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the subtext, however, is more complex than what was seen in Yang Jiong's final couplet:
不 求 生 入 塞
Not seeking to stay alive when entering the frontier,
唯 当 死 报 君
30
Only wishing to die to pay a debt of gratitude to you, my lord. 31
(lines 7-8)
One the one hand, it could be argued that the self-sacrifice willingly chosen by the poet-narrator
shuns any desire for self-aggrandizement and official recognition as it is only through death, and thus
the inability to enjoy recognition, that one is able to truly serve one's lord. 32 However, even with the
cessation of the poet-narrator's life, glorious acknowledgement of services rendered on the frontier by
the deceased could still be made by those among the living. Should sheer recognition of one's efforts
eclipse any need for personal awareness of such recognition, and if only through life-extinguishing
service could such efforts possibly be made, a craving for third-party affirmation of one's military
service cannot be entirely dismissed as the main motivating factor for assisting in the defence of the
nation at its periphery since such acknowledgement is still capable of being made even without the
acknowledgement of the deceased.
The artificial division of poetry into eras does not create homogenous lumps of predictability;
exceptions always exist. Though often classified as Early Tang poetry, Chen Zi'ang's “Stirred By My
Experiences, No. 35” (“Ganyu 35 shou ” 感 遇 三 十 八 首 之 三 十 五 ) is actually divested of the self
interest found in many Early Tang frontier poems which espoused a longing to serve the nation in a
military capacity. Even with a tone of fatalistic resignation towards the impossibility of achieving glory
serving one's lord in a militaristic capacity was the hallmark of Early Tang frontier poetry.
30
QTS 78.840.
31
The impression from such a short excerpt may be that the sentiments expressed in Luo Binwang's frontier poetry are
narrow and limited to a desire to serve the nation. This certainly is not the case. In possessing the comparatively rare
experience of having spent extended and extensive time on the frontier, many of Luo's frontier poetry works include a
degree of realism which would become more frequent in later frontier poetry of the High Tang. In addition to a forthright
declaration of dedication to the country's territorial integrity, Luo Binwang's frontier poetry also steps into the despair
and toil of frontier service, brief sketches of frontier environment, scenes of army barracks and a thick longing for home
only possible through extended absence. In short, Luo's frontier poetry was able to escape from the frontier fantasies of
the Southern dynasty and incorporate both historical and personal knowledge of the frontier into its compositions. See
Ren Wenjing 任 文 京 , “Luo Binwang de biansaishi 骆 宾 王 的 边 塞 诗 ”Wenshi zhishi 文 史 知 识 2007.12, pp. 10-17.
32
Kam-lung Ng, “Tangdai biansaishi yanjiu”, p. 136.