90 t He Han Dy na s t y
One of the best-known secular yuefu poems is “We Fought South of the Walls,”
a poem that contains antiwar sentiments and social concerns:C 4. 4
We Fought South of the Walls 戰城南 (zhàn chéng nán)We fought south of the walls, 戰城南 (zhàn chéng nán)
2 And died north of the ramparts. 死郭北 (sĭ guō bĕi)
Dead in the wilderness and unburied, the crows
may eat us. 野死不葬烏可食 (yĕ sĭ bú zàng wū kĕ shí)
4 Tell the crows for us: 為我謂烏 (wèi wŏ wèi wū)
“Cry for us strangers away from home!” 且為客豪 (qiĕ wèi kè háo)
6 We died on the moors, and certainly will not be
buried. 野死諒不葬 (yĕ sĭ liàng bú zàng)
How can our rotting flesh run away from you! 腐肉安能去子逃 (fŭ ròu ān néng qù zĭ táo)
8 The water is deep and clear, 水深激激 (shuĭ shēn jiào jiào)
The rushes and reeds are dark. 蒲葦冥冥 (pú wĕi míng míng)
10 Valiant steeds have died in battle, 梟騎戰鬬死 (xiāo jì zhàn dòu sĭ)
While nags neigh, running around. 駑馬裴回鳴 (nú mă péi huí míng)
12 Bridges have been made into houses, 梁築室 (liáng zhú shì)
How can one go south? 何以南 (hé yĭ nán)
14 How can bridges go north? 梁何北 (lián hé bĕi)
How can the grain be harvested, what shall our
lord eat? 禾黍而穫君何食 (hé shŭ ér huò jūn hé shí)
16 We wish to be loyal subjects, yet how can we
achieve that! 願為忠臣安可得 (yuàn wéi zhōng chén ān kĕ dé)
We long for you, fine vassals. 思子良臣 (sī zĭ liáng chén)
18 Fine vassals are truly worth longing for. 良臣誠可思 (liáng chén chéng kĕ sī)
You went out in the morning to fight, 朝行出攻 (zhāo xíng chū gōng)
20 And in the evening you did not return. 莫不夜歸 (mù bú yè guī)
[SS 22.641]17This poem belongs to the category of “Duanxiao nao ge” (Songs for Short Pan-
pipe and Nao Bell), which was originally a type of martial music of the Northern Di
(a minority tribe) and was introduced to the Han court for use in palace gatherings
and processions. In style, the song contains three-, four-, five-, and even seven-
syllable lines. The irregular, mixed meter is a feature of the nao ge. Immediately ap-
parent is the striking dissimilarity of the content of the poem to the ritual poems,
which are imbued with a completely imperial milieu: this work deals with the life
of ordinary people. The persona, represented by the monologue of a dead soldier,
is especially interesting. This technique was put into constant use by later yuefu
imitators, especially in the pallbearer’s songs.
Some textual problems in the poem make it open to interpretation. For ex-
ample, the word liang in line 12 sometimes is understood as an empty particle,