View/Open - University of Victoria
View/Open - University of Victoria
View/Open - University of Victoria
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91<br />
the physically immediate scene <strong>of</strong> the third and fourth lines in which both local music and religious<br />
custom unfold. However, given that the widest delineation within which the events unfold – the frontier<br />
– is a periphery <strong>of</strong> frequent instability, not even a noteworthy local religious celebration can seduce<br />
both observant eyes from the ever restive horizon. 200<br />
These poems by Wang Wei, Gao Shi and Cui Hao exemplify that subtype <strong>of</strong> frontier poem<br />
whose thematic content is derived from descriptions <strong>of</strong> local people and customs, a pseudoethnographic<br />
record <strong>of</strong> the non-Chinese inhabiting China's borderlands. With these northern climes<br />
being the temporary homes <strong>of</strong> many men <strong>of</strong> letters (wenshi 文 士 ) serving in non-combat roles on the<br />
frontier, observation <strong>of</strong> and interaction with the people and culture <strong>of</strong> the immediate area was<br />
impossible to avoid; 201 the recently cited poems can testify to these non-imagined encounters. However,<br />
the content <strong>of</strong> these cited compositions reveal only the larger world <strong>of</strong> the frontier exclusive <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Chinese presence. Within this large expanse were army encampments in which Chinese and non-<br />
Chinese socialized with one another beyond the battlefield. Frontier poems capturing these scenes are<br />
able to present aspects <strong>of</strong> local peoples and customs difficult to access without the close intimacy<br />
afforded by meetings and celebrations held within military camps.<br />
The local world as witnessed through gatherings between native and non-native peoples in<br />
Chinese army camps and barracks falls under the near exclusive purview <strong>of</strong> Cen Shen's contribution to<br />
the subgenre. 202 In many frontier poems, such sites, like the surrounding frontier itself, were places<br />
lacking any hint <strong>of</strong> warmth, joy or curiosity in matters unrelated to military conflict. 203 In fact, when a<br />
200<br />
Ren Wenjing, Zhongguo gudai biansaishishi, p. 186.<br />
201<br />
Li Mei, “Shilun Luo Binwang, Cen Shen biansaishi de wenhua guanzhao”, p. 159.<br />
202<br />
Besides supplementing the frontier subgenre with more than a few notable examples, these poems, with their “allusions<br />
to [the] feasting...music and dancing that went on at these isolated Chinese camps and Government-houses”, are also <strong>of</strong><br />
“considerable value from an ethnological, historical and topographical point <strong>of</strong> view”. See Arthur Waley, “A Chinese<br />
Poet in Central Asia”, in Arthur Waley, The Secret History <strong>of</strong> the Mongols and Other Pieces (London: George Allen &<br />
Unwin Ltd., 1963), pp. 39-40; 45.<br />
203<br />
One notable exception outside <strong>of</strong> Cen Shen's oeuvre is Gao Shi's “Accompanying Censor Dou on a Cruise on Lingyun<br />
Lake” (Pei Doushiyu fanlingyunchi” “ 陪 窦 侍 御 泛 灵 云 池 ) in which, as noted in chapter two <strong>of</strong> this thesis, the frontier<br />
suddenly becomes a place <strong>of</strong> leisure and socializing.