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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

燕歌行

Song of Yan

高适

Gao Shi

边塞frontier 战争war

汉家烟尘在东北，汉将辞家破残贼。
男儿本自重横行，天子非常赐颜色。
摐金伐鼓下榆关，旌旆逶迤碣石间。
校尉羽书飞瀚海，单于猎火照狼山。
山川萧条极边土，胡骑凭陵杂风雨。
战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞。
大漠穷秋塞草腓，孤城落日斗兵稀。
身当恩遇常轻敌，力尽关山未解围。
铁衣远戍辛勤久，玉箸应啼别离后。
少妇城南欲断肠，征人蓟北空回首。
边庭飘飖那可度，绝域苍茫更何有。
杀气三时作阵云，寒声一夜传刁斗。
相看白刃血纷纷，死节从来岂顾勋。
君不见沙场征战苦，至今犹忆李将军。

The Han house's dust and smoke rise in the northeast;
The Han general leaves home to break the broken foe.
A man is born to prize his sweeping march;
The Son of Heaven grants him favour beyond the common.
Beating gongs and drums, he descends Yuguan Pass;
His banners wind on, among the Jieshi crags.
The colonel's feather-letter flies across the desert sea;
The chanyu's hunting fires light the Langshan hills.
The hills and streams lie bleak at the world's edge;
The Hu horsemen press in, mixed with wind and rain.
Half the soldiers before the ranks are dead or living;
Yet in the tent the beauties sing and dance.
In the vast desert, late autumn, the border grass withers;
The lone city, the setting sun, few fighters remain.
Given the sovereign's grace, he ever lightly weighs the foe;
His strength spent at the passes, the siege is not yet loosed.
The iron coat, garrisoned far, long in toil;
The jade tears should be weeping since the parting.
The young wife south of the city is near to break her heart;
The frontier man at Jibei looks back in vain.
The border court sways—how can one cross it?
The remotest realm, vast and dim, what more is there?
Killing air all day forms battle clouds;
Cold sounds all night pass the watch-drum.
They look on each other, white blades, blood in showers;
To die for honour never minded the reward.
Do you not see the bitterness of the sandy battlefield—
To this day we still recall General Li.

Listen

Meaning

The Tang frontier trouble rose in the northeast, the generals left home to punish the broken foe. A man is born to prize his sweeping march; the Son of Heaven grants rare favour. Beating gongs and drums they descend Yuguan; banners wind among the Jieshi crags. The colonel's urgent letter flies across the desert; the chanyu's hunting fires light Langshan. The border hills and streams lie bleak; Hu horsemen press in with wind and rain. Half the soldiers before the ranks are dead or living, while in the tent the beauties sing and dance. In deep autumn the great desert's grass withers; the lone city, the setting sun, few fighters remain. Given the emperor's grace he lightly weighs the foe; strength spent at the passes, the siege is not lifted. The iron coat, garrisoned far, long in toil; the jade tears should fall since the parting. The young wife south of the city is near to break her heart; the frontier man at Jibei looks back in vain. The border court sways—how to cross it? The remotest realm, vast and dim, what more is there? Killing air all day forms battle clouds; cold sounds all night pass the watch-drum. They face each other, white blades, blood in showers; to die for honour never minded the reward. Do you not see the bitterness of the sandy battlefield—to this day we still recall General Li.

唐朝边患起于东北，将士辞家讨伐残寇。男儿本就重纵横疆场，天子更赏赐恩荣。击鼓鸣金出榆关，旌旗连绵过碣石。校尉告急文书飞渡瀚海，单于猎火映照狼山。边地山川萧条，胡骑借风雨侵凌。战士阵前半死半生，将帅帐中犹赏歌舞。深秋大漠草枯，孤城落日兵稀。身受皇恩常轻敌，力竭关山未解围。征衣久戍辛苦，思妇泪落别后。城南少妇断肠，蓟北征人空回首。边庭飘摇难越，绝域苍茫无依。杀气终日凝为阵云，寒夜刁斗声声。白刃相见血肉横飞，死节岂为功勋。君不见沙场苦战，至今犹念李将军。

Appreciation

A seven-character song-poem in the yuefu manner, free in its shifting rhymes, it follows the war's changing mood. Its heart is the stark contrast of soldiers dying before the ranks while beauties sing in the tent, exposing the gulf between the common man's blood and the general's ease. The middle widens to the wives at home and the men at the frontier, and closes by recalling General Li Guang—the ancient commander who shared his men's hardship—to needle the present leaders. Grave, stirring, and quietly satiric, it is a High-Tang frontier poem of both breath and conscience.

【白话串讲】 “汉家烟尘在东北，汉将辞家破残贼”——高适写边塞战争。“战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞”——战士在前线生死，将军在帐中看歌舞。“君不见沙场征战苦，至今犹忆李将军”——他想起李广。边塞诗里最锋利的对比。【意象与手法】全篇七言歌行，换韵自由，随战局情绪起伏。最著者“战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞”以极度对比揭露将卒苦乐悬殊【情感与主旨】此诗作于唐玄宗开元二十六年（738）。据序，时张守珪节度副使败于契丹，高适送兵蓟门，目睹军中不公，有感而发【名句点睛】核心考点为对比手法与主旨。必考“战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞”的对比内涵；常考“犹忆李将军”的用典与讽刺意

Background

This poem was written in 738, the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan. By the preface, when Zhang Shougui's deputy was defeated by the Khitan, Gao Shi saw the troops off at Jimen and witnessed the injustice in the army, and was moved to write. The poem uses "Han house" to satirize Tang, shadowing with the northeast frontier the later Kaiyuan truth of frontier generals' pride and slackness, defeat concealed—a representative High-Tang frontier poem both "generous in breath" and "satirizing the real."

《燕歌行》为唐代高适所作，是写边塞征战的长篇歌行。高适（704—765），字达夫，渤海蓨人，唐代边塞诗人。此诗：汉家烟尘在东北，汉将辞家破残贼。男儿本自重横行，天子非常赐颜色。摐金伐鼓下榆关，旌旆逶迤碣石间。……战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞。……君不见沙场征战苦，至今犹忆李将军。全诗写边塞征战、讽刺将帅，是高适边塞诗的名篇。

Art

The whole is a seven-character song in the old yuefu manner, free in changing rhyme, rising and falling with the battle's mood. Most famous is "Half the soldiers before the ranks are dead or living; yet in the tent the beauties sing and dance," an extreme contrast laying bare the gap between the soldier's pain and the general's pleasure. "The young wife south of the city" and "the frontier man at Jibei" write the longing from both sides, the spatial contrast deepening the tragedy. The close "to this day we still recall General Li," using the Li Guang allusion, with the ancient worthy who cared for his men sets off the present commander—implicit and strong, grave and stirring.

《燕歌行》艺术上以边塞的壮阔与讽刺的深沉见长。全诗写边塞征战：首写辞家出征——“汉家烟尘在东北，汉将辞家破残贼”写烟尘辞家，“男儿本自重横行，天子非常赐颜色”写重横行、赐颜色；中写战阵之苦——“摐金伐鼓下榆关，旌旆逶迤碣石间”写榆关碣石，“战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞”写战士死生、美人歌舞；末写忆李将军——“君不见沙场征战苦，至今犹忆李将军”写征战苦、忆李广。全诗写边塞征战而讽将帅，正是高适边塞诗的笔法。

Allusions

"General Li" uses the Western Han Li Guang, who loved his men and led from the front, the Xiongnu fearing him as the "Flying General." The poem's close, "to this day we still recall General Li," sets off the Tang generals who cared not for their men and could not lift the siege, lodging a call for a worthy commander. "Sweeping march" comes from the "Records of the Grand Historian·Ji Bu" line "I would have a hundred thousand to sweep through the Xiongnu"; here it writes a man's ambition. "Grant him favour" uses the Han Son of Heaven's grant of favour, hinting at misplaced grace.

《燕歌行》用典在“汉家”“李将军”。“汉家”写汉朝（唐人借汉写唐）；“李将军”用李广之典，写爱护士卒之良将；“横行使”写横行（《汉书》有“横行匈奴”之语）。全诗以这些典故写边塞征战、讽刺将帅，用典自然而深沉自见，正是高适边塞诗的笔法。

Commentary

The Qing Wang Fuzhi, in "Selection of Tang Poetry," said "shallow words, deep meaning; in the spread and sequence there is yet gravity and arrest." Yin Fan, in "The Collection of Heroes of River and Mountain," called it "mostly words from the breast, with bone and spirit." Moderns say this piece and Cen Shen's "Song of White Snow" stand as the twin peaks of High-Tang frontier song-poems, yet Gao's poem leans to satire, Cen's to scene-painting.

《燕歌行》是高适边塞诗的代表作，也是唐代边塞诗的名篇。此诗写边塞征战、讽刺将帅，向为论者称道。论者多赏其边塞的壮阔与讽刺的深沉——“汉家烟尘在东北，汉将辞家破残贼”写烟尘辞家，壮阔之极；“战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞”写战士死生、美人歌舞，对比鲜明、讽刺深沉；“君不见沙场征战苦，至今犹忆李将军”写忆李将军，更见其讽。高适为唐代边塞诗人，其诗以雄浑悲壮著称，此诗正是其代表——以边塞写征战、讽将帅，正是其诗风。

Prosody

Form Seven-character song-poem (old yuefu title)七言歌行（乐府）

Rhyme Free rhyme shift, level and oblique alternate, changing with feeling《燕歌行》为七言歌行，押平声韵，随内容换韵。此诗用韵：北、贼（职部）……横、色（职部）……间（删部）……舞（语部）……军（文部）等，随段换韵，音节悲壮。

Tone pattern Song form does not bind to tonal rules, follows the breath七言歌行以音节悲壮、气势雄浑见长。此诗写边塞征战、讽刺将帅，音节悲壮而雄浑。全诗以七言贯底，随段换韵，声调与边塞征战的内容相合，是高适边塞诗中雄浑悲壮的一路。

Reading note A model High-Tang frontier song-poem, narrative and lyric joined.《燕歌行》为唐代高适所作，是写边塞征战的长篇歌行。此诗以“汉家烟尘在东北，汉将辞家破残贼”写辞家出征，以“战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞”写战士苦战、将帅行乐，以“君不见沙场征战苦，至今犹忆李将军”写忆李将军。以边塞写征战、讽将帅，正是高适边塞诗的名篇。

Line by line

汉家烟尘在东北，汉将辞家破残贼。男儿本自重横行，天子非常赐颜色。

The Han border smoke and dust rise in the northeast; the Han general leaves home to crush the remnant rebels. Manhood, by nature, honors the free march; the Son of Heaven bestows extraordinary favor.

汉家烟尘起于东北，汉将辞家去破残贼。男儿本自重横行沙场，天子非常赐以恩宠。

Smoke and dust of war rise in the northeast; the Han general leaves home to crush the remnant foe. True men have always prized the free charge; the emperor grants him special favor and countenance.

前四句写辞家出征，是全诗边塞的起点。“汉家烟尘在东北，汉将辞家破残贼”写烟尘辞家——“汉家烟尘在东北”写汉家（唐人借汉写唐）烟尘起于东北，“汉将辞家破残贼”写汉将辞家去破残贼——烟尘东北，辞家破贼；“男儿本自重横行，天子非常赐颜色”写重横行、赐颜色——“男儿本自重横行”写男儿本自重横行沙场，“天子非常赐颜色”写天子非常赐以恩宠——男儿横行，天子赐颜。四句写辞家出征：汉家烟尘在东北、汉将辞家破残贼，男儿本自重横行、天子非常赐颜色。以“汉家烟尘在东北，汉将辞家破残贼”写边关告急、汉将出征，以“男儿本自重横行，天子非常赐颜色”写其雄心与恩宠，正是高适诗写边塞出征的起点——烟尘起而将军行。

The first four lines write leaving home for the campaign, the starting point of the frontier poem. The Han border smoke and dust rise in the northeast; the Han general leaves home to crush the remnant rebels: smoke in the northeast, the general departing. Manhood, by nature, honors the free march; the Son of Heaven bestows extraordinary favor: the free charge of manhood, the emperor's special favor. The four lines write the war alert in the northeast, the general's departure, manhood's ambition, and imperial favor - Gao Shi's starting point for the frontier campaign: smoke rising, the general marching.

战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞。

Before the lines, soldiers die half and live half; behind the tent, beauties still sing and dance.

战士在军前已半死半生，美人却在帐下犹自歌舞。

At the front, soldiers lie half-dead, half-alive; beneath the commander's tent, beauties still sing and dance.

此二句写战士死生、美人歌舞，是全诗讽刺将帅的核心。“战士军前半死生”写战士死生——“战士军前半死生”写战士在军前已半死半生；“美人帐下犹歌舞”写美人歌舞——“美人帐下”写美人在营帐之下，“犹歌舞”写犹自歌舞——美人帐下犹歌舞。二句写战士死生、美人歌舞：战士军前半死生，美人帐下犹歌舞。以“战士军前半死生”写士卒之死伤，以“美人帐下犹歌舞”写将帅帐中歌舞之乐，两相对照、对比鲜明，正是高适诗讽刺将帅的核心——战士浴血，将军行乐。

These two lines write soldiers' life and death versus beauties' song and dance, the poem's satire of the commander's core. Before the lines, soldiers die half and live half: the troops at the front, half fallen. Behind the tent, beauties still sing and dance: beauties in the commander's tent, still performing. The two lines write the soldiers' slaughter versus the tent's revels - sharp contrast, precisely Gao Shi's core satire of the commander: soldiers in blood, generals in music.

君不见沙场征战苦，至今犹忆李将军。

Do you not see the hardships of war on the sandy field? To this day we still remember General Li.

君不见沙场征战的艰苦？至今还忆念那李将军。

Do you not see the bitterness of battle on the sandy field? Even now we remember General Li.

末二句写忆李将军，是全诗讽刺的归结。“君不见沙场征战苦”写征战苦——“君不见沙场征战苦”写君不见沙场征战的艰苦；“至今犹忆李将军”用李广之典写忆李广——“至今犹忆”写至今还忆念，“李将军”写爱护士卒的良将李广——至今犹忆李将军。二句写忆李将军：君不见沙场征战苦，至今犹忆李将军。以“君不见沙场征战苦”写沙场之艰苦，以“至今犹忆李将军”用李广之典写忆其爱士卒之良将、讽今之将帅不恤士卒，正是高适诗写边塞讽刺的归结——忆李将军，正讽今之非。

The last two lines write remembering General Li, the poem's satirical resolution. Do you not see the hardships of war on the sandy field: the field's bitter toil. To this day we still remember General Li uses the Li Guang allusion: the loving general remembered, satirizing today's commanders who do not care for their men. The two lines write the field's hardship and the memory of Li - the resolution: remembering General Li is precisely to satirize what is not.

Study

Word focus

横行 Originally with a bad sense, here used in reverse to write a man's will to serve his country; beneath the boldness hides a sadness. “男儿本自重横行”之“横行”，写纵横驰骋、横行沙场，是全诗写男儿雄心的关键词。“横行”写纵横而行——男儿本自重横行沙场。这一词写男儿之志：不是守成之举，而横行；不是怯懦之行，而纵横沙场。以“男儿本自重横行”写其雄心，正是高适诗写边塞男儿之志的笔法。

半死生 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “战士军前半死生”之“半死生”，写半死半生，是全诗写战士苦战的关键词。“半死生”写死伤各半——战士在军前已半死半生。这一词写战士之伤亡：不是完胜之况，而半死生；不是可胜之局，而伤亡惨重。以“战士军前半死生”写士卒死伤之惨，与“美人帐下犹歌舞”相对，正是高适诗写战士苦战、讽刺将帅的笔法。

犹歌舞 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “美人帐下犹歌舞”之“犹歌舞”，写犹自歌舞，是全诗讽刺将帅的关键词。“犹”写尚且、仍然，“歌舞”写歌舞之乐——美人在帐下犹自歌舞。这一词写将帅行乐之态：不是同甘之苦，而犹歌舞；不是体恤之情，而帐中行乐。以“美人帐下犹歌舞”写将帅帐中歌舞、不恤士卒，正是高适诗讽刺将帅的笔法。

李将军 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “至今犹忆李将军”之“李将军”，用李广之典，写爱护士卒之良将，是全诗讽刺的归结词。“李将军”写汉将李广——至今犹忆那李将军。这一词以“李将军”写良将：不是寻常之将，而李广；不是失职之帅，而爱卒之将。以“至今犹忆李将军”写忆李广之爱卒、讽今将之不恤，正是高适诗写边塞讽刺的归结。

燕歌行