唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
轮台歌奉送封大夫出师西征
Luntai Song: A Farewell to Lord Feng on His Western Campaign
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，汉军屯在轮台北。
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。
Last night the feathered dispatch sped past Quli, and the Khan's host already camps west of the Golden Hills;
From the watchtower I look west to black dust and smoke, where the Han army is stationed north of Luntai;
The supreme general bears the staff and marches west, and at dawn the flutes sound as the great host sets forth;
On every side war drums are beaten and the snow-sea surges, and the three armies' great shout moves the Dark Mountains;
The enemy's border spirit masses like clouds, and on the battlefield white bones entwine the grass roots;
The Sword River winds are fierce and its snowflakes broad, and at Sand-Mouth the frozen stone slips the horses' hooves;
The vice-minister toils for the throne through bitter and sweet, vowing to serve his lord and hush the border's heat;
Since ancient times who has not read the green histories? Now see his glory surpass the men of old.
Meaning
Bugles sound by night atop the Luntai wall, and north of the city the Mao star falls, signaling war. Last night the urgent feathered dispatch sped past Quli, for the Khan's army has already reached west of the Golden Hills. Climbing the watchtower and gazing west, one sees only black dust and smoke, while the Han host is encamped north of Luntai. The supreme general holds the imperial staff and bears the banner as he marches west; at dawn, where the flutes sound, the great army sets out. On every side war drums roll like a surging snow-sea, and the three armies' great shout shakes the Dark Mountains. The enemy's border fury masses like clouds, and on the battlefield white bones entwine the grass roots. The Sword River's winds are fierce and its snowflakes broad; at Sand-Mouth the frozen stone slips the horses' hooves. The vice-minister spares no toil for the throne's affairs, vowing to repay his sovereign's grace and sweep the border dust away. Since ancient times who has not been recorded in the green histories? Now his glory is seen to surpass the men of old.
轮台城头夜里吹响号角，城北旄头星落主兵事将起。告急羽书昨夜已过渠黎，单于的军队已到了金山之西。登戍楼西望但见烟尘昏黑，汉家大军正屯驻轮台以北。上将持节拥旄向西出征，天明笛声响处大军启行。四面战鼓如雪海翻涌，三军呐喊令阴山震动。敌塞杀气连云屯聚，战场上白骨与草根纠缠。剑河狂风急雪片阔大，沙口石冷冻脱马蹄。亚相为王事不辞劳苦，誓报君恩扫静边尘。自古青史谁人不见，今看功勋更胜古人。
Appreciation
This song unfolds a frontier campaign in sweeping, cinematic movement. The opening four lines rush in like a storm with the urgent war bulletins—the night bugles, the falling Mao star, the feathered dispatch past Quli, the Khan's host at the Golden Hills—building a sense of imminent danger. Then 'the supreme general bears the banner' turns to the splendor of the army on the march, with drums like a snow-sea and a shout that moves the mountains. Halfway the poem sharpens into the bone-white horror of 'white bones entwine the grass' and the frozen agony of 'the stone slips the hoof,' lending the martial grandeur a sudden, aching weight. It closes by praising the vice-minister's loyal toil and surpassing merit, rounding the arc from alarm to march to glory. Written in the free-running song form, the poem shifts rhyme every three lines, its cadence as bold as the yuefu it resembles.
【白话串讲】 “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”——岑参写大军出征，鼓声震得雪海翻涌，喊声震得阴山动摇。盛唐边塞诗最壮阔的战争场面。 【意象与手法】 以歌行体铺陈战事：起四句写军情急报，如骤雨逼来；「上将拥旄」以下写军容之盛，伐鼓、大呼极尽声威；中段「白骨缠草根」「马蹄脱」陡转惨烈苦寒，刚健中见沉痛。全诗三句一换韵，声调顿挫，有燕乐歌辞之概。 【情感与主旨】 封大夫即封常清，官至御史大夫，时摄御史大夫（故称「亚相」）充安西四镇节度使。岑参天宝间两度出塞，任封常清幕府判官，此诗作于北庭都护府治所轮台（今新疆米泉一带），为送封氏统军西击吐蕃、突厥而作。 【名句点睛】 高频考点：①概括诗歌如何从「告急」写到「出征」再收「颂功」的层次；②赏析「雪海涌」「阴山动」的夸张与声势描写；③「旄头落」「渥洼」等典故的运用。
Background
Lord Feng is Feng Changqing, who rose to censor-in-chief and, acting in that office (hence 'vice-minister'), served as military governor of the Four Garrisons of Anxi. Cen Shen twice went beyond the frontier during the Tianbao era, serving as a judge on Feng's staff; this poem was written at Luntai, seat of the Beiting Protectorate (around today's Mixian, Xinjiang), as a send-off when Feng led the army west against Tibet and the Turks.
此诗为岑参边塞诗的代表作之一，作于天宝十三载（754）前后，地点在轮台。封大夫即封常清，唐代名将，原为高仙芝部将，以军功累迁至安西四镇节度副使、摄御史大夫，故诗中称「亚相」（御史大夫位次丞相，故云亚相）。岑参（约715—770），江陵（今湖北荆州）人，盛唐边塞诗派的代表诗人，天宝年间两度出塞，先后入高仙芝、封常清幕府任掌书记、判官等职，前后在边塞生活约六年，足迹及于安西、北庭（今新疆一带）。此诗即其任封常清幕府判官、驻轮台时，为送封氏统军西征吐蕃、突厥而作。轮台为北庭都护府治所，唐时是西北边防重镇，也是丝绸之路北道的要冲。当时吐蕃、突骑施等势力屡犯西陲，战事频仍，诗人身在军幕，亲历边地苦寒与军旅生涯，遂以雄健笔力写下这首气势磅礴的送别征战诗，与《走马川行奉送出师西征》《白雪歌送武判官归京》并为岑参边塞三大名篇。
Art
Cast in the free-running song form, the poem lays out the campaign in full: the first four lines deliver the urgent war bulletins like a sudden downpour; from 'the supreme general bears the banner' it paints the army's splendor, exhausting sound and awe in the beaten drums and great shouts; midway the lines 'white bones entwine the grass' and 'the stone slips the hoof' wheel sharply into butchery and bitter cold, finding grief within the vigor. The whole shifts rhyme every three lines, its cadence halting and bold, with the air of a Yan-style musical lyric.
此诗以歌行体铺陈战事，章法井然，气势磅礴。全诗可分四个层次：起四句写军情告急——「轮台城头夜吹角」以号角声起笔，写战云密布；「单于已在金山西」写敌情迫近，如骤雨逼来。次四句写汉军出征——「上将拥旄西出征，平明吹笛大军行」写军容之盛，旌旗蔽日、笛声嘹亮。再四句写战场声势——「四边伐鼓雪海涌，三军大呼阴山动」以海喻鼓、以山撼写声，极尽夸张，盛唐气象喷薄而出；「战场白骨缠草根」陡转惨烈，「剑河风急雪片阔，沙口石冻马蹄脱」写边地苦寒之极。末四句颂主帅功业——「亚相勤王甘苦辛，誓将报主静边尘」赞封常清忠勇，「古来青史谁不见，今见功名胜古人」以青史相期作结。全诗由告急、出征、酣战到颂功，层次分明而一气流转；写军威则雄阔，写苦寒则沉痛，刚健之中见悲慨，是盛唐边塞诗「雄浑悲壮」风格的典型。再就句法言，全诗多用顶真与复沓：「轮台」二字叠起，「轮台城头」「轮台城北」回环成势；「上将拥旄西出征」与「单于已在金山西」遥相呼应，敌我两线交错推进；「雪海涌」「阴山动」「连云屯」等三字顿挫处如战鼓急擂，句句雄健，正合歌行体「以气运笔」之妙，读来如亲临沙场。
Allusions
The falling Mao star draws on the omen that the Mao (Pleiades) star governs the barbarian troops, and that its quivering or falling foretells the barbarians' ruin and the end of war (from the Treatise on Astrology in the Han History). 'Vice-minister' is the title for the censor-in-chief, who under Han protocol ranked just below the chancellor, hence the name. 'Still the border dust' reworks the phrase 'the border dust stirs not,' praising the pacification of the Hu.
此诗用典切合边塞军旅之题，皆融化入景。「旄头落」用星象之典：旄头即昴星，古天文家以旄头主胡兵，其星动摇或陨落主胡兵将灭（见《汉书·天文志》），诗中「轮台城北旄头落」以星落预兆敌酋败亡，兼写夜观星象的战地氛围。「渠黎」为西域地名（今新疆轮台东南），实写羽书所经之路。「金山西」指今新疆天山（古称金山）之西，写单于进犯之地。「亚相」称封常清御史大夫之职，用汉代官制「御史大夫次丞相」之意。「静边尘」化用「边尘不动」意，指平定边患，颂平胡之功。诸典皆切边塞战争之实，无堆砌之痕，与奇崛的诗风相得益彰。又，「平明吹笛大军行」之「笛」暗用北朝民歌「陇头流水」及唐人军中横吹之习，以笛声写行军之壮；「虏塞兵气连云屯」之「连云」状杀气之盛，承六朝边塞诗「杀气三时作阵云」之意。全诗用典或化用皆贴合边塞军旅之实，与奇崛的诗风相得益彰。另，「渠黎」「剑河」「沙口」皆为西域地名——渠黎在今新疆轮台东南，剑河、沙口亦为唐军行经之处，诗人一一实录，正见岑参边塞诗「以实录写奇景」的特点，地名的实指与星象、官制的用典相配，虚实相济，共同构成一幅真实的西域战争图卷。
Commentary
Yin Fan, in his Collection of River-and-Mountain Spirits, said Cen's poetry 'is strange in language and lofty in form, and in conception too it achieves the strange.' The Qing critic Fang Dongshu praised this poem for 'a towering opening, as if a thousand crags vied in beauty,' noting that it 'paints the army's bearing like a picture, yet a desolate air shows through of itself.'
历代评家盛赞此诗。殷璠《河岳英灵集》称岑参诗「语奇体峻，意亦造奇」，于此诗「轮台城头夜吹角，轮台城北旄头落」的重叠起笔、「四边伐鼓雪海涌，三军大呼阴山动」的奇崛夸张最为贴切。清人方东树《昭昧詹言》评此诗「起势崚嶒，如千岩竞秀」，谓其「写军容如画，而苍凉之气自见」——既写军威之盛，又写白骨之惨、苦寒之烈，壮与悲兼而有之。近人论盛唐边塞诗，多举岑参与高适并称「高岑」，而岑参尤以「奇」著称：其笔下的边地风物（轮台、走马川、天山雪）新奇险怪，异于高适的沉雄质实。此诗与《白雪歌》并读，可见岑参以奇崛之笔写边塞壮景、于颂歌中寓苍凉的本色。从文学史看，此诗与高适《燕歌行》同为盛唐边塞诗双璧，而各极其妙：《燕歌行》以「战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞」写军中之不平，批判锋芒直露；此诗以「战场白骨缠草根」写战事之惨烈，悲慨内敛，颂功之中自含警示。一刺一颂，合观可见盛唐边塞诗人面对战争的不同姿态，亦见岑参歌行「奇」与「壮」兼具的独特面目。
Prosody
Line by line
轮台城头夜吹角，轮台城北旄头落。
On the wall of Luntai, at night the horn is blown; north of Luntai, the Mao-head star has fallen.
轮台城头夜里吹响号角，城北旄头星落主兵事将起。
At night, on the wall of Luntai, the war horn sounds; north of Luntai, the Mao-head star has fallen, foretelling war.
起笔即写战前氛围，两句皆冠以「轮台」，重言叠出，先声夺人。「夜吹角」以号角之声写军情紧急——夜深人静而号角骤起，战事一触即发；「旄头落」用星象之典，旄头（昴星）主胡兵，星落则主胡亡，暗示此战必胜。一写听觉、一写视觉，一写人事、一写天象，角声与星象交织，营造出大战之前的肃杀氛围。两句以「轮台」领起，既点明战场，又形成音节上的复沓，如鼓点般急促，为全诗定下雄壮而紧迫的基调，令人如闻其声、如见其景。
The opening writes the pre-battle atmosphere at once, both lines led by 'Luntai', the repeated word seizing the ear. 'At night the horn is blown' the military urgency through the horn — deep night, and the horn suddenly sounds, the battle about to burst; 'the Mao-head star has fallen' uses the star allusion, the Mao-head (the Pleiades) ruling the barbarian host, a falling star foretelling the barbarians' ruin, hinting victory. One sound one sight, one human affair one heaven's sign, the horn and the star interwoven, creating the solemn, killing air before the great battle. The two lines led by 'Luntai' both name the battlefield and form the rhythmic repetition, like the urgent beat of drums, tuning the poem's grand and urgent tone, as if the reader hears the sound and sees the scene.
羽书昨夜过渠黎，单于已在金山西。
The feather dispatches passed through Quli last night; the Chanyu is already west of the Golden Mountain.
告急羽书昨夜已过渠黎，单于的军队已到了金山之西。
The feather dispatches passed Quli last night; the Chanyu's army is already west of the Golden Mountain.
两句写敌情告急，如急箭离弦。「羽书」即插羽以示紧急的军书，「昨夜过渠黎」写军书飞传之速——一夜之间已过渠黎，足见军情火急；「单于已在金山西」以敌酋之位置写迫近之势，「已」字点出敌情之新、之近，容不得半点迟疑。两句一写我方之飞报、一写敌方之进逼，双线并进，把战前的紧张气氛推向高潮，也交代了「出师西征」的直接动因——正因敌已迫近金山之西，故汉军须连夜出征。叙事简捷明快，如史笔纪实，为下文写大军出征蓄足势。
Two lines write the urgent enemy news, like a sharp arrow leaving the string. 'The feather dispatches' military letters fletched for urgency; 'passed through Quli last night' the speed of the flying dispatch — in one night it has passed Quli, showing the fire urgency; 'the Chanyu is already west of the Golden Mountain' the enemy chief's position writing the pressing approach, the word 'already' the newness and nearness of the threat, leaving no room for hesitation. One line our flying report, one the enemy's advance, two threads running together, pushing the pre-battle tension to its peak, and stating the direct cause of the western expedition — precisely because the foe is already west of the Golden Mountain, the Han army must march by night. The narrative brief and bright, like a historian's record, storing momentum for the great march below.
四边伐鼓雪海涌，三军大呼阴山动。
On four sides the drums beat like a surging sea of snow; the three armies raise a shout, and the Yin Mountains tremble.
四面战鼓如雪海翻涌，三军呐喊令阴山震动。
On four sides the war drums surge like a sea of snow; the three armies shout, and the Yin Mountains shake.
此联是写军威最雄阔的句子，也是全诗的声情高潮。「四边伐鼓」写鼓声从四面合围而来，「雪海涌」以翻涌的雪海比喻鼓声之浩瀚澎湃——鼓声本无形，诗人以海之涌动状之，化听觉为视觉，声势夺人；「三军大呼阴山动」更进一步，三军齐呼，竟使阴山为之震动，以山之动摇写声浪之巨，夸张到了极点。两句对仗工整，一鼓一呼、一海一山，视听交融，把盛唐军威写得气吞山河，正是「语奇体峻」的典型。值得注意的是，如此夸张并不觉虚浮，因为前有「雪海」「阴山」的边地实景作底，夸张中自有真实的边塞气象。
This couplet is the grandest writing of military might, the emotional and auditory climax of the poem. 'On four sides the drums beat' the drums closing from all four sides, 'like a surging sea of snow' comparing the vast, pounding drums to a surging sea of snow — the drum has no form, and the poet shapes it as the heaving sea, turning sound into sight, the momentum stunning; 'the three armies raise a shout, and the Yin Mountains tremble' goes further, the three armies' united cry shaking the Yin Mountains themselves, writing the voice's enormity through the mountain's movement, exaggerated to the utmost. The couplet is exact, one drum one shout, one sea one mountain, sound and sight fused, writing the High Tang military might as swallowing rivers and mountains, the typical 'strange diction, stern form'. Notable: such exaggeration does not feel empty, because the real border scenes of 'sea of snow' and 'Yin Mountains' are the ground below, the exaggeration holding the genuine frontier air.
剑河风急雪片阔，沙口石冻马蹄脱。
At Sword River the wind is fierce, the snowflakes wide; at Sand Mouth the stones freeze, and the horseshoes drop off.
剑河狂风急雪片阔大，沙口石冷冻脱马蹄。
At Sword River the wind is fierce and the snowflakes wide; at Sand Mouth the stones freeze, and the horses' shoes drop off.
两句由军威之壮陡转边地之苦，写尽行军之艰险。「剑河」「沙口」皆西北边地名，诗人以地名写实境；「风急雪片阔」写狂风卷着大如席的雪片扑面而来，「石冻马蹄脱」写沙口寒石冻得马蹄脱落——连铁打的马蹄都被冻脱，人之苦寒可知。两句不写人而写马、不写寒而写冻，以物之受难写人之艰危，含蓄而有力。此联与「雪海涌」「阴山动」形成对照：前写声威之盛，后写苦寒之烈，壮与悲相济，使全诗不流于一味颂扬，而于雄浑中见出边塞生活的真实底色，正是岑参「刚健中含沉痛」之处。
Two lines turn abruptly from the military might to the border's hardship, writing to the full the danger of the march. 'Sword River' and 'Sand Mouth' are both northwest border place names, the poet using the names for the real scene; 'the wind is fierce, the snowflakes wide' the fierce wind driving snowflakes as broad as mats in the face; 'the stones freeze, and the horseshoes drop off' — at Sand Mouth the stones freeze so hard the horseshoes split off — even the iron horseshoes freeze off, and the human cold may be imagined. Two lines write not the man but the horse, not the cold but the freezing, using the things' suffering to write the human peril, restrained and forceful. This couplet sets against 'sea of snow' and 'Yin Mountains': the earlier the sound and might, this the bitter cold, grand and grief fed each other, so the poem does not fall into mere eulogy, but shows, within the grandeur, the true ground of frontier life — the place of Cen Shen's 'strength with grief within'.
古来青史谁不见，今见功名胜古人。
From old in the blue histories, who has not seen it? Today we see your fame outdoing the ancients.
自古青史留名谁人不见，如今看您的功勋更胜过古人。
Since old in the blue histories, who has not seen such fame? Today we see your achievement surpassing the ancients.
末联以颂功收束全诗，回应题中「奉送」之意。「古来青史谁不见」先以反问荡开——青史留名，自古为人所重；「今见功名胜古人」再以断言收拢——而封大夫今日之功，更将胜过古人。两句以「古」与「今」、「古人」与「今人」对举，把封常清的功业置于历史的长河中加以推许，勉励与祝愿兼而有之，正合送别诗以颂勉作结的体例。然此颂并非虚辞，前有「亚相勤王甘苦辛，誓将报主静边尘」的实写作底，故结得有力而不空泛。全诗由告急、出征、酣战、苦寒一路写来，至此以青史相期收束，气足神完，余韵雄健。
The closing couplet ends in praise of achievement, answering the 'sent off' of the title. 'Since old in the blue histories, who has not seen it?' first opens in counter-question — fame in the histories, valued since old; 'today we see your achievement surpassing the ancients' then closes in assertion — and General Feng's achievement today will surpass the ancients. The two lines set 'ancient' against 'today', 'ancients' against 'modern man', placing Feng Changqing's achievement in the long river of history for praise, encouragement and wish together, fitting the farewell poem's custom of closing in praise. Yet the praise is no empty word, for the real writing above of the lord's loyal toiling, his oath to quiet the border, is the ground below, so the close is forceful and not hollow. The whole poem, from the urgent news, the march, the fierce battle, the bitter cold, closes in the promise of the blue histories, the breath full, the spirit complete, the aftertaste bold.
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Both from Cen Shen's frontier sequence, writing Luntai scenery and the army's aura; read them together.
《白雪歌送武判官归京》与《轮台歌》同出岑参边塞组诗，皆写轮台风物与军中气象，而主旨与色调不同：《白雪歌》写雪中送客，以「忽如一夜春风来，千树万树梨花开」的奇喻写边塞奇寒中的壮美，情感中带送别的惆怅；《轮台歌》写出师征战，以「四边伐鼓雪海涌」的雄阔写军威，情感是颂扬与激励。两诗并读，可见岑参既能把苦寒写得奇丽（白雪歌），又能把战争写得雄浑（轮台歌），其边塞诗的丰富性于此可见。
雁门太守行 Ballad of the Governor of Yanmen 李贺 · 异，同写军旅，风格迥异 Different (war, contrasting manner)Both write of war; Cen is grand and open, Li strange and lurid—a useful stylistic contrast.
李贺《雁门太守行》「黑云压城城欲摧，甲光向日金鳞开」与《轮台歌》同写军旅征战，而风格判然有别：岑诗雄阔刚健，以「雪海涌」「阴山动」的夸张写盛唐气象，是外向的、阳刚的；李诗奇诡幽艳，以「黑云压城」「燕脂凝夜紫」的色彩营造阴森瑰丽的战场氛围，是内向的、阴柔的。同为写战争，岑参取其「壮」，李贺取其「奇」，二者对照可见盛唐与中唐审美趣尚的变迁——盛唐以气胜，中唐以韵胜；盛唐写军威之雄，中唐写战场之怖。
走马川行奉送封大夫出师西征 走马川行奉送封大夫出师西征 岑参 · 同作者，同送封常清出师 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
《走马川行》与《轮台歌》为岑参同时、同题、同送一人的姊妹篇，堪称「双璧」。《走马川行》写行军途中之景，以「君不见走马川行雪海边，平沙莽莽黄入天」的莽苍起笔，句句用韵、三句一转，节奏如马蹄奔骤；《轮台歌》写战前与临战之景，以号角、星象、羽书起笔，章法更趋整饬。一写「行」，一写「战」，两诗并观，可见岑参为封常清出师所作诗篇的完整构想，也可比较其同题之作中因侧重点不同而呈现的不同笔法。