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poems”on the basis of geography, the emotions expressed and actions described are nonetheless
fundamental thematic sources of frontier poetry even if the locations where the actions and thoughts
might have occurred, be it in reality or imagined, are not necessarily the equivalent of what would
become the Tang, or other dynasties', frontier. 9
The first to be discussed, “Beating Drums” (“Jigu” 击 鼓 ), contains an important sentiment
which would come to echo throughout frontier poetry: the forced separation from home while engaged
in military service and the despair such separation creates. The following is a short excerpt
summarizing this sentiment:
从 孙 子 仲 We are led by Sun Zizhong 10
平 陈 与 宋 To subdue Chen and Song. 11
不 我 以 归 He does not bring us home,
12
忧 心 有 忡 My heart is sad within. 13
(lines 5-8)
This theme of conscription as forcing a rupture in domestic stability by throwing husbands and sons
into churning political machinations played out far from one's home is a frequent feature of frontier
poetry. One example of its utilization is found over a thousand years later in Gao Shi's “Song of Yan”
(“Yange xing” 燕 歌 行 ). When describing the emotional state of a soldier stationed in Ji 蓟 as he turns
his head longingly back in a southward direction towards his distant and dejected wife, a woman barely
able to endure the long pause in their marriage, the simple tearing felt in “Beating Drums” is not only
repeated but aesthetically amplified:
铁 衣 远 戍 辛 勤 久
Coats of armour stationed far off toiling on and on
9 Ibid., p. 21
10 A general of Bei Guo 邶 国 (a vassal state of Zhou)
11 Chen and Song were vassal states of the Zhou.
12 Li Jie 李 捷 ed., Shijing 诗 经 (Hohhot: Yuanfang chufanshe 远 方 出 版 社 , 2009), p. 16. Hereafter abbreviated as Shijing
13 Arthur Waley, tr., The Book of Songs:The Ancient Chinese Classic of Poetry (New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1960), p.
112.