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65<br />
exemplifying High Tang advancements in the treatment <strong>of</strong> frontier war, the poem can be read as<br />
presenting a dualist view 76 <strong>of</strong> the peripheral, yet ineradicable, phenomenon while exemplifying the<br />
elevation <strong>of</strong> High Tang frontier poetry:<br />
开 元 二 十 六 年 , 客 有 从 元 戎 出 塞 而 还 者 , 作 燕 歌 行 以 示 , 适 感 征 戍 之 事 , 因 而 和 焉 。<br />
In the twenty-sixth year <strong>of</strong> Kaiyuan 77 an acquaintance who had been accompanying Lord<br />
Censor Zhang 78 returned and showed me “The Song <strong>of</strong> Yan” which he had written. I was very moved<br />
by the matters <strong>of</strong> war and garrison defence found in the poem. As a result, I wrote this response.<br />
汉 家 烟 尘 在 东 北<br />
汉 将 辞 家 破 残 贼<br />
男 儿 本 自 重 横 行<br />
天 子 非 常 赐 颜 色<br />
Smoke and dust 79 <strong>of</strong> the Han 80 house is in the north-east,<br />
The Han general leaves home to crush the savage enemy.<br />
A man by nature values distant adventures,<br />
The emperor presents no ordinary praise and reward.<br />
摐 金 伐 鼓 下 榆 关<br />
Striking bells and beating drums 81 , descending from<br />
See Dai Weihua 戴 伟 华 “Gaoshi yangexing xinlun 高 适 < 燕 歌 行 > 新 论 Xueshu yanjiu 学 术 研 究 2010.12, pp.140-<br />
144. In a different essay, Hu Yong addresses the complexity <strong>of</strong> the work by reassessing the exegetical tradition behind<br />
the poem, one which stressed the work's anti-war and anti-corruption content. Hu Yong's interpretation suggests that the<br />
poem contains a high degree <strong>of</strong> praise for military feats on the frontier, an interpretation which augments the popular<br />
reading <strong>of</strong> the poem as a scathing exposure <strong>of</strong> inequality and decadence within the army. See Hu Yong 胡 勇 “Fengci<br />
haishi gesong: shilun Gao Shi 'Yange xing' de zhuzhi 讽 刺 还 是 歌 颂 : 试 论 高 适 〈 燕 歌 行 〉 的 主 旨 ”Mingzuo<br />
xinshang 名 作 欣 赏 2012.8, pp. 70-71.<br />
76<br />
Marie Chan specifies this dualistic, and distinguishing, quality as “High Tang frontier poetry['s] alternation between<br />
condemnation and condolence <strong>of</strong> the martial enterprise, and delight and distaste for the frontier”. See Marie Chan, Kao<br />
Shih, p. 95.<br />
77<br />
The non-dynastic calendar date being 738.<br />
78<br />
Reference here is to Zhang Shougui 张 守 圭 . “Between 733 and 736, [Zhang] inflicted a series <strong>of</strong> defeats upon the<br />
Qidan 契 丹 and Xi 奚 tribes which had troubled the northeast for some years...In 739, however, when Gao Shi wrote<br />
the poem Zhang's star was already on the wane [given how] three <strong>of</strong> his subordinates [had] forged an order in his name,<br />
attacked the remaining Xi tribes, and were soundly routed. Zhang attempted to cover up the incident without success and<br />
was demoted. Composed in the same year as this incident, the poem has [<strong>of</strong>ten] been interpreted as a veiled attack upon<br />
Zhang Shougui” . See Marie Chan, Kao Shih, pp. 158-159. But to read the poem in such narrow historical terms delimits<br />
both its aesthetic and ideological effects. “From 732 to 734, Gao Shi spent a significant time on the northern frontier and<br />
became quite familiar with all facets <strong>of</strong> military life”. See GSJJZ pp. 81-82; 'Song <strong>of</strong> Yan', in addition to any historical<br />
information it might suggest, can also be approached in light <strong>of</strong> Gao Shi's own extensive frontier experience as a<br />
condensation <strong>of</strong> Gao's observations and responses to the policies and practices <strong>of</strong> frontier warfare. See Yu Shiling 俞 士<br />
玲 “Gao Shi 'Yangexing 'xiaowei yushu fei hanhai, chanyu liehuo zhao langshan' kaoshi 高 适 《 燕 歌 行 》' 校 尉 羽 书<br />
飞 瀚 海 , 单 于 猎 火 照 狼 山 ' 考 释 ”Guji zhengli yanjiu xuekan 古 籍 整 理 研 究 学 刊 2000.4, pp. 31-33; 39.<br />
79<br />
Warnings that the Xi and Qidan are attacking (see GSJJZ, 82), or “a synecdoche for warfare”. See Stephen Owen, The<br />
Great Age <strong>of</strong> Chinese Poetry: The High T'ang (New Haven: Yale <strong>University</strong> Press, 1980), p. 374.<br />
80<br />
Meaning the Tang.<br />
81<br />
The influence <strong>of</strong> Southern dynasty frontier poetry is still clear when elements <strong>of</strong> “Song <strong>of</strong> Yan” are read against Liu