Yue Fei's line 'eight thousand li under cloud and moon' captured an entire military life.
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history
From Yue Fei's (岳飞, Southern Song) 《满江红·怒发冲冠》: 三十功名尘与土,八千里路云和月 - 'Thirty years of glory are dust and earth; eight thousand li of road beneath the clouds and moon.' Yue Fei's lyric, written during his campaigns against the Jin, became the most recited patriotic poem in the Chinese canon.
usage
Almost always cited alongside 三十功名尘与土. 云和月 ('cloud and moon') signals the passage of nights and days on campaign - time spent marching rather than at home.