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In short, general historical factors contributing to what would be regarded as a burgeoning of
Chinese frontier poetry during the Tang can be grouped in two categories. 30 The first was the frequency
of border conflicts with non-Chinese peoples along the northern frontier. The effects of insecure
national boundaries engendered numerous poems about the sufferings resulting from constantly having
to defend the country's expansive territory as well as the glory which could be found if one's
contributions to safeguarding these regions proved significant. Secondly, the Tang period witnessed a
number of poets, more so than in other dynastic period, participating in military campaigns (most often
in administrative positions) on the frontier. This phenomenon allowed frontier poetry to develop
beyond a mere rehashing 31 of previous themes repeated by poets without first-hand knowledge of
China's border regions. These personal encounters with the frontier also encouraged the emergence of
novel insights and alluring, peculiar imagery unseen in earlier works referring to the fringes of Chinese
civilization.
1.2. Etymological Explanation of “Frontier” (Biansai 边 塞 )
Kam-lung Ng presents a thorough overview 32 of the evolution of the term “biansai” 边 塞
(frontier) which details the semantic roots of the individual characters forming the word as well as the
concepts signified by the two-character compound as it pertained to the Tang period.
The first character, 边 (bian), means “side” and “border” in modern Chinese. Its earliest
incarnation referred to “walking” and “place of great heights” which then came to be extrapolated into
30 He Jipeng 何 寄 澎 Luo Ri Zhao Da Qi: Zhongguo gudian shige zhong de biansai 落 日 照 大 旗 : 中 国 古 典 诗 歌 中 的 边
塞 (Taipei: Guxiang chubanshe 故 乡 出 版 社 , 1981), p. 11
31 As was often the case in the Northern and Southern dynasty period when stock imagery of Tang frontier poetry began to
crystallize but, unlike the during the Tang, failed to evolve in its application. See He Jipeng, Luo Ri Zhao Da Qi , p. 9.
By the High Tang, frontier poetry had distinguished itself from previous eras', mainly through voices which shifted
between condemnation and approval of martial activity as well as a see-sawing between delight and distaste for the
frontier. See Marie Chan, Kao Shih (Boston: Twayne, 1978), p. 95.
32 My brief explanation of the term derives mainly from Kam-lung Ng 吴 锦 龙 “Tangdai biansaishi yanjiu 唐 代 边 塞 诗 研
究 ” M.Phil thesis, University of Hong Kong, 1995. pp. 2-5.