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