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63
铁 门 关 西 月 如 练
双 双 愁 泪 沾 马 毛
飒 飒 胡 沙 迸 人 面
丈 夫 三 十 未 富 贵
安 能 终 日 守 笔 砚
67
West of Iron Gate Pass 66 the moon is like white silk
Pair after pair of sorrowful tears wet the horse's coat
Hu desert sands whoosh and blast one's face
A man of thirty yet to have fortune or rank
How can he spend his days keeping himself to brush and
ink slab 68
But in keeping with the diverse stances towards the frontier prevalent during the High Tang
period, Cen Shen's poems did have occasion to doubt the allure of fame and recognition embedded
within the motivation for serving on the frontier, a waning of enthusiasm possibly born of the long
length of time Cen Shen spent in the northwestern regions. 69 A pithy instance of this wavering support
for the dream of officially acknowledged success is found in the stark and monotonous 70 quatrain
“Composed at Sunset in Heyan Desert” 71 (“Rimoheyanji zuo” 日 没 贺 延 碛 作 ):
66
The pass is to the mountain's north-west.
67
CSJJZ, pp. 79-80.
68
An urgency behind attaining rank and status by establishing one's credentials through frontier service, and the
impossibility of such a reality coming to fruition when one is fully occupied by clerical duties, is reinforced through Cen
Shen's allusion in the poem's final two lines to the biography of Ban Chao in The Latter History of the Han ( 后 汉 书 . 班
超 传 ): “Ban Chao's family was poor, though he was often hired by local officials to copy texts for which he received
remuneration to take care of his family. As time passed, the work became very toilsome so Ban Chao quit and tossed
aside his brush, sighing: 'A real man lacking a strategy for his ambitions ought to follow the example of Fu Jiezi and
Zhang Qian and go abroad to establish his merit and become enfeoffed. How can one spend ages at this type of clerical
work?' Those around Ban Chao all laughed at him. Ban Chao replied: ' How would you people know of heroic
ambitions!' 家 贫 , 常 为 官 佣 书 以 供 养 . 久 劳 苦 , 尝 辍 业 投 笔 叹 曰 : 大 丈 夫 无 它 志 略 , 犹 当 效 傅 介 子 , 张 骞 立 功 异 域 ,
以 取 封 侯 , 安 能 久 事 笔 研 闲 乎 ? 左 右 皆 笑 之 。 超 曰 : 小 子 安 知 壮 士 志 哉 !” See Yang Jialuo 杨 家 骆 ,ed., Houhanshu
后 汉 书 (Taipei: Dingwen shuju, 1994), p. 1571. The conclusion of the poem is somewhat ironic given how in “Western
Area of Beiting: Presented to Lord Feng on His Army's Return After Receiving Enemy's Surrender” (“Beitingxijiao
houfengdafu shoujianghuijun xianshang” 北 庭 西 郊 侯 封 大 夫 受 降 回 军 献 上 ) Cen Shen seems thankful for his
scholastic status; the clerical position it has afforded him on the frontier has lead to indirect military glory through
association with and recognition from one of the region's great martial figures, Feng Changqing: “Two years ago you
[Feng Changqing] hacked away at Loulan/ Last year you pacified Yuezhi/ With each passing day you receive the
emperor's special attention/ You will be recommended by the court/I am so fortunate to be a scholar/Unexpectedly I
receive recognition from a national figure” 前 年 斩 楼 兰 , 去 岁 平 月 支 ; 天 子 日 殊 宠 , 朝 廷 方 见 推 . 何 幸 一 书 生 , 忽 蒙 国
士 知 ”. See CSJJZ, p. 150.
69
Hong Zan, Tangdai zhanzhengshi yanjiu, p. 97.
70
The grinding sameness of the frontier is also found within the earlier composition “Setting Off Early from Yanqi and
Thinking of my Villa at Zhongnan” (“Zaofa Yanqi huai Zhongnan bieye” 早 发 焉 耆 怀 终 南 别 业 ). Written during Cen
Shen's initial posting at Anxi, battle, and not diurnal solar cycles, marks the numbing repetitiveness of being stationed on
the frontier: “Alone beyond the Lu clouds/ Ten-thousand li west of the Hu sky/ All day I see armies set out on
campaigns/ Year after year I hear battle drums” 一 身 虏 云 外 , 万 里 胡 天 西 . 终 日 见 征 战 , 连 年 闻 鼓 鼙 . CSJJZ, p. 85.
71
Heyan desert (Heyanqi 贺 延 碛 ) , also known as Mohe desert (Moheqi 莫 贺 碛 ), is located north-east of present day
Hami 哈 密 city in Xinjiang province. The CSJJZ sets the time of composition at around 754 (the thirteenth year of the
Tianbao reign 天 宝 十 三 载 ) while Cen Shen was travelling to Beiting 北 庭 from Chang'an after having been appointed
to the staff of Feng Changqing. Interestingly, the editor of Cen shen biansaishi xuan 岑 参 边 塞 诗 选 claims that the