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position was clerical and relatively humble, opened potential avenues of personal success and
recognition when traditional routes to officialdom were otherwise closed. Gao Shi, in “Sending off
Attendant Censor Li on His Way to Anxi” (“Song Li shiyu fu Anxi” 送 李 侍 御 赴 安 西 ), validates this
significant aspect of the frontier as a distant land brimming with enticing potential for those seeking a
venue to display their capabilities:
行 子 对 飞 蓬 A traveller facing fleabane, 118
金 鞭 指 铁 骢 Golden whip driving an iron piebald horse. 119
功 名 万 里 外 Success and fame are ten-thousand li beyond,
心 事 一 杯 中 Concerns and worries are in a single cup.
虏 障 燕 支 北 Lu fortress 120 is north of Mount Yanzhi, 121
秦 城 太 白 东 Qincheng 122 is east of Taibai. 123
离 魂 莫 惆 怅 Do not be inconsolable as you head off,
124
看 取 宝 刀 雄 Look upon the strength of your precious dagger!
In a work dated one year prior to Gao Shi's poem 125 , Cen Shen made a similar assertion about
successful service on the frontier as a conduit to public acclaim, even adding a tone of envy for how in
his times eminence was often achieved through martial, and not scholastic, excellence:
火 山 六 月 应 更 热
Fire mountain 126 in the sixth month is even more scorching,
118
Literally “flying grass” in Chinese. Being easily stirred in all directions by gusts of wind, the grass referred
metaphorically to wandering travellers.
119
A horse whose coat is bluish-black.
120
A fortress built in the Han dynasty in what is now Inner Mongolia. Here the term is used to refer to the northwestern
frontier, Attendant Censor Li's destination.
121
Name of a mountain in today's Gansu province.
122
Chang'an 长 安 .
123
A peak of the Qinling 秦 岭 mountain range running from Gansu through Shaanxi and down to western Henan. The
position referred to here is that of Gao Shi at Chang'an.
124
GSJJZ, p. 206.
125
The GSJJZ posits “Sending Off Attendant Censor Li on His Way to Anxi” to be composed in752. See GSJJZ, p. 206 the
CSJJZ states that “Sending Off Vice Commissioner Li to the Government Army Quarters in the Western Desert” (“Song
Lifushi fuqixiguanjun” 送 李 副 使 赴 碛 西 官 军 ) was written in 751. See CSJJZ, p. 95.
126
Modern day Huoyan mountain ( 火 焰 山 ) located east of Turpan 吐 鲁 番 in Xinjiang province. The mountain's name
derives from red coloured sandstone on its slopes as well as the incredible dry heat of the area.