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desire to dedicate oneself to the nation through frontier service regardless <strong>of</strong> any and all personal costs,<br />
a stance frequently made in Early Tang frontier poems in which a strong emphasis on the desire for<br />
success and fame attained through martial efforts was rarely balanced with the broader implications <strong>of</strong><br />
such yearnings addressed in High Tang frontier poetry. 25<br />
55<br />
Despite their temporal nearness, Early and High Tang views <strong>of</strong> frontier war were not always<br />
harmonized; the former, when juxtaposed against the latter, veered more exclusively towards positive<br />
and optimistic sentiments. 26 This attitude towards war on the frontier found in Early Tang frontier<br />
poetry can be distilled into a common emotion <strong>of</strong> patriotic self-sacrifice in serving one's country 27<br />
tinged at times with the selfish dream <strong>of</strong> personal advancement and recognition. An example <strong>of</strong> this<br />
peculiar “selfless self-serving” is the final couplet <strong>of</strong> Yang Jiong's “Beyond the Frontier” (“Chusai” 出<br />
塞 ) where a single-minded confidence voices the hopes <strong>of</strong> those serving the country on the frontier that<br />
their efforts and hard work will be recognized:<br />
丈 夫 皆 有 志<br />
会 见 立 功 勋<br />
28<br />
We men <strong>of</strong> ambition all have aspirations,<br />
We will see our merits and success established.<br />
(lines 7-8)<br />
Luo Binwang's 骆 宾 王 (619-687) “In the Army” (“Congjun xing” 从 军 行 ) also ends on a note <strong>of</strong><br />
grandiloquent bravado in which the speaker's own life is ostensibly subverted in service <strong>of</strong> his lord; 29<br />
25<br />
Zhang Fuqing 张 福 庆 , “Chutang sijie de biansaishi yu shengtang biansaishi zhi bijiao 初 唐 四 杰 的 边 塞 诗 与 盛 唐 边 塞<br />
诗 之 比 较 ”, Waijiao xueyuan xuebao 外 交 学 院 学 报 2001.2, pp. 87-90. The article explains this passion as a reflection<br />
<strong>of</strong> Tang China's growing strength and confidence during the Early Tang era as well as pride in repelling non-Chinese<br />
tribes harassing the Tang border. Poetic statements <strong>of</strong> seeking to serve the state, however, were usually indirect<br />
expressions <strong>of</strong> an urgent hope by scholars to climb the political ladder, a longing displayed through the articulation <strong>of</strong><br />
one's patriotic fervour.<br />
26<br />
Cen Shen, on the other hand, tends to revel where his contemporaries critiqued the effects <strong>of</strong> war in general, making his<br />
particular “High Tang” angle less aligned with others'. One graphic example <strong>of</strong> Cen Shen's seeming fascination with<br />
war's sanguine tendencies is the previously cited fifth <strong>of</strong> “Six Paeans Presented to Military Commissioner Feng On His<br />
Victory at Boxian” 献 封 大 夫 破 播 仙 凯 歌 六 首 .<br />
27<br />
Hong Zang, Tangdai zhanzhengshi yanjiu, p. 40.<br />
28<br />
QTS 50.613.<br />
29<br />
Hong Zan, Tangdai zhanzhengshi yanjiu, p. 52. Hong also notes on pp. 42-43 that although many Early Tang frontier<br />
poems with a focus on frontier war did detail the suffering incurred by war and the bitter desolation found in frontier<br />
territories, the era distinguished itself in the subgenre through vigorous and spirited statements <strong>of</strong> loyalty to those in<br />
authority. This support <strong>of</strong> righteous war (yizhan 义 战 ) in defence <strong>of</strong> the country and recognition <strong>of</strong> one's efforts while