文武赤壁Cultural and Martial Red Cliffs

陈尔东 Chen Erdong

“大江东去，浪淘尽，千古风流人物。”随着时光的流逝，许多往事逐渐隐入历史的尘烟，而那些风流人物或旷世之作却化身为一个个文化符号，或融入地名，或藏在口耳相传的成语里。

In his verse， “Memories of the Past at Red Cliff ” to the tune of “Nian Nu Jiao，” the famous Songpoet Su Shi wrote， “East flows the mighty river，/Sweeping away the heroes of times past.” While manypast events may have faded into historys dust， historical figures and timeless masterpieces from thosetimes endure as cultural symbols. They live on as place names or become Chinese idioms passed downthrough generations.

在湖北省赤壁市的一块临江悬岩上，赫然写着“赤壁”两个大字，它的背后是一段著名的历史故事。东汉末年，曹操基本统一北方后，率领大军南下，夺取了战略要地荆州。当时，荆州的地理位置十分重要，占据了荆州就等于基本控制了长江流域。曹操把陆军和水军集中起来，准备顺江东下消灭刘备，同时又派人向孙权下战书。虽然曹操只有20多万兵馬，但他号称自己有水陆军80万，试图在心理上威慑孙权，让其屈服。

On a riverside cliff in Chibi City， Hubei Province，two Chinese characters 赤壁（chibi， the Red Cliff） areinscribed， marking the site of a famous historicalstory. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty， Cao Cao， thewarlord of Wei State， led a massive army southwardand seized Jingzhou after unifying the northernregions in China. Jingzhou， being strategically crucial，would grant significant power and presence over theYangtze River basin. Cao assembled his army andnavy， preparing to move downstream along the riverto eliminate the power of Liu Bei， the warlord of ShuState. Meanwhile， he issued a declaration of war toSun Quan， the warlord of Wu State. In the letter， Caoclaimed to possess a force of eight hundred thousandmen， despite the actual number being around twohundred thousand， attempting to intimidate Sun andcoerce him into surrender before the war started.

面对强敌曹操，刘备、孙权组建盟军，一同抗曹。在做好部署后，孙刘联军溯江迎击曹军，双方在赤壁相遇。由于曹军大多都是习惯北方陆战的步兵，不适应水战，初战失利，双方隔江对峙。为使北方士兵能正常上船作战，曹操下令用铁索将战船环环相连，以减弱风浪颠簸，这样士兵在船上也能如履平地。

In the face of such a formidable enemy， Liuand Sun forged an alliance. Following meticulousdeployment， the coalition sailed up the Yangtze Riverand confronted Caos forces at Chibi. As the majorityof Caos troops consisted of land soldiers from thenorth unaccustomed to naval battles， they suffereddefeat in the initial battle， resulting in a standoffacross the river. In response， Cao ordered the use ofiron chains to connect the warships， minimizing theimpact of wind and enabling soldiers to move andfight on the ships as if on solid ground.

针对曹军“连环船”的弱点，吴国名将黄盖建议火攻，得到了主帅周瑜的赞许。为了骗取曹操的信任，周瑜故意痛打了黄盖一顿，让其假装气愤投敌。这就是所谓的“周瑜打黄盖——一个愿打，一个愿挨”。一番假戏之后，黄盖带着数十艘船，假意向曹操投降。船上满载浸油的干柴草，并以布遮掩。接近曹军阵营时，黄盖下令点燃柴草。火船乘风撞入曹军船阵，火势迅速蔓延开来，曹军船阵顿时火海一片。孙刘联军乘势追击，曹操大败，无奈之下，只能带领残兵逃走。

Zhou Yu， the Wu general ， not iced thevulnerability of the linked warships and took theadvice of Huang Gai， his subordinate， to initiatea fire attack. To deceive Cao and gain his trust inHuang， Zhou intentionally punished Huang severelyand publicly — a strategic move as described in thefamous Chinese idiom， “Zhou Yu beats Huang Gai —one is willing to strike， and the other is willing toendure.” Following this staged act， Huang feignedsurrender to Cao out of extreme anger. Taking withhim dozens of ships carrying oil-soaked dry grasscovered with cloth， Huang approached Caos campand ignited the grass. Driven by the wind， the fieryships collided with Caos fleet and swiftly turnedthe area into a sea of flames. The Sun-Liu coalitionseized the opportunity to launch a strike against Cao，who suffered a major defeat andretreated with dwindling forces.

大敗曹军后，周瑜率军高奏凯歌，把酒庆功，酒醉之余，他提剑在悬岩上刻下了“赤壁”二字。赤壁之战奠定了三国鼎立的基础，赤壁也成为如今湖北省的历史文化“名片”。当年的赤壁古战场位于今湖北省赤壁市西北部，是中国古代著名战役中唯一尚存原貌的古战场，也是省级重点文物保护单位，这里被称为“武赤壁”。

After this decisive victory， Zhou led his troops ina triumphant celebration， reveling in wine and usinga sword to carve the characters 赤壁 onto the cliff.The Battle of Chibi laid the foundation for the threekingdoms to coexist and maintain balance， and Chibistands as a historical and cultural symbol of presentdayHubei Province. Located in northwest Chibi City，the battlefield is the only well-preserved major warsite in ancient China. It is listed as a provincial-levelcultural heritage protection site， known as the “WuChibi，” the Martial Red Cliff.

在湖北省黄冈市黄州区还有一个“文赤壁”。黄州江岸属丹霞地貌，崖壁呈红色，又因为黄州有座山犹如一只象将鼻子伸入江中喝水而被称为“赤鼻山”，于是此地被称作“赤壁”。

There is also a “Wen Chibi，” the Cultural RedCliff， in Huangzhou District， Huanggang City， HubeiProvince. The riverside region around Huangzhoufeatures the Danxia landform， known for its uniquered cliffs. There is a mountain in the area thatresembles an elephant， with its trunk extending intothe river， earning it the name “Chibi Shan，” or “TheRed-Trunk Mountain.” This is why this area is alsoreferred to as Chibi.

当时，著名的唐代大诗人杜牧被委派赴黄州（今湖北省黄冈市）任刺史。在此期间，通过多方史料考证，他认为黄州赤壁才是当时赤壁之战的原址，并写下了《赤壁》一诗：“ 折戟沉沙铁未销，自将磨洗认前朝。东风不与周郎便，铜雀春深锁二乔。”

The renowned Tang poet Du Mu was appointedas the local governor of Huangzhou （todaysHuanggang City）. Through extensive studies ofhistorical documents， Du came to believe that theChibi in Huangzhou was the actual site of the Battleof Chibi. He wrote the poem “Chibi”：

A broken halberd was recovered from the bottom of the Yangtze River;

It was cleaned， polished， and examined， and had a tale to tell.

If the easterly wind didnt help Marshal Zhou set fire on the enemy，

The two beautiful daughters of Qiao would be captured in the palace of Cao.

北宋时期，大文豪苏轼被贬黄州时，经常与好友一同乘坐小舟夜游赤壁。夜晚的江面，明月高悬，清风徐徐，水波微漾。苏轼举杯与好友一同作诗吟唱，因赤壁联想到了当年赤壁之战的曹操，感慨一代枭雄，最终也是消逝在历史的长河中。友人不禁为人类的渺小和人生的短暂而感到悲伤。然而，本就处在人生低谷中的苏轼

不但没有一同伤春悲秋，反而劝慰起了好友：“ 凡事之好坏是由自己看待的角度不同决定的，你羡慕长江存在上千年，其实它每时每刻都在流动变化；你羡慕明月一直高悬夜空，可它却不得不陷入阴晴圆缺的轮回。虽然我们看似很渺小，但是这江上的清风和山间的明月，却取之不尽，用之不竭。这都是大自然的馈赠，我们还有什么可悲伤的呢？”

In the Northern Song Dynasty， the great man of letters Su Shi was demoted toHuangzhou， where he often took boat trips at night withhis friends to Chibi. Under the dark sky hung a brightmoon， and the gentle breeze caused ripples in the river. Itwas in this serene environment that Su would indulge inwine and express himself through poems and songs withhis friends. The site of the battlefield reminded them ofCao Cao， whose existence had ultimately dissolved intothe vast river of history. His friend could not help butlament the insignificance of humanity and the transientnature of life. However， even in dire adversity， Su did notsuccumb to melancholy. Instead， he consoled his friends，saying， “Whether something is good or bad all dependson your perspective. You envy the Yangtze River， whichhas endured thousands of years， but it is constantlychanging; you envy the radiant moon adorning the nightsky， but it too， must go through the cycle of waxing andwaning. We may be seemingly insignificant beings， butthe clear breeze on the river and the brilliant moon hungbetween the cliffs are inexhaustible treasures by theCreator for us to take freely and enjoy forever. What isthere to be sad about？”

在黃州时，苏轼陆续写下了《前赤壁赋》《后赤壁赋》和《念奴娇 · 赤壁怀古》。这些千古名篇为历代文人传诵，不仅因为苏轼文采斐然，还因为他在这些词章中表达的人生态度——即便身处困境，也要豁达乐观。苏轼赋予了黄州赤壁文化意义，“文赤壁”由此得名。

Apart from the “Former Ode to the Red Cliff，” Su wrote two other literary piecesrelated to the location： the “Latter Ode to the Red Cliff，” and “Memories of the Past atRed Cliff ” to the tune of “Nian Nu Jiao，” during his time in Huangzhou. These timelessmasterpieces stood the test of time and have been passed down through generations， notonly because of Sus literary prowess but also because of the attitudes to life he expressedin the writings： to be optimistic and broadminded even in harsh circumstances. Subestowed cultural significance to Chibi in Huangzhou， hence its name “Wen Chibi，” theCultural Red Cliff.

这“一文一武”的赤壁旨在告诉我们，要坦然面对那些痛苦的时光，不必强求那些无法得到和不能改变的事物；以史为鉴，珍惜当下，乐观豁达。

The Cultural and Martial Red Cliffs impart significant life lessons： to remaincomposed even in the face of pain， to refrain from insisting on unattainable goals orunalterable circumstances， to draw lessons from history， cherish the present， and toalways be positive and free-spirited.