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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

和张仆射塞下曲 一

Border Songs: Harmonizing with Commissioner Zhang's Poem (No. 1)

卢纶

Lu Lun

鹫翎金仆姑燕尾绣蝥弧独立扬新令千营共一呼

Golden Pushu arrows fletched with vulture plumes,
The Mao-hu banner stitched with swallow-tails;
The general stands alone and proclaims the new command,
And a thousand camps answer with a single shout.
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Meaning

A tightly focused sketch of army life before battle: arrows and banners display the camp's perfect order, the commanding general issues his orders alone before the host, and the whole army answers in unison. The poem captures the grandeur of military discipline — the union of one leader's will with the strength of thousands — and finds in that discipline a power greater than any battle scene.

鹫翎装饰的金仆姑，燕尾绣成的蝥弧旗。将军独立，传下新令，千营齐声，共同一呼。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Arrows named 'Golden Pushu' are fletched with vulture plumes; the banner named 'Mao-hu' is embroidered with swallow-tail streamers. The general stands alone and proclaims the new order, and a thousand camps answer with a single shout. [Imagery] The first two lines are pure catalogue — arrow and banner — each item given a proper name drawn from antiquity, so that the camp's equipment glows with history. [Structure] The poem is built on a single contrast: the solitary general ('stands alone') against the multitude ('a thousand camps'), and the silence of his one command against the unison of their one shout. Twenty characters contain no battle at all, yet the discipline they display is more frightening than any combat scene. [Theme] The poem's real subject is authority itself — how one man's will becomes the will of an army.

【白话串讲】 卢纶写《和张仆射塞下曲·其一》：“鹫翎金仆姑，燕尾绣蝥弧”——“独立扬新令，千营共一呼”——他写军中——千营共一呼。 【意象与手法】 首句“鹫翎金仆姑”写鹫翎装饰的箭矢；次句“燕尾绣蝥弧”写燕尾绣成的旗帜；三句“独立扬新令”写将军独立传令；末句“千营共一呼”写千营齐声一呼。雄壮凝练。 【情感与主旨】 卢纶写将军发令、千营一呼的军威，是中唐边塞诗的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“鹫翎金仆姑，燕尾绣蝥弧”写军容；“独立扬新令，千营共一呼”写军威。

Background

Lu Lun (c. 742–c. 799) wrote his series of six 'Border Songs' in response to poems by his friend Zhang Yanshang, then Pushe (Commissioner-in-Chief); this first poem opens the series. It presents the moment before action: the review of arms and the issuing of orders. The two weapons named — the arrow 'Golden Pushu' and the banner 'Mao-hu' — are taken from the Zuo Commentary, the foundational chronicle of China's Spring and Autumn period, so that a Tang frontier camp is quietly linked to the classical age of warfare. For a mid-Tang audience whose dynasty had survived the An Lushan Rebellion, this image of perfect military order carried both nostalgic and patriotic force.

此诗为中唐诗人卢纶的《和张仆射塞下曲》其一之作，是边塞诗的名篇。卢纶（约742—约799），字允言，河中蒲州（今山西永济）人，中唐诗人，大历十才子之一。其《塞下曲》六首写边塞军旅，雄壮凝练，是唐诗写军威的佳作。此诗写将军发令、千营一呼的军威：「鹫翎金仆姑」，写鹫翎装饰的金仆姑——「鹫翎」写鹫鸟之羽，「金仆姑」为箭名，用鹫翎装饰的箭矢；「燕尾绣蝥弧」，写燕尾绣成的蝥弧旗——「燕尾」写旗帜之形如燕尾，「蝥弧」为旗名，燕尾绣成的蝥弧旗；「独立扬新令」，写将军独立，传下新令——「独立」写将军独出，「扬新令」写传扬新令；「千营共一呼」，写千营齐声，共同一呼——「千营」写军营之多，「共一呼」写齐声一呼。全诗以军容写军威，将军独立传令、千营齐声一呼，写尽军令之严、士气之盛，雄壮而凝练，是中唐边塞诗「写军威」的代表作。要理解此诗，须知《塞下曲》是卢纶和其好友张仆射（张延赏）之作，张延赏时为仆射，写边塞军旅以自励，卢纶和之，六首各写边塞军旅的一个侧面：发令、射猎、追敌、凯旋、射虎、定天山。此首写发令，以「鹫翎金仆姑」「燕尾绣蝥弧」写军容之整，以「独立扬新令」「千营共一呼」写军令之严，正是全组诗的发端。

Art

The poem's most striking device is its all-noun opening couplet. 'Golden Pushu arrows' and 'Mao-hu banner with swallow tails' place arrow against banner, weapon against standard, with no verb at all — yet the reader sees the whole camp's order in these two emblems. The compression is classical economy: two objects suggest an entire arsenal. The second couplet then supplies the verb and the voice. 'Stands alone' isolates the general in a single figure, and 'a thousand camps answer with a single shout' answers that solitude with unison — one man against a host, one order against one cry. The poem's tension between the singular and the collective is its structural secret: the fewer the words, the vaster the army they imply.

此诗艺术上以「意象凝练」与「气势雄壮」为特色，在军容的描绘中写尽军威。首句「鹫翎金仆姑」，以「鹫翎」写箭羽，以「金仆姑」写箭名——那用鹫翎装饰的箭矢，正是军中的利器，起笔即见军容；次句「燕尾绣蝥弧」，以「燕尾」写旗形，以「绣蝥弧」写旗名——那燕尾绣成的蝥弧旗，正是军中的旗帜，与「金仆姑」相对，一箭一旗，正是军容的写照；三句「独立扬新令」，以「独立」写将军独出，以「扬新令」写传扬新令——「独立」写将军之威，「扬新令」写军令之严，正是发令的瞬间；末句「千营共一呼」，以「千营」写军营之多，以「共一呼」写齐声一呼——「千营共一呼」，写千营齐声一呼，正是军威的高潮，那一声「呼」，写尽士气的盛与军令的严。全诗由箭旗写军容，经将军传令，而归于千营一呼的军威，意象凝练、气势雄壮，正是边塞诗「写军威」的极致。细观其章法，前两句全用名词并置，箭与旗相对，不着一动词而军容自现；后两句一转，「独立」与「共一呼」对照，一人与千营相对，一静一动，一收一放，正见「以少总多」的笔力——二十字之间，从一箭一旗写起，到千营齐声的浩大声势，正是绝句「小中见大」的典范。

Allusions

Both weapons are borrowed from the Zuo Commentary. 'Golden Pushu' (Jin pugu) appears in the account of the battle of Chengqiu (the eleventh year of Duke Zhuang), when Duke Zhuang of Lu shot the enemy general Nangong Changwan with an arrow of that name. 'Mao-hu' appears in the eleventh year of Duke Yin, when Ying Kaoshu seized the banner of the Earl of Zheng by that name and was first to scale the enemy wall. By naming his arrows and banners after these classical arms, Lu Lun grafts the antiquity of the Zuo Commentary onto a Tang frontier camp, so that the modern army inherits the glory of the Spring and Autumn period. 'A thousand camps' is a conventional metonym for a vast host, its numerals doing hyperbolic rather than literal work.

此诗用典于关键处见深意。「金仆姑」，用「金仆姑」之典——《左传》庄公十一年记「乘丘之役，公以金仆姑射南宫长万」，金仆姑为箭名，后以「金仆姑」写利箭；「鹫翎金仆姑」，写用鹫翎装饰的箭矢。「蝥弧」，用「蝥弧」之典——《左传》隐公十一年记「颍考叔取郑伯之旗蝥弧以先登」，蝥弧为旗名，后以「蝥弧」写旗帜；「燕尾绣蝥弧」，写燕尾绣成的蝥弧旗。「千营」，写军营之多——「千营」写千座军营，正是「千营共一呼」的军容。值得注意的是，这两处用典皆出自《左传》，且皆与争战之事相关：金仆姑为鲁庄公射伤敌将之箭，蝥弧为颍考叔先登之旗——以古之名箭、名旗写今之军容，正是「以古写今」的深意，借《左传》的争战之典，为边塞军容增添历史的厚重。这些典故，或写金仆姑、或写蝥弧、或写千营，皆围绕军容军威这一核心，织成一张雄壮的情网，正是中唐边塞诗「以典写军」的特点，也是「大历十才子」诗中难得一见的雄浑之气。

Commentary

Critics have long admired the closing couplet — the general who 'stands alone and proclaims the new command,' and the 'thousand camps' that 'answer with a single shout.' The antithesis of 'alone' and 'together,' of 'proclaim' and 'answer,' compresses an entire theory of command into ten characters: authority is the conversion of one voice into many. Some readers have noted that, written in the mid-Tang after years of rebellion, such an image of seamless discipline reads almost as wish-fulfillment — a memory of High Tang military power. The poem is often set beside Lu Lun's third 'Border Song' (the famous 'moon black, geese fly high') to show the two faces of his martial poetry: the tension of pursuit in one, the discipline of command in the other.

读此诗，最值得注意的是「独立扬新令，千营共一呼」所写出的「将军之威与士气之盛」。前两句写军容：鹫翎金仆姑、燕尾绣蝥弧——那是箭与旗，是军中典型的意象，写尽了军容的整饬。而后两句写发令：「独立扬新令」——将军独立，传下新令，那「独立」二字，写将军独出之威，一人独立，千军待命；「千营共一呼」——千营齐声，共同一呼，那「共一呼」，写千营之声如一，正是军令之严、士气之盛。这一对照，是全诗的关键：一人独立，千营一呼——将军之威，在一「独」；士气之盛，在一「共」。那「独立」的将军，与「共呼」的千营，一独一共，正是军威的极致：将军一声令下，千营齐声呼应，正是「令行禁止」的军容。全诗二十字，无一字写战斗，而那「千营共一呼」的声势，正是「不战而屈人之兵」的军威。卢纶的《塞下曲》，为中唐边塞诗少见的雄浑之作，那「独立扬新令，千营共一呼」的军威，正是盛唐边塞诗的遗响——虽然中唐国势已衰，而诗人笔下的军容，依然雄壮如昔。

Prosody

Form Poem: five-character quatrain (wujue), four lines of five characters诗（五言绝句）
Rhyme The poem rhymes on hu ('banner') and hu ('shout'), both level-tone words of the yu rhyme group (the seventh of the thirty-one pingshui categories). This short, bright, percussive rhyme suits the poem's mood of sharp military precision.此诗为五言绝句，押平声「虞」部韵，「弧」「呼」等字皆属上平七虞韵，韵脚响亮而短促，正合诗情「军威雄壮」的声调。首句「鹫翎金仆姑」以「鹫翎金仆姑」起，写军中之箭；次句「燕尾绣蝥弧」，写军中之旗；三句「独立扬新令」，以「独立」转折，写将军传令；末句「千营共一呼」，以「共一呼」收束，写军威。整体声调由起句的军容，到末句的军威，响亮而短促，正合边塞诗「雄壮凝练」的诗情。
Tone pattern The poem's movement is from stillness to voice. The first couplet is pure noun-phrase cataloguing — arrow, banner — with no verbs, so the line hangs suspended like the standards themselves. The second couplet then supplies action and sound: 'stands alone,' 'proclaims,' 'answer,' 'shout.' The antithesis of singular and plural ('alone' against 'a thousand camps') governs the whole, and the final shout lands on the rhyme like a command itself.句式上，此诗善用名词并列与凝练语：「鹫翎金仆姑，燕尾绣蝥弧」，以「鹫翎金仆姑」「燕尾绣蝥弧」写箭旗，名词并列，句法凝练；「独立扬新令」，以「独立」写将军之威，「扬新令」写军令之严，转折有力；「千营共一呼」，以「共一呼」写千营齐声，收束雄壮。全诗由写军容入写军威，句式随之由凝练转雄壮、由雄壮转响亮，正是边塞诗「写军威」的节奏美学。
Reading note This first poem of Lu Lun's six 'Border Songs' opens the series not with battle but with the review of arms, establishing the authority from which all the later episodes — hunting, pursuit, victory — proceed. Its diction is the most deliberately archaic of the series, since both weapons carry names from the Zuo Commentary; this classical veneer over a Tang camp is the poem's distinctive texture. The bright yu rhyme and the staccato noun phrases give the poem a martial briskness that its longer siblings do not share.作为中唐五绝，《和张仆射塞下曲·其一》的声律之美，在于以响亮的虞韵与名词并列的句式，写出边塞军威的雄壮凝练情思。全诗首句「鹫翎金仆姑」以鹫翎金仆姑写军中之箭，起笔即见军容；次句「燕尾绣蝥弧」以燕尾蝥弧写军中之旗，与箭相对；三句「独立扬新令」以独立传令写将军之威，转折有力；末句「千营共一呼」以千营齐声写士气之盛，雄壮收束。全诗由写军容入写军威，层层递进而声情相谐，正是中唐边塞诗「写军威」的体现。就全诗而言，此诗以军容写军威，雄壮而凝练，是边塞诗的名篇，与卢纶《塞下曲·其三》「月黑鴈飞高」同为军旅之作，而一写发令的军威，一写追敌的英姿，可见卢纶《塞下曲》写军旅的两种笔法，也可见中唐边塞诗中难得的雄浑之气。

Line by line

鹫翎金仆姑

Golden Pushu arrows fletched with vulture plumes.

鹫翎装饰的金仆姑。

Eagle-plumaged arrows, the Golden Servant.

这一句是此诗的起笔，写鹫翎装饰的箭矢，是此诗军容意象的开端。「鹫翎」，写鹫鸟之羽——鹫为大鸟，其羽坚劲，「鹫翎」写箭羽之劲；「金仆姑」，用「金仆姑」之典——《左传》庄公十一年记「乘丘之役，公以金仆姑射南宫长万」，金仆姑为箭名，后以「金仆姑」写利箭。以「鹫翎金仆姑」写箭矢，比直写「箭」更见具象与劲健——那用鹫翎装饰的箭矢，正是军中的利器；「鹫翎」与「金仆姑」相连，一写箭羽，一写箭名，正是军容的写照。这一起笔，以鹫翎金仆姑写军中之箭，为全诗定下雄壮的基调，也是「燕尾绣蝥弧」的铺垫——箭与旗，正是军容的典型意象。

The opening line writes the eagle-plumaged arrow, the start of the martial spectacle. 'Eagle feathers' are the firm plumes of the great bird; 'the Golden Servant' is the famed arrow of the Zuo Commentary, a sharp weapon. Through plume and arrow-name it renders the army's equipment, preparing the banner below.

独立扬新令

The general stands alone and proclaims the new command.

将军独立，传下新令。

Alone he stands and gives the new order.

这一句写将军独立传令，是此诗军威意象的核心。「独立」，写将军独出——那将军，独立于军前，一人独出，正是「独立」之威；「扬新令」，写传扬新令——「扬」写传扬，「新令」写新下的军令，「扬新令」写将军传令。以「独立扬新令」写发令，比直写「发令」更见威仪与气势——那将军独立，传扬新令，正是「令行禁止」的军威；「独立」二字，写将军独出之威，一人独立，千军待命，正是「千营共一呼」的铺垫。这一句，是此诗军威意象的核心，也是「千营共一呼」的铺垫——那将军独立传令，正引千营齐声一呼，正是军令之严、士气之盛。

This line writes the general standing alone to issue the new order, the core of military authority. 'Alone he stands' — the single figure before the host; 'gives the new order' — the word 'proclaims' sending the command through the ranks. One man alone, a thousand camps waiting, it prepares 'a thousand camps answer with one shout'.

千营共一呼

A thousand camps answer with a single shout.

千营齐声，共同一呼。

A thousand camps answer with one shout.

这一句是全诗的结穴，写千营齐声一呼，是此诗军威的最高点。「千营」，写千座军营——「千营」写军营之多，正是「千营共一呼」的军容；「共一呼」，写齐声一呼——「共」写共同，「一呼」写齐声一呼，那千营之声如一。以「千营共一呼」写军威，比直写「士气盛」更见声势与整齐——那千营齐声一呼，正是军令之严、士气之盛的极致；「共一呼」三字，写千营之声如一，正是「令行禁止」的军容。这一结句，雄壮凝练，是此诗军威的最高点，也是「独立扬新令」的回应——那将军独立传令，千营齐声一呼，一独一共，正是军威的极致。

This closing line writes a thousand camps answering with one shout, the peak of martial discipline. 'A thousand camps' the multitude; 'with one shout' the word 'one' making ten thousand voices as one. It answers 'alone he stands' — the solitary commander against the united host, the apex of army bearing.

Study

Word focus

鹫翎 'Vulture plumes': the strong flight feathers of the vulture, used to fletch arrows; the fierce bird lends the arrow a predatory energy, and the compound makes a piece of equipment feel like a living weapon. 「鹫翎金仆姑」之「鹫翎」，写鹫鸟之羽，是此诗军容意象的关键语。「鹫翎」即鹫鸟的羽毛——鹫为大鸟，其羽坚劲，「鹫翎」写箭羽之劲；「鹫翎金仆姑」，写用鹫翎装饰的箭矢。以「鹫翎」写箭羽，比直写「箭羽」更见劲健与威猛——那鹫鸟之羽，坚劲有力，装饰于箭上，正是军中利器；「鹫翎」二字，写箭羽之劲，正是军容的写照。这一词，是此诗军容意象的关键，与「金仆姑」相连，一写箭羽，一写箭名，正是军中之箭的写照，也是「燕尾绣蝥弧」的铺垫——箭与旗，正是军容的典型意象。
独立 'Stands alone': the general solitary before the host; two characters isolate his authority, so that his single figure stands opposite the 'thousand camps' and the shout that answers him. 「独立扬新令」之「独立」，写将军独出，是此诗军威意象的核心语。「独立」即独自挺立——那将军，独立于军前，一人独出，「独立」写将军独出之威；「独立扬新令」，写将军独立，传下新令。以「独立」写将军，比直写「将军」更见威仪与气势——那将军独立，一人独出，正是「独立」之威；「独立」二字，写将军独出之威，一人独立，千军待命，正是「千营共一呼」的铺垫。这一词，是此诗军威意象的核心，与「千营共一呼」相对，一独一共，正是军威的极致——那独立的将军，与共呼的千营，一独一共，正是「令行禁止」的军容。
千营 'A thousand camps': thousands of encampments, the conventional metonym for a vast army; the hyperbolic number makes the answering 'single shout' seem to come from the earth itself. 「千营共一呼」之「千营」，写千座军营，是此诗军容意象的核心语。「千营」即千座军营——「千」写军营之多，「营」写军营，「千营」写军容之盛；「千营共一呼」，写千营齐声，共同一呼。以「千营」写军容，比直写「三军」更见声势与广大——那千座军营，齐声一呼，正是军威的极致；「千营」二字，写军营之多，正是「共一呼」的声势之源。这一词，是此诗军容意象的核心，与「独立」相对，一独一共，正是军威的极致——那千营共呼之声，正是将军独立传令的回应，正是「令行禁止」的军容。

Related Reading

出塞 On the Frontier (Chu Sai) 王昌龄 · 同为边塞军旅之作，一写秦时明月的怀古一写千营共一呼的军威，边塞母题互为映照 Both write frontier campaigning — one the longing for a worthy general across history, one the spectacle of command in the present camp.

Wang Changling's 'the moon of Qin, the pass of Han, ten thousand li, men marched and never returned' measures the frontier by its costs and its history; Lu Lun measures it by its order — arrows, banners, one command, one shout. The High Tang asks the frontier what it has taken; the mid-Tang shows what it still looks like at its most disciplined.

王昌龄《出塞》「秦时明月汉时关，万里长征人未还。但使龙城飞将在，不教胡马度阴山」，写边塞的怀古与良将之盼，是边塞诗的压卷之作；卢纶此诗「独立扬新令，千营共一呼」，同样写边塞军旅。一写「但使龙城飞将在」的怀古，一写「千营共一呼」的军威；王昌龄是盛唐的雄浑怀古，卢纶是中唐的凝练写实。并读两作，可见边塞诗从盛唐到中唐的演变，也可见「良将」与「军威」在两位诗人笔下的不同表达。

 从军行 Joining the Army (Cong Jun Xing) 杨炯 · 同为写军威之作，一写烽火照西京的壮烈一写千营共一呼的雄壮，从军母题互为映照 Both write the soldier's calling with martial fire — one the beacon fires of a troubled heart, one the unison of a thousand camps.

Yang Jiong's 'beacon fires light the capital; my heart cannot stay calm' makes enlistment an ethical response to the frontier's alarm; Lu Lun's poem makes command itself the spectacle. One is the volunteer's ardor, the other the army's machinery — and reading them together shows the frontier poem's two habitual subjects: why men go, and what they become.

杨炯《从军行》「烽火照西京，心中自不平。牙璋辞凤阙，铁骑绕龙城」，写从军的壮烈，是初唐边塞诗的名篇；卢纶此诗「独立扬新令，千营共一呼」，同样写军旅。一写「烽火照西京」的壮烈，一写「千营共一呼」的雄壮；杨炯是「宁为百夫长」的慷慨，卢纶是「独立扬新令」的凝练。并读两作，可见边塞诗写从军的两种笔法，也可见「龙城」「金仆姑」等边塞意象的传承。

 从军行七首·其五 From the Army (No. 5 of Seven) 王昌龄 · 同为军旅写实之作，一写大漠风尘的破敌一写独立扬令的军威，从军行母题互为映照 Both write frontier battle-readiness — one a night battle reported by its outcome, one the review of arms before the order is given.

Wang Changling's 'a gale of dust at dusk, the banners half-rolled out of the camp gate' captures the instant of action; Lu Lun's arrows and banners stand before any action, in pure display. The one is movement frozen, the other order admired — two modes of writing the same camp, the High Tang's kinetic and the mid-Tang's ceremonial.

王昌龄《从军行七首·其五》「大漠风尘日色昏，红旗半卷出辕门。前军夜战洮河北，已报生擒吐谷浑」，写边塞破敌的捷报，是从军行的名篇；卢纶此诗「独立扬新令，千营共一呼」，同样写军旅。一写「已报生擒吐谷浑」的捷报，一写「千营共一呼」的军威；王昌龄是盛唐的豪迈，卢纶是中唐的凝练。并读两作，可见「从军行」这一母题从盛唐到中唐的演变，也可见边塞诗写军威与写破敌的两种侧重。