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attitudes which at times were able to break the well-entrenched paradigm of viewing such peoples
through the lens of a military enemy, can in part be ascribed to the increase in numbers of poetically
talented men whose employment led them to the frontier. 185 Unlike previous eras in which direct
experience rarely informed frontier poetry, many High Tang writers could now use an admixture of
tradition and local interactions in their borderland compositions. For instance, in Cui Hao's 催 颢 (d.
754) “Song: Hu People of Yanmen” (“Yamenhuren ge” 雁 门 胡 人 歌 ) local denizens are portrayed
without projecting an atmosphere of antagonism, becoming humanized through descriptions of their
non-militaristic customs as well as their preferences for alcohol over enemy annihilation:
高 山 代 郡 东 接 燕
At the towering mountains of Dai county 186 which
eastward meet up with Yan, 187
雁 门 胡 人 家 近 边 Are the Hu people of Yanmen, their homes near the border.
解 放 胡 鹰 逐 塞 鸟
能 将 代 马 猎 秋 田
山 头 野 火 寒 多 烧
They have the falconry skills to catch birds of the frontier,
They can ride Dai horses 188 and go on Autumn hunts.
In the mountains they light wild fires 189 , coldness turned
into swathes of burnt grass,
雨 里 孤 峰 湿 作 烟 From solitary mountain peaks in the rain damp smoke 190
rises.
闻 道 辽 西 无 斗 战
时 时 醉 向 酒 家 眠
192
Hearing that in Liaoxi county 191 there are no battles to
fight,
One can keep getting drunk and sleep in taverns.
Rather than borrowing the trope of barbarian berserkers relentlessly harassing the Tang border, Cui
185
Yan Fuling, “Han-Tang Biansaishi zhuti yanjiu”, p. 132, and Kam-lung Ng, “Tangdai biansaishi yanjiu”, p. 174.
186
Located in modern day Dai county 代 县 , Shanxi 山 西 province. See Wang Jun 王 军 Li Ye 李 晔 ed., Biansaishipai
xuanji 边 塞 诗 派 选 集 (Beijing: Capital Normal University Press 首 都 师 范 大 学 出 版 , 1994), p. 46.
187
Refers to Youzhou 幽 州 .
188
Famous breed of horse produced in northern Hu territory. See the opening of Cao Zhi's “Lyric on the Northern Wind”
(“Shuofeng shi” 朔 风 诗 ): “Raising my head and facing the northern wind/I think of the capital of Wei/I wish I could
gallop off on the back of Dai horse/and quickly head north” 仰 彼 朔 风 , 用 怀 魏 都 . 原 骋 代 马 , 倏 忽 北 徂 . See Wenxuan
zhu 文 选 注 2.8 in SKQS.
189
To smoke out prey for hunting.
190
Or mist.
191
Area of northeastern frontier.
192
QTS 130.1326.