尋源屢鑿空：初唐四傑的邊塞書寫

Poetic representation of the frontier appeared quite early in Chinese literary history, and frontier poetry became an important genre in Tang times (618–907). This new poetry underwent significant changes in the early Tang in the hands of four writers: Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin, and Luo Binwang, collectively referred to as the Four Elites of the Early Tang. The present study discusses their contributions to frontier poetry by focusing on the occurrences of imagery and toponyms related to locales on or beyond the borders of the Tang empire. Although only Luo Binwang had actual experience in military campaigns, all four poets wrote about the frontier. The discussion centres on three main factors that distinguish the verifiability of the geographical references in their works, namely: (1) the use of allusion; (2) the poetic conventions of Yuefu (Music Bureau); and (3) the poetic forms these poets chose. Copyright © 2013 香港中文大學 The Chinese University of Hong Kong.