遯 → 節

Commentary

Heaven above the mountain restrains as water over lake — Limitation, where boundaries define what can and cannot be done. The Qu Rong frontier stretches ten thousand li; day and night bring only anxiety and suffering. Yet soldiers don their armor and war garments, and though they bear the burden, no harm befalls them. Hawks and falcons are fierce, but their savagery cannot wound. The verse depicts frontier garrison life at the empire's edge — exhausting, terrifying, yet survivable when discipline holds. From Retreat to Limitation, the mountain's withdrawal becomes the measured restraint of water held within the lake's banks. The soldiers endure not because they are strong but because their limits are clearly defined: armor protects, discipline contains, and the predators circle but cannot strike. Limitation transforms retreat from flight into fortified endurance.