Notes on Frontier Affairs
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
征人倚戍楼。
春风对青冢，
白日落梁州。
大漠无兵阻，
穷边有客游。
蕃情似此水，
长愿向南流。
English translation
The bugle's note breaks the clear autumn, the soldier leans upon the watchtower.
The spring wind faces the green tomb, the white sun sets over Liangzhou.
The great desert has no troops to bar it, the farthest frontier has travelers passing.
The Tartar's heart is like this water, may it always flow toward the south.
Meaning
The clear autumn bugle call on the frontier cuts across the stillness, and the soldiers lean at ease on the watchtowers, gazing far away.
Gust after gust of gentle wind blows over Zhaojun's tomb, and the frontier town of Liangzhou lies bathed in mild sunshine.
Across the vast desert no troops are seen to block the way, and travelers often come to wander beyond the frontier passes.
The good will of the Tibetan people is like this river — may they forever submit to the Central Plain and flow southward to it.
Background
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After the reign of Emperor Suzong, the regions of Hexi and Longyou were long occupied by Tubo. In 851 Zhang Yichao, leader of the uprising of the people of Shazhou, sent out troops and recovered the ten prefectures of Gua, Yi, Xi, Gan, Su, Lan, Shan, He, Min, and Kuo; Emperor Xuanzong thereupon made Zhang Yichao the military commissioner of the Guiyi army. In 857 the Tubo general Shang Yanxin surrendered Hehuang to the Tang, and that land again belonged wholly to the Tang. This poem was written roughly after these events.