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28
带 长 剑 兮 挟 秦 弓
首 身 离 兮 心 不 惩
46
Their long swords at their belts, clasping their Qin 45 bows,
Heads from body sundered: but their hearts could
not be vanquished. 47
(lines 1-4; 11-14)
C.H. Wang notes that Cen Shen had occasion to “depart from the classical tradition in the
treatment of war [by writing] bloody scenes [written] from imagination” 48 . Though no concrete poetic
evidence is offered to support this claim in Wang's essay, the fifth of “Six Paeans Presented to Military
Commissioner Feng On His Victory at Boxian 49 ” (“Xian Fengdafu pofanxian kaige liushou 献 封 大 夫
破 播 仙 凯 歌 六 首 ) may have been the visceral ocean Wang had in mind which flooded the usual
decorum in treating scenes of military violence. Although lacking in decapitations, Cen Shen's
unusually raw glimpse at war nevertheless echoes an affinity with the brutality found in “Hymn of the
Fallen”:
番 军 遥 见 汉 家 营
满 谷 连 山 遍 哭 声
万 箭 千 刀 一 夜 杀
51
平 明 血 流 浸 空 城
The barbarian 50 army spies the Han army camp from afar,
Filling valleys and up through mountains, everywhere the
sound of weeping.
Ten thousand arrows, a thousand swords, a night of killing,
At daybreak blood flows and soaks the empty fortress.
(lines 17-20)
Gao Shi, however, in an excerpt from “To Go With Secretary Li's Work Celebrating Military
Commissioner Geshu's Victory at Jiuqu” (“Tong liyuanwai he geshudafu pojiuqu zhizuo” 同 李 员 外 贺
45 Bows from the kingdom Qin referring here to bows of high quality
46 Li Jie 李 捷 ed., 楚 辞 Chu Ci (Hohhot: Yuanfang chubanshe 远 方 出 版 社 , 2007), p. 63
47 David Hawkes, tr., The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets (New
York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1985), p. 117.
48 C. H. Wang, “Towards Defining a Chinese Heroism”, p. 30.
49 Located on the north bank of the Moqie river in modern day Xinjiang province. The CSJJZ notes that the poem was
written in praise of general Feng Changqing for a military victory; the success, however, does not appear in any
subsequent historical accounts. See CSJJZ, p.154.
50 Literally “Fan 番 army”
51 CSJJZ, p.154