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