[updated September 2022]
Ask For More Militia Recruits
征 夫
十 室 几 人 在？
千 山 空 自 多！
路 衢 唯 见 哭
城 市 不 闻 歌。
漂 梗 无 安 地
銜 枚 有 荷 戈。
官 军 未 通 蜀
吾 道 竟 如 何？
Zheng Fu
Shi shi ji ren zai?
Qian shan kong zi duo!
Lu qu wei jian ku
Cheng shi bu wen ge.
Piao geng wu an di
Xian mei you he ge.
Guan jun wei tong shu
Wu dao jing ru he?
Ask For More Militia Recruits
How many people are still left per household?
A thousand empty mountains, naturally have many defensible passes!
See many families crying on the main highways
Marketplaces inside city walls, do not hear any singing of songs.
Recruits are like floating branches in a river, no place to march to
Hold an object in their mouths while carrying dagger axes.
Regular army troops have yet to arrive here in Sichuan
Where is the end of my road?
Notes:
Hold an object in their mouths: This was done so that the marching militia could not, and did not, talk to the onlookers.