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focalize the cold impaired functions of other fabricated existents 100 as a means of conveying the
coldness of the hibernal setting; they do this by focalizing the cold compromised functions of animal
furs/skins and weapons. This attention to the inability of the furs/skins to properly function is indirectly
expressive of the severity of the northwestern climate.
散 入 珠 帘 湿 罗 幕
狐 裘 不 暖 锦 衾 薄
Scattering through beaded curtains and soaking silk drapes,
Fox fur clothing does not keep in the heat, resplendent
blankets are thin.
(“Song of White Snow”, lines 5-6)
将 军 狐 裘 卧 不 暖 The general's fox skins do not keep the bed warm 101
(“Song of Snow on Tian Mountain”, line 11)
Aside from blankets and animal skins, there are malfunctioning, or dangerously near shattering,
weapons that are also expressive of the cold of the frontier:
将 军 角 弓 不 得 控
都 护 铁 衣 冷 难 著
The general's horn bow cannot be pulled,
The protector-general's armour is freezing and difficult to
put on.
(“Song of White Snow”, lines 7-8)
都 护 宝 刀 冻 欲 断
The protector-general's sword is frozen and about
to break.
(“Song of Snow on Tian Mountain”, line 12)
100 Meaning existents of the setting which are made by human beings and not naturally occurring.
101 An echo of a bed which “cannot retain heat” (bu nuan 不 暖 ) can be seen in Xue Qitong's 薛 奇 童 “Below the
Frontier” 塞 下 曲 : “Frosted armour, the bedchamber cannot stay warm,/In the middle of the night one can hear the
frontier winds./In the Hu sky snow flies early,/On the edge of desolation many tumbleweeds” 霜 甲 卧 不 暖 , 半 夜 闻 边 风 .
胡 天 早 飞 雪 , 荒 徼 多 转 蓬 . See QTS 202.2110. Xue Qitong's poem is also relevant here for its near verbatim description
of the frontier and flying snow in Cen Shen's “Song of White Snow”: “In the eighth month snow already flies throughout
the Hu sky” 胡 天 八 月 即 飞 雪 . The QTS notes that Xue Qitong held the post of “Rectifier in the Court of Judicial
Review” (dalisizhi 大 理 司 直 ) though has no dates of birth or death. See also Charles Hucker, A Dictionary of Official
Titles in Imperial China, pp. 444, 468.