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