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non-Chinese languages of the Fan and Hu node are juxtaposed and described. Besides resulting in a
presentation of local languages as different, or “not-Chinese” 237 , the spoken pronunciation of the Hu
language 238 is analyzed without any reference to the speaker; the poet-narrator makes note of the Hu
language but divorces the language from its producer.
In “Offered to Accompany General Feng At a Banquet: [I Have Received 'Campaign' as my
Rhyme Word] 239 (At the Time General Feng Also Held the Position of Chief Minister of the Court State
Ceremonial 240 )” (“Fengpei Fengdafuyan dezhengzi shifenggong jianhongluqing” 奉 陪 封 大 夫 宴 得 征 字 ,
时 封 公 兼 鸿 胪 卿 ), the poet-narrator reflects on a banquet attended by both Chinese and non-Chinese
military officials during a pause in frontier conflict. While the phenomenon of local languages is
addressed through a means similar to that of “Impromptu About Luntai”, that is through a paradigm of
difference, the speakers of non-Chinese languages in this poem are not extracted from the language but
are present and socializing with their, albeit “uncommon” for the poet-narrator, verbal tools of
communication:
西 边 虏 尽 平
何 处 更 专 征
幕 下 人 无 事
军 中 政 已 成
座 参 殊 俗 语
乐 杂 异 方 声
醉 里 东 楼 月
The Lu of the western frontier have been completely
pacified,
What need could there be for more orders to launch
further campaigns?
Subordinates in the administrative tent have nothing to do,
Within the army government decrees have already been
completed.
At the banquet there are different customs and languages,
A miscellany of music, the sounds of other places.
In my drunkenness the moon at the east building,
237
Were “Chinese” a feature for linguistically describing a language, then the languages in “Impromptu About Luntai”
would be (-) Chinese whereas Chinese itself would be (+) Chinese.
238
Or more generally language of the non-Chinese peoples along the frontier.
239
At banquets, the host or master of ceremonies would assign rhyme words to the poets present, and these were frequently
mentioned in the titles of poems (Daniel Bryant, personal correspondence, April 2013).
240
“Lit., chief minister for making loud announcements” . See Charles O. Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles In
Imperial China, p. 264.