文武赤壁Cultural and Martial Red Cliffs

陳爾東 Chen Erdong

“大江東去，浪淘盡，千古風流人物?！彪S著時光的流逝，許多往事逐漸隱入歷史的塵煙，而那些風流人物或曠世之作卻化身為一個個文化符號，或融入地名，或藏在口耳相傳的成語里。

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塊臨江懸巖上，赫然寫著“赤壁”兩個大字，它的背后是一段著名的歷史故事。東漢末年，曹操基本統一北方后，率領大軍南下，奪取了戰略要地荊州。當時，荊州的地理位置十分重要，占據了荊州就等于基本控制了長江流域。曹操把陸軍和水軍集中起來，準備順江東下消滅劉備，同時又派人向孫權下戰書。雖然曹操只有20多萬兵馬，但他號稱自己有水陸軍80萬，試圖在心理上威懾孫權，讓其屈服。

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.

面對強敵曹操，劉備、孫權組建盟軍，一同抗曹。在做好部署后，孫劉聯軍溯江迎擊曹軍，雙方在赤壁相遇。由于曹軍大多都是習慣北方陸戰的步兵，不適應水戰，初戰失利，雙方隔江對峙。為使北方士兵能正常上船作戰，曹操下令用鐵索將戰船環環相連，以減弱風浪顛簸，這樣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.

針對曹軍“連環船”的弱點，吳國名將黃蓋建議火攻，得到了主帥周瑜的贊許。為了騙取曹操的信任，周瑜故意痛打了黃蓋一頓，讓其假裝氣憤投敵。這就是所謂的“周瑜打黃蓋——一個愿打，一個愿挨”。一番假戲之后，黃蓋帶著數十艘船，假意向曹操投降。船上滿載浸油的干柴草，并以布遮掩。接近曹軍陣營時，黃蓋下令點燃柴草?；鸫孙L撞入曹軍船陣，火勢迅速蔓延開來，曹軍船陣頓時火海一片。孫劉聯軍乘勢追擊，曹操大敗，無奈之下，只能帶領殘兵逃走。

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.

大敗曹軍后，周瑜率軍高奏凱歌，把酒慶功，酒醉之余，他提劍在懸巖上刻下了“赤壁”二字。赤壁之戰奠定了三國鼎立的基礎，赤壁也成為如今湖北省的歷史文化“名片”。當年的赤壁古戰場位于今湖北省赤壁市西北部，是中國古代著名戰役中唯一尚存原貌的古戰場，也是省級重點文物保護單位，這里被稱為“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.

在湖北省黃岡市黃州區還有一個“文赤壁”。黃州江岸屬丹霞地貌，崖壁呈紅色，又因為黃州有座山猶如一只象將鼻子伸入江中喝水而被稱為“赤鼻山”，于是此地被稱作“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.

當時，著名的唐代大詩人杜牧被委派赴黃州（今湖北省黃岡市）任刺史。在此期間，通過多方史料考證，他認為黃州赤壁才是當時赤壁之戰的原址，并寫下了《赤壁》一詩：“ 折戟沉沙鐵未銷，自將磨洗認前朝。東風不與周郎便，銅雀春深鎖二喬?！?/p>

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.

北宋時期，大文豪蘇軾被貶黃州時，經常與好友一同乘坐小舟夜游赤壁。夜晚的江面，明月高懸，清風徐徐，水波微漾。蘇軾舉杯與好友一同作詩吟唱，因赤壁聯想到了當年赤壁之戰的曹操，感慨一代梟雄，最終也是消逝在歷史的長河中。友人不禁為人類的渺小和人生的短暫而感到悲傷。然而，本就處在人生低谷中的蘇軾

不但沒有一同傷春悲秋，反而勸慰起了好友：“ 凡事之好壞是由自己看待的角度不同決定的，你羨慕長江存在上千年，其實它每時每刻都在流動變化；你羨慕明月一直高懸夜空，可它卻不得不陷入陰晴圓缺的輪回。雖然我們看似很渺小，但是這江上的清風和山間的明月，卻取之不盡，用之不竭。這都是大自然的饋贈，我們還有什么可悲傷的呢？”

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？”

在黃州時，蘇軾陸續寫下了《前赤壁賦》《后赤壁賦》和《念奴嬌 · 赤壁懷古》。這些千古名篇為歷代文人傳誦，不僅因為蘇軾文采斐然，還因為他在這些詞章中表達的人生態度——即便身處困境，也要豁達樂觀。蘇軾賦予了黃州赤壁文化意義，“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.

這“一文一武”的赤壁旨在告訴我們，要坦然面對那些痛苦的時光，不必強求那些無法得到和不能改變的事物；以史為鑒，珍惜當下，樂觀豁達。

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.