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To conclude, the preceding chapter had two main objectives. The first was to introduce one of
many possible frameworks for understanding the core characteristics of frontier poetry, namely Xiao
Chenyu's tripartite structure. There are other schemes for conceptualizing frontier poetry: Xiao's has
been adopted in this thesis because its scope does not exert undue prejudice in its admission policy
while at the same time not degrading its standards by taking any old poem which mentions any old
“frontier”. The second goal of the chapter was to read a selection of poems prior to the Tang period
through Xiao's framework in order to reveal thematic origins of the frontier subgenre. While doing so,
several examples of High Tang frontier poems were juxtaposed against these earlier texts to display
both thematic affinities while suggesting that many vital features of frontier poetry underwent
significant development during the Tang, especially the period prior to the An Lushan rebellion. The
next chapter will devote itself to discussing some of these major enhancements while hopefully
presenting solid reasons for considering the High Tang period as having raised Chinese frontier poetry
to its zenith.