On the Surrender Wall at Night, Hearing a Reed Flute (夜上受降城闻笛) by Li Yi

Meaning

Before the Huile beacon the sand is white as snow; beyond the Surrender Wall the moonlight is like frost. I know not where a reed flute begins to sound; through the night the marching men all gaze toward their homes.

回乐峰前沙白如雪，受降城外月色如霜。不知何处吹起芦笛，一夜之间征人尽皆眺望故乡。

Appreciation

This is a mid-Tang frontier quatrain of renown. The first two lines 'Before the Huile beacon the sand is like snow; beyond the Surrender Wall the moon is like frost' use two similes to write the cold brightness of the borderland night; 'snow' and 'frost' paint the scene and also brace the feeling, making a desolate hush. The last two lines 'I know not where a reed flute is blown — / through the night the soldiers all gaze toward home' move from sound to feeling; the bewildered 'I know not' and the universal 'all' spread the homesickness wide and deep. In twenty-eight characters scene and feeling mingle, the aftertaste long.

【白话串讲】 “回乐烽前沙似雪，受降城外月如霜”——李益写边塞月夜：沙像雪，月如霜。“不知何处吹芦管，一夜征人尽望乡”——不知哪里吹起芦管，一夜之间，所有征人都望着故乡。二十八个字，写尽边塞乡愁。【意象与手法】前二句“回乐烽前沙似雪，受降城外月如霜”以两个比喻写边地月夜的寒冷皎洁，“雪”“霜”既状景更衬情，营造凄清氛围【情感与主旨】李益此诗为中唐边塞七绝名篇。受降城指唐张仁愿所筑三受降城（今内蒙古一带），用以防御突厥【名句点睛】重点在景物描写与乡愁主旨。必考“沙似雪”“月如霜”的比喻与氛围营造；亦考“一夜征人尽望乡”中“尽”字的妙处

Background

Li Yi's poem is a celebrated mid-Tang frontier quatrain. The Surrender Wall refers to the three Surrender Cities built by Zhang Renyuan under the Tang (around today's Inner Mongolia) to defend against the Turks. The poet climbs the wall at night, hears a reed pipe (a hu-jia-like instrument) and is moved by the soldiers' longing for home. With border defences slack and men stationed long in the mid-Tang, the poem writes a universal homesickness, with more of the desolate, resentful air than High-Tang frontier poetry.

《夜上受降城闻笛》为唐代李益所作，是写征人望乡的七绝。李益（746—829），字君虞，陇西姑臧人，唐代诗人。此诗：回乐烽前沙似雪，受降城外月如霜。不知何处吹芦管，一夜征人尽望乡。全诗写征人闻笛望乡，是李益诗的名篇。

Art

The first two lines 'Before the Huile beacon the sand is like snow; beyond the Surrender Wall the moon is like frost' use two similes for the cold brightness of the border night; 'snow' and 'frost' paint the scene and brace the feeling, building a desolate mood. The last two lines 'I know not where a reed flute is blown — / through the night the soldiers all gaze toward home' turn from sound to feeling; the bewildered 'I know not' and the universal 'all' write the homesickness broad and deep. Twenty-eight characters, scene and feeling fused, the aftertaste long.

《夜上受降城闻笛》艺术上以景色的清冷与望乡的深沉见长。全诗四句，层层写来：前二句写边地夜景——“回乐烽前沙似雪，受降城外月如霜”写沙似雪、月如霜；后二句写闻笛望乡——“不知何处吹芦管，一夜征人尽望乡”写吹芦管、征人尽望乡。全诗以边地夜景写征人望乡，正是李益诗含蓄深沉的笔法。

Allusions

'The Surrender Wall' uses the historical fact of Zhang Renyuan's three Surrender Cities in the Jinglong era, a real geographic mark; 'reed pipe' is the reed hu-jia, a northern pastoral instrument with a plaintive sound. The poem uses no deep allusion but real place-names and a real instrument to write true scene and true feeling, gaining a natural wonder. 'Sand like snow' and 'moon like frost' transform earlier moonlit-cold imagery, leaving no trace yet far in mood.

《夜上受降城闻笛》用典少而意象自明。“回乐烽”写回乐烽火台；“受降城”写唐之受降城（边城）；“芦管”写胡人乐器芦管。全诗以这些边地意象写征人望乡，不用深典而深沉自见，正是李益诗的笔法。

Commentary

The Ming critic Li Panlong, in his Tang Poems Explained, said 'Of poems on soldiers' grievances, this is the best.' Wang Shizhen held that the couplet 'Before the Huile beacon' could be handed down with 'the moon of Qin times.' Modern readers call it the finest Tang seven-word quatrain on homesickness; in twenty-eight characters it exhausts a thousand years of border-garrison grief.

《夜上受降城闻笛》是李益诗的名篇，也是唐代边塞诗写征人思乡的代表作。此诗写征人闻笛望乡，向为论者称道。论者多赏其景色的清冷——“回乐烽前沙似雪，受降城外月如霜”写沙似雪、月如霜，清冷之极；“不知何处吹芦管，一夜征人尽望乡”写一夜征人尽望乡，更见望乡之切。李益以边塞诗著称，此诗正是其代表——以边地夜景写征人望乡，正是其含蓄深沉的风格。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, lower-level seven yang group (frost, home; snow is entering-tone, not rhymed)《夜上受降城闻笛》为七言绝句，四句，押平声韵。此诗用韵：霜、乡（阳部），一韵到底，音节清冷。

Tone pattern Oblique-onset, first line not entering rhyme七言绝句以音节清冷、情致深沉见长。此诗写征人闻笛望乡，音节清冷而深沉。全诗以七言贯底，声调与望乡之情的内容相合，是李益边塞诗中含蓄深沉的一路。

Reading note Mid-Tang frontier quatrain, tight and desolate, a homesickness masterpiece.《夜上受降城闻笛》为唐代李益所作，是写征人望乡的七绝。此诗以“回乐烽前沙似雪，受降城外月如霜”写边地夜景，以“不知何处吹芦管，一夜征人尽望乡”写闻笛望乡。以边地夜景写征人望乡，正是李益诗的名篇。

Line by line

回乐烽前沙似雪，受降城外月如霜。

Before the Huile beacon, sand is like snow; beyond the Shouxiang wall, the moon is like frost.

回乐烽前，沙白似雪；受降城外，月色如霜。

Before the Huile beacon tower, the sand is white as snow; beyond the Shouxiang city walls, the moon is like frost.

前二句写边地夜景，是全诗望乡之情的起点。“回乐烽前沙似雪”写沙似雪——“回乐烽前”写回乐烽火台之前，“沙似雪”写沙白似雪——回乐烽前沙似雪；“受降城外月如霜”写月如霜——“受降城外”写受降城之外，“月如霜”写月色如霜——受降城外月如霜。二句写边地夜景：回乐烽前沙似雪，受降城外月如霜。以“回乐烽前沙似雪”写边地之沙如雪，以“受降城外月如霜”写边城之月如霜，正是李益诗写边地夜景的清冷、为望乡张本的笔法——沙雪月霜，边地凄清。

The first two lines write the frontier night scene, the starting point of the homesickness. Before the Huile beacon, sand is like snow writes sand like snow - before the Huile beacon tower; sand white as snow. Beyond the Shouxiang wall, the moon is like frost writes moon like frost - beyond the Shouxiang city walls; moonlight like frost. The two lines write the frontier night scene: sand like snow before the beacon, moon like frost beyond the wall. Using sand like snow for the border sands, moon like frost for the border moon - precisely Li Yi's brush for the frontier night's cold clarity, preparing the homesickness: sand-snow, moon-frost, the frontier desolate.

不知何处吹芦管，一夜征人尽望乡。

I know not where a reed flute is blown — through the night the soldiers all gaze toward home.

不知何处吹起芦管，一夜之间征人尽皆望乡。

I know not where a reed pipe is blown; all night long the soldiers gaze toward home.

末二句写闻笛望乡，是全诗望乡之情的归结。“不知何处吹芦管”写吹芦管——“不知何处”写不知何处，“吹芦管”写吹起芦管——不知何处吹芦管；“一夜征人尽望乡”写征人尽望乡——“一夜征人”写一夜之间的征人，“尽望乡”写尽皆望乡——一夜征人尽望乡。二句写闻笛望乡：不知何处吹芦管，一夜征人尽望乡。以“不知何处吹芦管”写芦管之声不知何处而起，以“一夜征人尽望乡”写征人一夜尽皆望乡，正是李益诗写征人望乡之情的归结——笛声一起，征人尽望乡。

The last two lines write hearing the pipe and gazing home, the homesickness's resolution. I know not where a reed pipe is blown writes the pipe - know not where; the reed pipe's sound. All night long the soldiers gaze toward home writes the soldiers all gazing home - all night's soldiers; every one gazing home. The two lines write hearing the pipe and gazing home: know not where the pipe blows, all night the soldiers gaze home. Using know not where for the pipe's unknown source, all night for the universal gaze - precisely Li Yi's resolution of the soldier's homesickness: at the pipe's first note, every soldier turns toward home.

Study

Word focus

沙似雪 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “回乐烽前沙似雪”之“沙似雪”，写沙白似雪，是全诗写边地清冷的关键词。“沙似雪”写沙如雪之白——回乐烽前的沙白似雪。这一词写边地之沙：不是黄沙之色，而似雪；不是寻常之沙，而白如雪之沙。以“回乐烽前沙似雪”写边地之清冷，正是李益诗写边地夜景的笔法。

月如霜 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “受降城外月如霜”之“月如霜”，写月色如霜，是全诗写边城清冷的关键词。“月如霜”写月光如霜之白——受降城外的月色如霜。这一词写边城之月：不是温润之月，而如霜；不是寻常之辉，而寒如霜之月。以“受降城外月如霜”写边城月色之寒，正是李益诗写边地夜景的笔法。

芦管 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “不知何处吹芦管”之“芦管”，写胡人乐器芦管，是全诗写边地之声的关键词。“芦管”写芦制之管——不知何处吹起芦管。这一词写边地之乐：不是中原之乐，而芦管；不是欢愉之音，而边地凄清之管。以“不知何处吹芦管”写边地芦管之声，正是李益诗写征人闻笛望乡的笔法。

尽望乡 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “一夜征人尽望乡”之“尽望乡”，写尽皆望乡，是全诗写征人思乡的归结词。“尽”写全都，“望乡”写望故乡——一夜之间的征人尽皆望乡。这一词写望乡之众：不是一人之望，而尽望乡；不是可止之思，而一夜尽望。以“一夜征人尽望乡”写笛声一起、征人尽皆望乡，正是李益诗写征人思乡之情的归结。

夜上受降城闻笛