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161<br />
It was previously noted in this chapter that the frontier landscape in Cen Shen's poetry has <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
been critically assessed as a “a land <strong>of</strong> frenetic movement” 81 where “the north wind blows sand and<br />
rolls up white grasses ” while cold winds furiously blast like knives and arrows. 82 Such assessments,<br />
while accurate to an extent, do elide the conventional stasis that still haunts Cen Shen's hibernal<br />
landscape and participates in patterns <strong>of</strong> shifting movement and inertness, cycles <strong>of</strong> active and inactive<br />
kinesis 83 which in tandem with other factors contribute, if in a minor fashion, to the actualization <strong>of</strong> the<br />
cold environment, one in which sub-zero temperatures both brood in inactivity and lash out at great<br />
speeds.<br />
Alternating moments <strong>of</strong> stillness and highly kinetic activity as a feature <strong>of</strong> the hibernal<br />
landscape are clear when “Song <strong>of</strong> Snow on Tian Mountain” and “Song <strong>of</strong> White Snow” are read<br />
intertextually. The poet-narrrators in both works shift their focalization between the two states <strong>of</strong><br />
movement <strong>of</strong> the landscape but do so in different orders <strong>of</strong> procession. In “Song <strong>of</strong> Snow on Tian<br />
Mountain” the cold exterior environment is focalized as cycles between two lines <strong>of</strong> stillness, two lines<br />
81 Marie Chan, Cen Shen, p. 98. In an assessment <strong>of</strong> Cen Shen's non-frontier piece “Ascending the Stupa <strong>of</strong> the Temple <strong>of</strong><br />
Compassionate Mercy with Gao Shi and Xue Ju” (“Yu Gao Shi Xue Ju tong deng cien shi futu” 与 高 适 薛 据 同 登 慈 恩<br />
寺 浮 图 ), Stephen Owen construes an “active topography”, a kinetic energy that also surges through Cen Shen's frontier<br />
landscapes, rolling through the following lines: “A range <strong>of</strong> mountains like surging waves,/Rush eastwards as if heading<br />
towards the royal court” 连 山 若 波 涛 , 奔 凑 似 朝 东 . See CSJJZ, p. 101. For the Owen observation see Stephen Owen,<br />
Great Age <strong>of</strong> Chinese Poetry, p. 378.<br />
82 “The north wind blows sand the rolls up white grasses” 北 风 吹 沙 卷 白 草 . See “Passing Yanzhi Mountain: Sent to Du<br />
Wei” (“Guo Yanzhi ji Du Wei” 过 燕 支 寄 杜 位 ), CSJJZ, p. 75. The opening <strong>of</strong> “Song <strong>of</strong> White Snow” has a similar line<br />
characterizing rapid movements <strong>of</strong> the frontier: “The north wind rolls up the ground, white grasses snap” 北 风 卷 地 白 草<br />
折 . Stephen Owen notes that the use <strong>of</strong> 折 (zhe), meaning “separation <strong>of</strong> one part from another”, is especially violent<br />
and hyperbolic. See Stephen Owen, Great Age <strong>of</strong> Chinese Poetry, p. 376. In a similar assessment, Ronald Miao regards<br />
the wind in this sub-genre <strong>of</strong> poetry as emphasizing the abrasiveness <strong>of</strong> the frontier environment and its intolerance<br />
towards human repose. See Ronald Miao, “T'ang Frontier Poetry”, p. 130. The wind in Bao Zhao's “Imitation: The Song<br />
<strong>of</strong> Departing from the North Gate <strong>of</strong> Ji” is an early example <strong>of</strong> such belligerent blowing. See chapter two <strong>of</strong> this thesis<br />
for the relevant quote. For knife-like winds, see “Ballad <strong>of</strong> Running Horse River” as well as “Song <strong>of</strong> General Zhao”<br />
(quoted in chapter two <strong>of</strong> this thesis). Wang Changling in the second <strong>of</strong> four “Below the Frontier” (“Saixia qu” 塞 下 曲 )<br />
also uses the same simile to illustrate the hibernal wind: “Watering horses and crossing autumn waters,/the water is<br />
freezing and the wind is like a knife” 饮 马 渡 秋 水 , 水 寒 风 似 刀 . See QTS 140.1420. Winds swift and sharp as arrows fly<br />
in Cen Shen's “Western Hostel <strong>of</strong> Yin Mountain Desert” (“Yinshan qi xiguan” 银 山 碛 西 馆 ): “At the entrance to the<br />
gorge <strong>of</strong> Yin mountain the wind is like arrows” 银 山 峡 口 风 似 箭 . See CSJJZ, p. 79.<br />
83 “Kinesis” here means the feature <strong>of</strong> movement. Thus, “active kinesis” is a state <strong>of</strong> movement; “inactive kinesis” is a<br />
state <strong>of</strong> non-movement.