Lou Lan in Tang poetry

Author: GAO Jianxin (Professor, School of Literature and Journalism and Communication, Inner Mongolia University)

Loulan is one of the thirty-six countries in the western region in history, the original place is in the northwest of present-day Xinjiang Lop Nur and southeast of the Peacock River, is the gateway out of Yang pass, into the western region, the Han and Tang Silk Road must pass through, but also the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin called the asian hinterland of the transportation hub. What is confusing is that the once prosperous Loulan Kingdom quietly disappeared after the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, some people say that it is the cause of war, some people say that it is waterlogging, and some people say that it is drought. It was not until 1900 that Sven Hedin discovered the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan during his inspection in Lop Nur and became a sensation and became a major event in the history of archaeology that people began to re-understand Loulan and study Loulan. In 1980, Chinese archaeologists excavated a female dry corpse in the Loulan ancestral land on the north bank of the peacock river, about 3800 years ago, which is the earliest dry corpse unearthed in Xinjiang so far, generally believed to be an Indo-European race, known as "Loulan Beauty", now in the Xinjiang Museum. The dry corpse is well preserved, the eyebrows are clearly visible, and the popularity of a later song called "Lou Lan Girl" has once again aroused concern in Lou Lan.

The name "Loulan" first appears in the "Chronicle of the Xiongnu", in the fourth year of the Han Dynasty (176 BC), Mao Dundan mentioned Loulan in his letter to Emperor Wen of Han: "Dingloulan, Wusun, Hujie, and the twenty-six kingdoms beside them all thought that the Xiongnu, the people of the bow, were one family. At this time, Loulan had been conquered by the Huns. The Book of Han and the Tale of the Western Regions: "Shan Shanguo, whose real name is Lou Lan, Wang Zhi and Nicheng, go to Yangguan for 1,600 miles, and go to Chang'an for 6,100 miles." 570 households, 14,100 mouths, 2,912 victorious soldiers", "Shan Shan Dang Han Dao Chong, Xi Tong and the last 720 miles". The former site of the city was near present-day Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang. During the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han, Fu Jiezi of Zhonglang once told the general Huo Guang that Loulan and Guizi's attitude toward the Han Dynasty was capricious and should be destroyed. Huo Guang said, "Guizi is far away, and it is tested by Lou Lan." "Loulan is located at the crossroads of east-west traffic, and its strategic position is important, and the road from the Han Dynasty to the western region must be opened to Loulan."

By the Tang Dynasty, Loulan had been lost for hundreds of years, but in the context of the Border Cypriot War, the re-prosperity of the Silk Road, and the frequent exchange of Chinese and Western cultures brought about by it, the Tang people awakened ancient memories and revived Loulan through poetry and injected new connotations. For the Tang People, Loulan was the homeland of the Han Dynasty, and it was also an objective existence in front of it, far away and close, so it was written from time to time in the poem: "Ignoring the heavenly general, the guansai are rampant." Starting to return to Loulan Country, it also went to Shuofang City. (Chen Ziang, "And Lu Mingfu Gifts the General to Re-emerge from the Plug") The general of Shenwu was invincible, and had just returned from the old land of Loulan Kingdom, and was about to run to the border city of Shuofang." The bow turns like a moon, and the white geese fall into the clouds. Both dropped their whips and hunted toward Lou Lan. "(Li Bai's "Youzhou Humake Song") Youzhou Humake is highly skilled in martial arts, bows open and fall geese, and hunt in the hometown of Loulan." The officers and soldiers went out of Loulan in the west, and the camp curtain was cold in the moon cave. (Cen Shan," "Six Songs of The Dedication of the Doctor to Break the Immortal Kai Song", the second of which) The Moon Cave, the land of the Extreme West. The officers and troops marched west through the former lands of Lop Nur and Loulan and reached the Onion Ridge. "The Han family conscripts the guests, and the age is in Loulan" (Zheng Yan's "Three Songs of Saiwai", the third), one is to say that the generals have been fighting abroad for many years, and the other is to say that Loulan is located in the fortress, which is a place where soldiers must fight.

In addition to the actual writing, the Tang people often used "Loulan" to refer to the border plugs and the front line of the war: "Before the Jinche envoys, they were all protected in Loulan." (Yu Shinan's "Drinking Horse Great Wall Cave Line") "In Loulan", that is, on the front line, Wang Wei's way of dispatching the phrase "Xiao Guan is waiting for a ride, all are protected in Yanran" ("Making the Supreme Plug") is obviously influenced by this poem. "Jun does not hear the sound of Hu Fu is the saddest, purple hair and green eyes Hu Ren blows. Blowing a song is still there, worried about killing Lou Lan Zheng'er. (Cen Shan, "Hu Di Ge Sends Yan Zhenqing to Helong") The sound of Hu Di caused infinite sorrow among the soldiers on the front line." The husband's beloved is rampant, and he knows that it is too light to serve the country. Loulan Trail hundred battles, more Dao Dragon City. (Wu Yuanheng's "Shizhou City") "Loulan Trail Hundred Battles" refers to having experienced many border wars. "Judao Loulan 100,000 masters, where are the students on horseback?" Linqi did not break the day of returning home, looking at the moon and the sky and chanting a poem. (Yan Wei, "Sending Fang Yuan Straight to Beijing") "Loulan 100,000 Division" refers to the army of the enemy on the front line. Because the road is long, it arouses a strong sense of homesickness among the border-makers. The Tang dynasty also used the "Loulan General" to command the enemy's Brave General: "Ji Ma Loulan General, Yan Xi Shanggu Soldier." The sword does not fall, and the bow is more than bright. Wei Zhuang's "Practice Chapter" refers to the distant place with "Lou Lan", and the whole poem gently moves people, expressing the deep feelings of the si woman who wants to send cold clothes:

Moonlight spit bright candles,

The women of the Qinglou sang the song of making clothes.

White silk weaving fish eye,

Rhombus ribbon with mandarin duck clusters.

Autumn snow in the wind,

Under the moon Ding Dong pounded han jade.

Lou Lan wants to send it to He Xiang,

Rely on people and departments to conquer the full.

"Lou Lan wants to send", want to send Lou Lan. Loulan is located in a harsh natural environment, surrounded by desert, drought and lack of water, often hurricanes, history called "sand halogen, less field" ("Hanshu • Western Regions"), "the sand halogen of the ground, less water grass, the north is the White Dragon Dui Road" ("Zhou Shu • Exotic Land"), far from the interior, not to mention the ancient traffic conditions, even today's visit is also very difficult.

More often, the Tang people used "Loulan" to refer to the enemy and the enemy, and was the object of conquest and crusade, expressing the ideal of killing the enemy and defending the country with "chopping Loulan", "stabbing Loulan", "breaking Loulan", "taking Loulan", "referring to Loulan", etc. "Chop Lou Lan" is also known as "Thorn Lou Lan", which is a classic of the "Book of Han and the Legend of the Western Regions". Lou Lan, who was enlisted by the Xiongnu, repeatedly plundered the Han envoys and obstructed his westward journey, and in the fourth year of the Han Zhao Emperor's reign (77 BC), the great general Huo Guangbai sent The Great General Huo Guangbai to assassinate Fu Jiezi, the superintendent of Pingle. The meson lightly took the brave soldiers, paid gold coins, and threatened to give foreign names. Even to Lou Lan, he deceived his king into wanting to give it, and Wang Xi, drinking with the meson, drunk, assassinated him from behind, and the nobles scattered left and right." After Fu Jiezi plotted to kill the king of Loulan, Loulan was attached to the Han Dynasty, changed his name to Shanshan, and the road to the western region was opened, and the relevant writings of the Tang people were based on this, and the sword pointed at Loulan: "Xiaozhan follows the golden drum, and sleeps and embraces the jade saddle." May the sword under the waist be cut straight for Lou Lan" (Li Bai's "Six Songs of the Stuffed Song"), "painting the corner of the sad sea and the moon, and the frost of the heavens." Swinging the blade to cut Lou Lan, bending the bow to shoot the Xianwang" (Li Bai's "From The Jibei Gate Line"), "Cutting Lou Lan the year before, going to the year PingYue Zhi" (Cen Shan," "Waiting for the Feng Doctor in the Western Suburbs of the Beiting Dynasty was surrendered to the army to offer sacrifices"), "The kingdom returned to He Late, Lou Lan was not returned" (Du Fu's "Twenty Miscellaneous Poems of Qinzhou", its seventh), "Meritorious shame counts the number of lives, straight behead Lou Lan bao guo en" (Zhang Zhongsu's "Sai Xia Qu Five Songs" Third), "Ming Shu Xing Chi sealed the sword, Ci Jun took Lou Lan in one night" (Wang Changling's "Seven Songs from the Army" Six), "Hun drove the Great Wan Horse, and took the Lou Lan King" (Cen Shan, "Wu Wei Sent Judge Liu Shan to an Western Camp and Presented Gao KaiFu"), "Horseshoe Passes through the Moon Cave, and Swordplay Refers to Lou Lan" (Gao Shi,"Dongping Left to Give Di Sima ")." Among them, the emotions expressed in Mengjiao's "Fierce General Yin" are more intense, "quasi-Lou Lan meat, not raised when angry." Qiu Fei has no retreat, and the night sword does not conceal the light", and the sentences "hungry meal" and "thirsty drink" in Yue Fei's "Manjiang Hong" may have been influenced by this poem. "Cutting", "taking" and "referring" to success means that the obstacles to the westward advance have been cleared, and victory can be won and the imperial court can be sacrificed. "Kaibi Zuo Xian was defeated, and the battle of Lou Lan collapsed. Xianjie Shangmingguang, Yang Whip Song "Into the Plug" (Wang Bo's "LongXi Xing", Part VIII), "Lou Lan Presents Jie Thousand People's Joy, And Bestows Red Robes and Shanggong" (Zhang Yongjin's "White Bird Song And Enters the Table"), "Those who run amok enough to seal the marquis, who behead Lou Lan xian Wei Yang" (Weng Shuo's "Longtou Yin"), Biansai made meritorious contributions, and became famous in the world, which was the ideal of the Tang Dynasty scholars' life.

Among the many poems written by Lou Lan, Wang Changling's "Seven Songs from the Army" the fourth is "Qinghai Changyun Dark Snow Mountain, isolated city looking at Yumen Pass." Huangsha wears golden armor in a hundred battles, and does not break the Loulan and will not return it" is the most famous, showing the courage and tragedy of the border guards, intertwined with the willingness to serve the country and the deep feeling of homesickness. Yu His Majesty Yun's "Continuation of the Shallow Sayings of poetry" commented on this poem: "The first two sentences are reverse salvage, looking back from Qinghai to the isolated city, seeing the far away from the country." The last two sentences say that there is no battle, yellow sand can fight, gold armor is worn, and the victory is heroic. Similar to this poem is the late Tang Dynasty poet Cao Tang's "Sending Kang Sacrifice Wine to the Wheel Platform":

A glass of wine by the bashui bridge,

Send Jun Qianli to the wheel platform.

Frost sticky sea eye flag sound freeze,

The wind shoots the rhinoceros armor and sews open.

Broken moraine cluster smoke mountain like rice,

Camping is like thunder.

Clearly will be the will of the general,

Do not chop Lou Lan does not intend to return.

There were two luntai in the western region of the Tang Dynasty: one was Hanluntai, which was located in the southeast of present-day Luntai County, Xinjiang; the other was Tang Luntai, which was located in the area from present-day Changji City, Miquan District to Urumqi City in Xinjiang. The two wheel platforms are at the southern and northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, which are important towns on the "Silk Road". From the poem, it is not possible to determine which wheel the Kang Matsuri is going to, but it is far from the Central Plains. Saying goodbye to a glass of wine, from the edge of the Bashui Bridge in Chang'an to the luntai thousands of miles away, it is naturally sentimental. The environment of the wheel platform is strange, the frost is sticky springs, the wind penetrates the rhinoceros armor, the distant mountains are like rice, and the war drums are like thunder. "Do not cut loulan and do not plan to return" and "do not break loulan and eventually do not return" are in the same line, reflecting the heroic feelings of defending the family and defending the country.

The memory of Loulan of the Tang Dynasty is clear with the strength of the Tang Dynasty: "Destroying more than a hundred battles, expanding the land far away from three thousand." The bones have been scattered, and Lou Lanshou has been reborn. (Yu Yuke's "Knotted Youth Field Trip") Bone Capital, the Xiongnu have left and right bone capitals. The first retransmission refers to Fu Jiezi's assassination of King Loulan and his transmission of his head to Chang'an. The Tang people worshiped heroes, sang praises of military achievements, and longed to expand the territory like the Han Dynasty, sweep away the border plugs, and achieve the great cause of the thousands of years, so there was the writing of "Chopping Loulan" and "Thorn Loulan". It is worth mentioning that in the words of the public, Zhang Jiuling, the chancellor of the Xuanzong Dynasty, issued a different voice: "He is both Japanese and martial, and now he is chestnut and wide." Nature comes to the moon cave, what to use thorn lou orchid. ("Sending Zhao Du to Escort to Anxi") Both literary and martial, solid and gentle, the border will be safe, and where to assassinate the King of Loulan?

Whatever the reason, the annihilation of Loulan is a poignant historical lament. Fortunately, through deep memory and continuous writing, the Tang Dynasty resurrected and transformed the ancient Loulan into a rich geographical symbol and cultural symbol, which conveyed the desire for border security and national strength, and also triggered readers' endless imagination and thinking about history, nationality, exotic land, distant places, ideals and names. Although the historical Loulan has been sealed by time, the Loulan in Tang poetry is still alive, because the Tang people have engraved Loulan in the depths of memory.

Sweep it, more exciting

Guangming Daily (2021-03-22, 13th edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily