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61<br />
the Frontier” (“Saixia qu” “ 塞 下 曲 ), while in another work emphasizing the despair creeping out <strong>of</strong> the<br />
ashes <strong>of</strong> extinguished bravado (such as in “Tribal Song”). But Gao Shi was not an oddity among High<br />
Tang poets in his expressed feelings about frontier war. Cen Shen as well displayed a range <strong>of</strong> reactions<br />
towards the phenomenon, even if the extent was limited vis-a-vis Gao Shi's exclamations. 56<br />
One extreme <strong>of</strong> Cen Shen's relatively narrow gamut <strong>of</strong> responses to frontier war is found in the<br />
first <strong>of</strong> the panegyric quatrains comprising “Six Paeans Presented to Military Commissioner Feng On<br />
His Victory at Boxian” (“Xian Fengdafu po fanxian kaige liuzhang” 献 封 大 夫 破 播 仙 凯 歌 六 章 ). Cen<br />
Shen frames borderland confrontation through a victorious general, allusively portrayed with Han<br />
dynasty flavours, being graciously received by the emperor at the Unicorn pavilion. With patriotic<br />
allusions 57 and imperial accolades used to honour the general without any hint <strong>of</strong> hesitation, Cen Shen's<br />
poet-narrator pr<strong>of</strong>fers a proud, gilded assessment <strong>of</strong> frontier war:<br />
汉 将 承 恩 西 破 戎<br />
The Han general receives generous treatment destroying<br />
the Rong 58 in the West,<br />
56<br />
Cen Shen's position, at least through the poet-narrator <strong>of</strong> his frontier poetry, on military affairs <strong>of</strong> the Tang borderlands<br />
tends towards admiration for strong and powerful generals and the eulogization <strong>of</strong> the grandeur <strong>of</strong> war 岑 参 ... 羡 慕 壮 武<br />
的 将 军 ... 常 赞 颂 战 争 的 伟 大 . See Lu Kanru 陆 侃 如 Feng Yuanjun 冯 沅 君 Zhongguo shishi (zhong juan) 中 国 诗 史<br />
[ 中 卷 ] (Hong Kong: Guwen shuju 古 文 书 局 , 1961), p. 437. Cen Shen also wrote poems which included windows into<br />
frontier battles themselves, among which the most notable are “The Song <strong>of</strong> Luntai: Presented When Escorting Military<br />
Commissioner Feng Leaving With His Troops on a Western Campaign (“Luntai ge song fengdafu chushixizheng” 轮 台<br />
歌 奉 送 封 大 夫 出 师 西 征 ) and “The Ballad <strong>of</strong> Running Horse River: Presented Upon Escorting My Lord Feng Leaving<br />
With His Troops on a Western Campaign” (“Zoumachuanxing song Fengdafu chushixizheng” 走 马 川 行 奉 送 封 大 夫 出<br />
师 西 征 ). As this section <strong>of</strong> the thesis is a discussion <strong>of</strong> High Tang attitudes towards, and not depictions <strong>of</strong>, frontier war,<br />
I've chosen at this time not to include any analysis <strong>of</strong> these works. However, important characteristics involved in the<br />
rendering <strong>of</strong> frontier environments found in these poems will be addressed later in the thesis.<br />
57<br />
Ren Wenjing suggests that although Han dynasty allusions were frequent in Early and High Tang frontier poetry,<br />
employed as a means by which an atmosphere <strong>of</strong> heroism, prosperity, martial spirit and grandiosity could be conveyed,<br />
the connotations <strong>of</strong> such allusions differed between the two times. In the Early Tang, the insertion <strong>of</strong> admired Han<br />
generals <strong>of</strong>ten reflected a poet-narrator's desire to toss aside the pen and seek fame and fortune through military service.<br />
But by the High Tang, use <strong>of</strong> such allusions had become more complex and intimately woven into specific frontier<br />
circumstances in which reference to a Han general could signal disappointment with contemporary frontier policies,<br />
implying that wise council and heroic deeds could only be found during a (somewhat) distant golden age. See Ren<br />
Wenjing, Tangdai biansaishi de wenhua chanshi, p. 33 and Ren Wenjing “Luo Binwang de biansaishi”, pp. 13-14.<br />
However, the variegated use <strong>of</strong> Han dynasty martial allusions in the High Tang could also insinuate that current military<br />
feats actually outshone their Han cousins' deeds; an example <strong>of</strong> this positive reinforcement <strong>of</strong> the present is seen through<br />
Cen Shen's hyperbolic praise <strong>of</strong> Feng Changqing, a general against whom the Han dynasty Er Shi (Li Guangli) cannot<br />
measure.<br />
58<br />
Non-Chinese people <strong>of</strong> ancient western China.