Wang Yue was a legendary figure in the Ming Dynasty, and he made remarkable achievements in both military and poetic writing.
In Wang Yue's poems, the expression of his ambition to kill the enemy and serve the country and make meritorious contributions, the description of the war scene and the difficult environment of the border fortress, the expression of homesickness for a long time and the praise of loyal ministers and righteous soldiers, his patriotic feelings and ambition to serve the country are even more praiseworthy and admirable.
So, how did his style of poetry come about, and where did his patriotic feelings manifest themselves?
Personal experience and military career and its influence on the formation of Wang Yue's poetic style
Wang Yue, whose name is Shichang, was a native of Jun County, a famous politician, military strategist and writer in the Ming Dynasty.
Wang Yue was a legendary figure in the Ming Dynasty, he entered the Ming Dynasty with the imperial examination, and his fame for his great military exploits is also better than that of the time.
Wang Yue cherished the Confucian responsibility of "governing the country and leveling the world", and his poems also reflected the fine tradition of worrying about the country and the people.
He spent most of his life galloping on the battlefield to serve the country and kill the enemy, and finally died in the camp.
His military career, his patriotic feelings, and his desire to serve the country had a profound impact on the formation of his poetic style.
Wang Yue has made remarkable achievements in both military affairs and poetry creation, and his patriotic feelings and ambition to serve the country are even more praiseworthy and admirable.
(1) Juvenile ambition and career experience are the foundation for the formation of Wang Yue's patriotic beliefs
When Wang Yue was young, he was very bright, diligent and studious, and his interests were different from ordinary people. He has read a lot of books since he was a child, just as Liu Jue wrote in the "Preface to the Gift of the Prince's Taibao" that "Shichang reads everything in the books of the six hundred clans".
He is well aware of all kinds of historical facts, has a deep literary foundation, and can write poems and essays without a single word.
In addition to studying the Four Books and Five Classics necessary for the imperial examination, Wang Yue also learned that "the art of war, archery, elephant weft, and public opinion should not be investigated."
He is good at riding and shooting, can be civil and martial, and is very strategic, "there are many things, flashes and changes, and haunts like gods and ghosts", which also laid the foundation for Wang Yue to enter the military as a civil official.
Like the traditional Chinese ancient literati, Wang Yue had the ambition of his family and country since he was a child, and as a child of seven or eight years old, he was so bold and curious that he asked Chang'e to leave him a branch of cinnamon for him to climb, which shows that his ambition is lofty and courageous.
He "talks about the general economic strategy, looks forward to it, and has the ambition of the world", which shows that the lofty ambition of his youth is where his belief lies in his life.
In the second year of Jingtai (1451), Wang Yue Jinshi and later were appointed as the governor of Zhejiang Province, and the second year was appointed as the governor of Sichuan Province. According to records, when Wang Yue supervised the imperial history, he "deterred corruption, stirred up turbidity and promoted the Qing Dynasty, discussed Yingfa, saw things prosperously, and everyone was respected".
Due to Wang Yue's outstanding work ability, in the fourth year of Tianshun (1460), he was promoted to the rank of Shandong Inspectorate. With the promotion of Wang Yue's official position, his prestige also increased.
Although Wang Yue has experienced setbacks in his life, he has always adhered to the ambition of his youth, and even when he was degraded, he still did not forget his ambition to serve the country.
(2) Military career is an important condition for the formation of Wang Yuebian's poetry style
In the seventh year of Tianshun (1463), Han Yong, the governor of Datong, was appointed as the governor of Xuanfu.
Because of Wang Yue's "generosity", when Li Xian, the first assistant of the court and the secretary of the ministry, recommended him to Yingzong, Wang Yue was appointed as the right deputy imperial envoy and governor of Datong.
Ming Yingzong entrusted such an important position as the governor of Datong to Wang Yue, which shows that he attached great importance to Wang Yue's military talents. Since then, Wang Yue has begun his military career that lasted for more than 20 years.
At the beginning, Wang Yue went to Datong as a civilian official to supervise military affairs. According to the custom, he only needs to follow the army when it goes out, issue the emperor's orders, and reward and punish the soldiers according to the will, without personally leading the troops into the battle.
Wang Yue, on the other hand, followed the example of Yu Yunwen of the Southern Song Dynasty and Yu Qian, the head of the dynasty, and as a scholar, he not only personally trained the soldiers, but also participated in the battle.
From the initial "gathering and robbing by spies, or cutting off their horses" to "setting up ambushes and captives", his military command ability has been continuously improved. In the third year of Chenghua (1467), Wang Yue officially began to participate in military management and military battles.
When he first arrived in Datong, Wang Yue put forward the policy of "armoured soldiers, simple soldiers, building forts, reducing classes and persuading merchants" according to the war situation at that time.
That is, repairing existing weapons, increasing the training of soldiers, simplifying the management of the army, building walls and fortresses, reducing local taxes, and encouraging merchants to operate freely.
The implementation of these policies has undoubtedly played a positive guiding role in local economic and social development.
With the deepening of Wang Yue's military career and the accumulation of life experience, on the basis of inheriting the wisdom of the ancients, he combined with the actual local situation to write a number of admonitions to defend homeland security and restore social production, such as "Tun Yu Shu", "Disposal of Border Affairs", "Disposal of Yiqing and Restoration of Land to Succeed the Title of Jue Shu", "Imperial Kou Fang Luo Shu".
These notes objectively analyzed the situation in the northwest frontier of the Ming Dynasty at that time. Wang Yue's proposals had a profound impact on the military policy of the Ming Dynasty's northwest frontier at the time and for a long time afterward.
Wang Yue's life is colorful and remarkable, during the Chenghua period and the Hongzhi period, he spent most of his time alone, active in the forefront of the military and political arena in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
During his more than 20 years in the army, Wang Yue went through more than 100 wars and achieved many major victories, which greatly improved the morale of the Ming Dynasty army, consolidated the northwest frontier defense of the Ming Dynasty, and made important contributions to the life and ethnic integration of the people in the northwest region of the Ming Dynasty.
With his many military exploits, he was awarded the title of Wei Ningbo and became one of the three civil officials of the Ming Dynasty who were knighted for meritorious service (the other two were Wang Ji and Wang Shouren).
Wang Yue was not only a famous military general at that time, but also a famous poet. He himself fought in the Northwest Frontier for a long time, which had a subtle influence on his literary creation. Military life, war scenes and border scenery have also become important themes in his poetry.
(3) The deep feelings of family and country are the spiritual core of Wang Yuebian's poems
Wang Yue has the ambition of his family and country since he was a child, and after joining the office, he was able to enforce the law impartially and correct the unhealthy trends at that time.
In his military career, Wang Yue not only fought on the battlefield, but also attached great importance to the construction of border castles, caring for the people, worrying about the country and the people.
He himself mentioned in the Hongzhi period when he was sparsely injustice, "At that time, the trenches were raised along the border, and the ministers built high walls for one or two thousand miles, and the old cities were guarded by all roads, and the ministers created dozens of new castles, adding piers in the distance, digging caves and cliffs on the ground, digging cellars in dangerous places, transforming soldiers' armor, selecting people and horses, strict beacons, and sufficient grain and grass."
According to these historical facts, it is not difficult to infer that the high wall built by Wang Yue should be what we now call the Great Wall. These walls were important fortifications in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, effectively defending against foreign invasions and defending the northwest frontier.
With the establishment of counties along the route, inter-market trade has been continuously carried out, which has effectively promoted the local economic and social development and ethnic integration.
Based on his many years of experience in guarding the border, Wang Yue summed up a set of more practical methods to resist foreign invasion, which provided a reference for the later defenders of the Ming Dynasty and had an extremely important impact on the Ming Dynasty's official system and the military defense strategy of the northwest.
In the winter of the tenth year of Hongzhi (1497), the border of the Ming Dynasty was in an emergency. Tu Yun, who was the secretary of the ministry at the time, suggested that the veteran Wang Yue be used again.
Ming Xiaozong recalled Wang Yue, who was living at home, to the imperial court and granted him the official position of crown prince Taibao, who was in charge of military affairs in Gansu and Liangzhou, and concurrently served as the governor of the two states.
In the second year, Wang Yue led the Ming army to achieve a great victory in Helan Mountain, which dealt a powerful blow to the enemy's arrogance and once again lifted the border crisis of the Ming Dynasty.
Wang Yue's life is full of legends, he "can be a country, Wu can set the border", with the body of a civil servant has become a military general with outstanding achievements. At the age of 70, he led the troops to the frontier and made meritorious contributions to the border, and his high degree of patriotism deserves the admiration of future generations.
Wang Yue repeatedly mentioned the people in his poems, he cared about the people's suffering, and cared about the safety of the frontier, especially when he wrote about the pride and ambition of driving the imperial border, he also reflected the "heroic spirit", which was a rare sound in his time.
His lofty ambitions, profound feelings for his family and country, and his heroic spirit of caring for the people are the foundation of his repeated military exploits, and they are also the spiritual core of his side poems.
Wang Yue has read poetry and books since he was a child, and has accumulated profound literary literacy, and his extraordinary ambition to serve the country in his youth, his unique experience of fighting on the battlefield for decades, and his deep feelings for his family, country and people have created his unique style of poetry.
The idea of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism, the feelings of worrying about the country and the people, the lofty ambition of longing for meritorious service, the longing for his hometown, the deep sympathy for the soldiers who have been stationed on the border for a long time in a difficult environment, the yearning for peace, and the description of the scenery of the border are all revealed in his border poems, forming a unique style.
Hu Yinglin said in "Poems" that "Wang Weining is out of the stopper", and gave Wang Yue's side poems a very high evaluation.
Analysis of Wang Yuebian's patriotic feelings
Literary creation does not come out of nowhere, it is rooted in life. Wang Yue conquered the northwest and successively won many battles such as the victory of Hongyanchi, the victory of Baiyouchuan, and the victory of Weininghai.
Therefore, the themes that reflect military life, border scenery and war scenes have become an important part of Wang Yue's poetry.
(1) Guarding the border and serving the country and making meritorious contributions is the embodiment of Wang Yue's patriotic feelings
Just as meritorious service to the frontier and sealing his wife and son were the dreams of countless scholars at that time, Wang Yue had the ambition of the world since he was a child. Most of his poems are impassioned and high-spirited.
For example, "Immediately Occupy and Send Zhao Zongrong Westbound":
The general commands the three armies, and the army marches like a god. Yunshan is murderous, and the wind and rain wash the dust.
The reputation of the country is old, and the plains are new. Look at the desert clearly, and the image is a unicorn.
Judging from the title of the poem, this is a farewell poem, describing the ambition and pride of "Weiqing Shuo Desert, Successful Lin Pavilion".
In the eighth year of Chenghua (1472), the imperial court named Zhao Fu, Marquis of Wujing, as the general of Pingyu, and the soldiers and horses of Shaanxi, Ningxia and Yansui were all dispatched by Zhao Fu, and Wang Yue was the governor of military affairs.
Wang Yue's poem does not reveal any parting feelings, but shows that although there will be a tragic war ahead, General Zhao has divine soldiers under him, and he himself has the military talent of Zhao Chongguo, a famous general of the Western Han Dynasty.
Another example is "Over Weizhou":
Weizhou is still the old Weizhou, and it has been hated throughout the ages. There is wine that does not pour Yuan Hao's bones, and there is no poetry to hang and drown worries. The situation of Qinchuan is through the Western Xia, and the river Shuo is upstream of the throat arch. By asking about the road down Luoshan Mountain, several people had looked for the marquis.
This poem should have been written in the eighth year of Chenghua (1472), when Wang Yue led his troops to fight in the Payouchuan River in Ningxia. Weizhou is 82 kilometers northeast of Tongxin County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the old town of Weizhou Town, the new city was built in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, and it was the fief of Zhu Chang, the king of Qing.
Because there are Daluo Mountain and Qinglong Mountain as the east-west barrier, guarding the north-south traffic artery, it has become an important border town in the Ming Dynasty. This poem can be seen as both a poem and a poem of nostalgia.
The first couplet is the general narrative, where countless war scenes have been staged for thousands of years, and Weizhou, which has lasted for thousands of years, still stands here. In the fifth year of Xianping in the Northern Song Dynasty (1002), Li Jiqian, the leader of the Dangxiang clan, attacked Weizhou and used it as an important stronghold.
After more than ten years of conquest, Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor in Xingqing Mansion (now Yinchuan) and established the Western Xia Dynasty. From the first year of Kangding (1040), Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi jointly served as the deputy envoy of Shaanxi Jingluo to pacify.
Fan Zhongyan adopted the strategy of defending Tuntian for a long time, establishing a new city, and appeasing the displaced people, forcing Yuan Hao to submit to the Northern Song Dynasty, so that the Western Xia army did not dare to invade the area under his jurisdiction.
The author uses these two historical facts to use the past as a metaphor for the present, showing that he hopes that he can drive out the Tartars like Fan Zhongyan, make meritorious contributions to the border, and become a generation of famous ministers. The neck coupling describes the important military position of the state of Weizhou. The tail couplet is an exclamation of Fan Zhongyan's achievements, and it also shows the author's determination to make contributions.
(2) The description of war scenes is an important part of Wang Yuebian's poems
The specific description of the war scene is an important part of Wang Yuebian's poems. As a military general commanding thousands of troops, war is the norm of his life.
Such as "Helan Mountain Houpinghu":
The military drives people to be old, and they spend several heavy passes at night. The earth and air tiger's den hide the enemy, and the heavenly luck is a big traitor. The murderous spirit swallowed the Hu sea, and the majesty high-pressure Helan Mountain. Triumphant singing and dancing in unison, reporting to Yuan Rong to win the victory.
This poem was written after Wang Yue was used again, describing the scene of the victory of Helan Mountain. Although the writer of the first couplet was already at home, when he heard that the country needed him to fight on the battlefield again, he was duty-bound and rushed to the frontier overnight with the warrant, which was an explanation of the previous situation of the war.
Although the strength of the other side should not be underestimated, our army won a complete victory with its extraordinary military strategy, with the fighting spirit of annexing the rivers and seas and the pride of overpowering Helan Mountain.
The tail couplet is a description of the scene of the military and civilians singing triumphant songs and competing to celebrate after the victory of the war, showing the scene of the celebration of the army and the people after the victory of the war.
The whole poem uses simple words to explain the cause, process, and result of the incident clearly and clearly, and uses concise and clear words to outline a grand military scene map, which makes people feel like they are there.
There is no cruelty and fierceness of war in the poem, but the author's pride in war is stirring every word.
(3) The portrayal of the harsh environment of Biansai is the meaning of the title of Wang Yuebiansai's poem
Wang Yue has been fighting in the northwest frontier for more than 20 years, and has experienced the yellow sand, flying sand and rocks, cold winds, and severe ice and snow in the border area.
In such a harsh environment, he led the border soldiers to defend their homeland and country. Although the military life was hard and harsh, Wang Yue used romantic poems to express his tenacious and heroic struggle, such as "The Wind in Shuozhou Road":
There are mountains on the flat land, and there are rocks in the middle of the air.
Send me to the clouds and try to wash the blue sky.
The first two lines of this poem describe a picture of the wind and sand in the Biansai, which uses exaggerated techniques to describe the harsh living conditions and reflect the hardships of life in the Biansai. The tail couplet sets off the author's heroic and tenacious struggle pride.
(4) Long-term homesickness contains Wang Yue's noble sentiment of protecting his family and defending the country
Guarding the distant frontier, limited by geography, transportation and other aspects, it is difficult for the border guards to return to their hometowns for many years. Therefore, the longing for their homeland and relatives in their hometown has become the most difficult emotion for border guards.
Wang Yue's poems not only describe the majesty of the war, but also contain the thoughts of his hometown and his perception of life when he was guarding the border pass. For example, "Yulin Writing on the Ninth Day of Leap September":
The wind and smoke desert trees are green, and the festival sequence is thrilling and sentimental. A hundred years old several times through the leap month, twice a year to see the double yang. Chrysanthemum is so broken after the autumn, and people are still busy when they get old. Infinite nostalgia can't be groaned, Hu Tianshuang has a long cold goose voice.
This poem was written in the seventh year of Chenghua (1471), in which Wang Yue repelled the invasion of the enemy army many times and ensured the stability of Datong, resigned from the post of governor of Datong and came to Yulin.
The ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar is the Double Ninth Festival, according to the custom, on this day the whole family wants to enjoy the autumn together, climb the heights, and plant dogwoods, but Wang Yue is at the border and cannot get together with his family, which deepens his infinite melancholy.
The poet uses the desert wind and smoke and lonely trees to rise, and then sets off the heavy yang, residual chrysanthemum, cold frost, and cold geese, and the mood of sad autumn progresses layer by layer. The lonely and desolate late autumn scenery rendered by the poet and the poet's miserable state of mind have reached a high degree of unity, which always lingers in the poet's heart.
(5) The praise of loyal ministers and righteous men is the expression of Wang Yuebian's patriotic feelings
From ancient times to the present, loyal ministers and righteous men who defend their homes and countries will always be respected by people. Wang Yue was at the border pass, and he could better appreciate the inspiring effect of excellent examples on the soldiers of the army, and his poems often praised the righteous soldiers. For example, "The Title of the Goose Passes the Red Grass":
Su Wu passed the book to Tuo Saihong, and Shanglin fell into the west wind with an arrow.
So far, the blood has stained the grass in front of the court, and it has been red in autumn for a time.
Su Wu was a minister of the Western Han Dynasty, who was detained when he was ordered to envoy to the Xiongnu during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and was only released back to China after 19 years. Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty listed it as one of the eleven heroes of the Qilin Pavilion to highlight his temperament.
Legend has it that when Su Wu was imprisoned in Beihai (present-day Lake Baikal) for grazing, he passed a message to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty through the wild geese outside the Saiwai, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty learned of Su Wu when he shot a wild goose while hunting in the Shanglin Garden.
The grass that was once stained red with the blood of geese still turns red every time the geese pass. Su Wu, as the envoy of the Han Dynasty, would rather die than surrender in the face of the coercion and temptation of the Xiongnu Shan Yu, demonstrating his noble national integrity.
Wang Yue's poem is called writing grass, which is actually a writer, portraying the image of Su Wu, a loyal minister and righteous man, and at the same time, the poet also inspired himself with the story of Su Wu's shepherd, and conveyed his lofty ideal of serving the country with loyalty.