[updated September 2022]
Low-Level Construction Supervisors at Tong Guan
潼 关 吏
士 卒 何 草 草
筑 城 潼 关 道。
大 城 铁 不 如
小 城 万 丈 馀。
借 问 潼 关 吏
“修 关 还 备 胡？“
要 我 下 马 行
为 我 指 山 隅：
“连 云 列 战 格
飞 鸟 不 能 逾。
胡 来 但 自 守
岂 复 忧 西 都。
丈 人 视 要 处
窄 狭 容 单 车。
艰 难 奋 长 戟
万 古 用 一 夫。
“哀 哉 桃 林 战
百 万 化 为 鱼。
请 嘱 关 防 将
慎 勿 学 歌 舒！“
Tong Guan Li
Shi zu he cao cao
Zhu cheng tong guan dao.
Da cheng tie bu ru
Xiao cheng wan zhang yu.
Jie wen tong guan li:
“Xiu guan huan bei hu?”
Yao wo xia ma xing
Wei wo zhi shan yu:
“Lian yun lie zhan ge
Fei niao bu neng yu.
Hu lai dan zi shou
Qie fu you xi dou.
Zhang ren shi yao chu
Zhai xia rong dan che.
Jian nan fen chang ji
Wan gu yong yi fu.
“Ai zai tao lin zhan
Bai wan hua wei yu.
Qing zhu guan fang jiang
Shen wu xue ge shu!”
Low-Level Construction Supervisors at Tong Guan
Workers and militia soldiers busy everywhere
To reinforce Tong Guan walls and roadway ramparts.
Layers of tall iron defensive walls
Thousands of feet of smaller ones.
May I ask the Tong Guan supervisors
“Will these repairs and reinforcements repel and block the Xiongnu?”
Later I rode my horse down to take a look
I was assured that the mountain borders were secure.
“Every defensive work is ready for combat, and are as tall as connected clouds
Even birds are not able to fly beyond them.
When the Xiongnu arrive, we only need to defend this mountain pass
Do not worry about our lands to the west.”
From my manner and appearance, I was deemed important enough to receive this briefing
“One gorge so narrow that carts must travel in single file.
Our long and strong halberds will be hard to move aside
One of these soldiers can hold off thousands of theirs.”
“Alas, such sorrow! Previous battles lost Luoyang because we abandoned our defenses and went on the offensive
Thousands of our soldiers died, were wounded and lost like fish.
I asked and advised him to prevent this outcome
“Careful, do not relax, and do learn from these mistakes.”
Notes:
Tong Guan: Strategic mountain pass between the capital cities of Chang’an (Xi’an) and Luoyang, south of the confluence of the Wei and Yellow Rivers.
Xiongnu: Confederation of tribes to the north in modern day Mongolia.