忘，音节高亢而慷慨。全诗一韵到底，声调与忧国之志的内容相合，是明代边塞诗中高亢的一路。

Reading note Neat antithesis, recalling antiquity and planning the present, firm yet graceful.《过文登营》为明代戚继光所作，是写巡海过营之感的七律。此诗以“冉冉双幡度海涯，晓烟低护野人家”写渡海过营，以“水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎”写边海沧桑，以“遥知百国微茫外，未敢忘危负岁华”写忧国不忘。以边海之景写忧国之情，正是戚继光诗的代表作。

Line by line

冉冉双幡度海涯，晓烟低护野人家。

Slowly the two banners cross the sea's edge; dawn mist lies low, sheltering the cottages of the wild.

冉冉的双幡度过海涯，晓烟低低地护着野人家。

Slowly the two banners cross the sea's edge; the dawn mist hangs low over the scattered cottages.

前二句写渡海过营，是全诗巡海之行的起点。“冉冉双幡度海涯”写双幡度海——“冉冉双幡”写冉冉的双幡（出使之旗），“度海涯”写度过海涯——双幡冉冉，度海涯；“晓烟低护野人家”写晓烟野家——“晓烟低护”写晓烟低低地护着，“野人家”写野人家的村舍——晓烟低护野人家。二句写渡海过营：冉冉双幡度海涯，晓烟低护野人家。以“冉冉双幡度海涯”写出使巡海之始，以“晓烟低护野人家”写晓烟野家之景，正是戚继光诗写巡海之行的起点——双幡度海，晓烟人家。

The banners. Slowly the two banners cross the sea's edge; dawn mist lies low, sheltering the cottages of the wild. The slow banners crossing the sea and the low dawn mist over the cottages are the naval patrol's start. To have described the patrol crossing the sea would be a scene; the slowly-the-two-banners-cross-the-sea's-edge against the dawn-mist-lies-low-sheltering-the-cottages-of-the-wild is the scene.

谁将春色来残堞，独有天风送短笳。水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎。

Who has brought spring color to the crumbling rampart? Only the sky wind carries the short reed pipe. When the water falls, the Qin stone still remains; when the tide comes, no Han-era raft is seen.

谁将春色送来这残破的城堞？独有天风送来短笳之声。水落时尚存秦代所立之石，潮来时不见汉时之槎。

Who has brought spring to the ruined wall? Only the sky wind bears the short reed pipe. When the tide ebbs, the Qin stone still stands; when the tide rises, no Han-era raft is seen.

中四句写边海之景，是全诗沧桑之感的深化。“谁将春色来残堞，独有天风送短笳”写春色残堞——“谁将春色来残堞”写谁将春色送来这残破的城堞，“独有天风送短笳”写独有天风送来短笳之声——春色残堞，天风短笳；“水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎”写秦石汉槎——“水落尚存秦代石”写水落时尚存秦皇东巡之石，“潮来不见汉时槎”用乘槎之典，写潮来时不见汉时之槎——秦石尚存，汉槎不见。四句写边海之景：春色残堞、天风短笳，水落秦石、潮来不见汉槎。以“谁将春色来残堞，独有天风送短笳”写残堞春色、短笳天风，以“水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎”写沧桑之变（秦石犹存而汉槎不见），正是戚继光诗写边海沧桑之感的笔法——残堞秦石，见证古今。

The stones. Who has brought spring color to the crumbling rampart? Only the sky wind carries the short reed pipe. When the water falls, the Qin stone still remains; when the tide comes, no Han-era raft is seen. The crumbling rampart and the Qin stone that remains, the Han raft that is gone, are the coastal history. To have contrasted the surviving stone with the vanished raft would be an allusion; the who-has-brought-spring-color-to-the-crumbling-rampart-only-the-sky-wind-carries-the-short-reed-pipe against the when-the-water-falls-the-Qin-stone-still-remains-when-the-tide-comes-no-Han-era-raft-is-seen is the allusion.

遥知百国微茫外，未敢忘危负岁华。

From afar I know the hundred nations lie beyond the haze; I dare not forget the peril and waste my years.

遥知百国在微茫之外，我未敢忘记危殆、辜负年华。

From afar I know the hundred nations lie beyond the haze; I dare not forget danger and betray my years.

末二句写忧国不忘，是全诗忧国之情的归结。“遥知百国微茫外”写百国微茫——“遥知百国微茫外”写遥知海外诸国在微茫之外——百国微茫；“未敢忘危负岁华”写未敢忘危——“未敢忘危”写未敢忘记危殆（海防之危），“负岁华”写辜负年华——未敢忘危，辜负岁华。二句写忧国不忘：遥知百国微茫外，未敢忘危负岁华。以“遥知百国微茫外”写海外诸国、海防之患，以“未敢忘危负岁华”写未敢忘危、不负年华，正是戚继光诗写忧国之情的归结——百国在望，未敢忘危。

The vow. From afar I know the hundred nations lie beyond the haze; I dare not forget the peril and waste my years. The hundred nations in the haze and the dare-not-forget-the-danger vow are the close. To have vowed vigilance would be a vow; the from-afar-I-know-the-hundred-nations-lie-beyond-the-haze against the I-dare-not-forget-the-peril-and-waste-my-years is the vow.

Study

Word focus

双幡 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “冉冉双幡度海涯”之“双幡”，写出使所持的双旗，是全诗写巡海之行的关键词。“双幡”写两面旗帜——冉冉的双幡度过海涯。这一词写其出使之仪：不是寻常之行，而双幡；不是私行之往，而持旗巡海。以“冉冉双幡度海涯”写巡海之行，正是戚继光诗写其为国巡海的笔法。

残堞 The broken rampart, noting Wendeng Camp's age, darkly implying a need to repair and order. “谁将春色来残堞”之“残堞”，写残破的城堞，是全诗写边海之景的关键词。“残”写残破，“堞”写城上矮墙——谁将春色送来残破的城堞。这一词写边城之残：不是完固之城，而残堞；不是内陆之景，而海防之堞。以“谁将春色来残堞”写春色入残堞，正是戚继光诗写边海沧桑、春色与残堞相映的笔法。

秦代石 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “水落尚存秦代石”之“秦代石”，写秦皇东巡所立之石，是全诗写沧桑之变的关键词。“秦代石”写秦代所立之石——水落时尚存秦皇东巡之石。这一词以“秦代石”写古迹：不是寻常之石，而秦代石；不是今世之物，而千载之迹。以“水落尚存秦代石，潮来不见汉时槎”写秦石犹存而汉槎不见，正是戚继光诗写边海沧桑之变的笔法。

忘危 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “未敢忘危负岁华”之“忘危”，写忘记危殆，是全诗写忧国之志的归结词。“忘”写忘记，“危”写危殆（海防之危）——我未敢忘记危殆。这一词写其忧国：不是安享之人，而不忘危；不是可忘之危，而时刻在念。以“未敢忘危负岁华”写未敢忘危、不负年华，正是戚继光诗写忧国之志的归结——岁华可负，忘危不可。