What is the North like in poetry? From my memories of reading, the North in poetry should be a scene of golden swords and iron horses, with dust flying on the battlefield, and soldiers fighting bravely. Or it could be a scene of riding a horse and galloping across this vast plain. But when I actually experienced it myself, I had a different feeling, which arose naturally.
Yangguan Ruins
Nowadays, only a beacon tower stands guard at the Yangguan Pass, displaying the communication of the frontier in the past. I thought of the “Three Layers of Yangguan”: “Please have another cup of wine, there is no one who is not an old friend when you go west out of Yangguan.” Fortunately, we are old friends travelling together.
After passing Yangguan, there are two important passes in Gansu: Jiayuguan and Yumenguan. We went to Yumenguan first. The young General Huo Qubing once proudly went out of the pass to conquer the Xiongnu, but died young.
The hero is gone. Now Yumenguan is just a historical symbol for people to imagine the past. I can’t help but think, some people’s lives are like beautiful and splendid fireworks, short but dazzling; some people’s lives are a repetition of the same thing for ten years, wading through the river of time; and some people are in chaos and don’t know what to do. In the vast universe, whether it is dazzling or plain, it is all just a fleeting moment.
Out of Yumenguan, we came to the Han Dynasty Great Wall ruins. The Great Wall, once built to resist the invasion of the Xiongnu, is now in ruins. The once powerful Han Dynasty was written into the annals of history. Chinese characters have been passed down for thousands of years, and we can see the rise and fall and the golden swords and iron horses of the Han Dynasty in the characters.
Jiayuguan Pass was once a prosperous frontier town. The gloomy weather added to the feeling of heaviness.
The Gate of the Pass
Jiayuguan is the place where Lin Zexu stayed. I admire his courage and actions, but in the late Qing Dynasty, when the brains had died, he could not fundamentally change anything.
Tower of the Pass
Wind and Rain Are Approaching
The First Pier in the World
In the past, I could never find the feeling of the frontier when I played “Guan Shan Yue”. Standing in front of those ruins, standing on the tower and looking at the vast Gobi desert below the tower, I seem to have found some feeling of the frontier.
Jiayuguan Tianxian (Natural Fortress)
”Guan Shan Yue” – Li Bai
The bright moon rises from the Tian Shan Mountains, amidst the vast sea of clouds.
The long wind travels tens of thousands of miles, blowing past the Yumenguan Pass.
Under the Han Dynasty, the road to Baideng, the Xiongnu peeked at the Qinghai Bay.
This has always been a battlefield, where no one ever returns.
The frontier soldiers look at the border colors, their thoughts of returning home bring them sorrow.
In this high building tonight, their sighs should not be in vain.
This article is from a user submission and does not represent the views of Trip Footsteps. If you repost it, please indicate the source: https://www.tripfootsteps.com/travel-guides/china-travel-guides/27330.html
