◎Paying Homage to General Jiang's Tomb
［Qing Dynasty］Gao Zheng
This poem can be interpreted as follows:
Breaking raging waves in a tough fight, the general cut off the dragon's head with his sword.(https://www.daowen.com)
The setting sun shines on the withering grass, and now the general's tomb has become desolate and the tombstone mutilated.
On a late autumn morning during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, two young people walked one after the other out of the West Street entrance of Gaoge Village (that is, now Gaoge Village, Lubei District, Tangshan City). They walked slowly towards the Tangshan Mountain (now the Dacheng Mountain in Lubei District, Tangshan). The man walking in the front was in his twenties, and the man walking behind was 17 or 18 years old. The young man in his twenties was Zhuo Jindian, a native of Renhe (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province). He came to Luanzhou on a study tour and set up a school to teach in Gaoge Village, Qiaotou Community. The 17 or 18 year-old young man who followed him was one of his students, a native of Gaoge Village, and his name was Gao Zheng (courtesy name Boyin). After arriving in Gaoge Village, Zhuo Jindian heard that there were pleasant scenery and numerous places of interest in Tangshan, so he wanted to visit it. However, because of busy teaching, he had no time to do so. One day, when he had nothing to do in his spare time, he invited his student Gao Zheng to visit Tangshan to explore the place of historical interest. They came to the foot of Tangshan together. Looking up at the peaks, Zhuo Jindian couldn't help marveling at the scenery. He said, “There are really many mountains, waterfalls and springs. This trip is really worthwhile!” He turned his head and said to Gao Zheng, “Boyin! Both of us came to enjoy the beauty of Tangshan today. I suggest that we each write a poem to remember this trip after we return. What do you think? We can take the scenic spots as the theme, or the mountains and rivers as the theme, and choose our own topic. This will also show me your ability to write poems.” Gao Zheng replied, “Yes, sir!” After this, they climbed the mountain together. They enjoyed the wonderful views along the way. They first visited the Baoshen Temple, then the Xingguo Temple to burn incense, and then to the Dongzhen Temple and General Jiang's Tomb to ponder on the past. After seeing the monuments, they climbed to the top of the main peak. Standing on the summit of the mountain and looking around, they saw the sparkling Dou River in the northeast, winding around the mountain. In the west was an endless plain, on which villages and houses scattered like stars. They enjoyed the views and talked, infatuated by it. Unknowingly it was getting late, they reluctantly went down the mountain and went home. The next day, they each wrote a poem as agreed. These two poems were passed down as two masterpieces on Tangshan.