Cen Shen

Cen Shen (approximately 715-770), a frontier poet in the Tang Dynasty, was a native of Nanyang. He was the great-grandson of Cen Wenwen, a hero of Emperor Taizong's reign. He later moved to Jiangling. [1-2] Cen Shen was lonely and poor in his early years, so he studied with his elder brother and read all the historical records. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty became a Jinshi in Tianbao's third year (744), and initially led Cao to join the army. Later, he served in the army for two frontier fortresses. First, he served as Gao Xianzhi, secretary of the shogunate in Anxi. In the last years of Tianbao, Chang Qing was granted the title of magistrate of the shogunate when he was envoy to Beiting, Anxi. During the reign of Emperor Daizong, he served as the governor of Jiazhou (now Leshan, Sichuan), which was known as "Cen Jiazhou" in the world. He died in Chengdu in the fifth year of Dali (770). ► 577 poems

Controversy over character

Controversy over place of origin
Regarding Cen Shen’s place of origin, there are two theories in the academic circles: one is from Jiangling and the other is from Nanyang. Wen Yiduo's "Textual Textual Research of Cen Jiazhou" states that Cen Shen was a native of Jiangling (now Jiangling County, Hubei Province) in the Tang Dynasty. Various books call Cen a native of Nanyang, and Gai Congwang from his county. After that, Chen Tiemin and others wrote "Cen Shen Chronicle", which also agreed with the textual research of hearing and saying. However, some scholars later insisted on the "Nanyang" theory. For example, Ren Xiaorun's "A Study of Cen Shen's Birth Year and Birthplace" believed that Cen Shen's birthplace should be from Jiyang (now Nanyang, Henan) in the Tang Dynasty; Liao Li's "Tang Dynasty Household Registration System and Cen Shen's Place of Birth" based on the investigation of the Tang Dynasty household registration system hand, arguing that Cen Shen's native place should be "Nanyang"; Liu Kaiyang's "Chronological Notes of Cen Shen's Poems Collection·Cen Shen Chronicle" also believes that Cen Shen's "ancestral home is Jiyang, Nanyang, now Xinye County, Henan Province, and moved to Jiangling during the Liang Dynasty, now Jiangling County, Hubei Province." It seems also inclined to the Nanyang theory.

Examination of the dates of birth and death
There is no clear history of Cen Shen’s birth and death dates, and there has been no definite examination for a long time. There are many different opinions in the academic circles in this century:
1. Lai Yihui's "Cen Shen Chronicle" proves that Cen Shen was born in the sixth year of Kaiyuan (718 AD) and died in the fourth year of Dali (769 AD).
　2. Wen Yiduo's "Research on the Cenjiazhou System and Years" disagrees with Lai's theory. Through detailed research, it is believed that Cen Shen was born in the third year of Kaiyuan (715 AD) and died in the fifth year of Dali (770 AD) at the age of fifty-six. Later, Chen Tiemin's "Cenjiazhou System on the Nian Discussion" also agreed with this theory.
3. Cao Jiping's "Speculation on the Year of Cen Shen's Birth" also believes that the error in Lai's statement is obvious, but Mr. Wen Yiduo's testimony also has shortcomings. He believes that Cen Shen was born in the second year of Kaiyuan (714 AD), which is more accurate. Ren Xiaorun's "Test of Cen Shen's Birth Year and Place of Origin" also holds this view.
4． Liu Kaiyang's "A Brief Talk about Cen Shen and His Poems" believes that Cen Shen's birth year should be at least one year later than the year determined by Wen, that is, 716 AD, and he was fifty-five years old when he died in 770 AD.
5. Sun Yingkui's "Textual Research on the Year of Cen Shen's Birth" concluded that Cen Shen should have been born in 717 AD (the fifth year of Kaiyuan) through textual research on the year when Cen Shen was appointed official.

As for the year and month of Cen Shen's death, there are three theories in the academic circles: one is the first month of the fifth year of the Dali calendar (AD 770) based on Wen Yiduo's "Cen Jiazhou System Year Research"; the other is the fourth year of the Dali calendar proposed by Lai Yihui's "Cen Shen Chronicle". Guo Moruo's "Li Bai and Du Fu" believes that Wen Yiduo's consideration was not thorough. After his speculation, Cen Shen should have died in late December of the fourth year of the Dali calendar. First, according to Wang Xuncheng's "Textual Research on the Date of Cen Shen's Death", it is suspected that Shen Shen died of illness on the ship on his way back east around the tenth month of the Dali calendar. His place may have been in the Jia and Rong area, not in Chengdu.

Time test for visiting Heshuo
As for the time when Cen Shen visited Heshuo, Wen Yiduo has a more detailed research in his "Cen Jiazhou System Year Research". He believes that Cen Shen traveled to Heshuo in the 29th year of Kaiyuan. In the spring, he traveled from Chang'an to Handan, visited Jingxing, and arrived in Jizhou. In August, he traveled from Kuangcheng via Tieqiu to Huazhou, then returned to Yingyang. Chen Tiemin and others' "Chronology of Cen Shen" disagrees with the news and believes that Cen Shen visited Heshuo in the 27th year of Kaiyuan. In spring, it goes from Chang'an to Handan via ancient Yecheng, and then from Handan to Beiqiu. From Beiqiu to Jizhou in late spring. In April, he arrived in Dingzhou from Jizhou. Later we arrived at Jingxing. Arrive in Liyang and Xinxiang in winter.

The Skills of the Western Expedition
"The Song of Luntai Sends the Master Feng to the Western Expedition" and "The Walking Horse River Sends the Army to the Western Expedition" are two famous frontier poems written by Cen Shen. Regarding the background of these two poems, Wen Yi Most people think that it is "the work of Tianbao's Thirteenth Year of Winter Breaking and Sowing Immortals". This theory is followed by Li Jiayan's "Cen Poetry Series", Ma Maoyuan's "Selected Poems of the Tang Dynasty", Lin Geng, Feng Yuanjun's "Selected Chinese Poems of the Past Dynasties" and other annotations, and has great influence.

Chen Tiemin's "Discussions on the Cen Jiazhou System" proposed that these two poems refer to the same thing as "The Six Chapters of Xianfeng Dafu Pobo Immortal Kaige", which seems inappropriate, but no analysis is made. Hu Dajun's "Questioning the Ability of Cen Shen's "Western Expedition" Poems" starts from the actual historical geography of the frontier and examines the above two theories in detail. He believes that Wen Yiduo is correct in tying the two poems to the period after Tianbao's thirteenth year when Chang Qing was granted the title of imperial censor. Hu Wen believes that Chang Qing's defeat of the Immortals occurred between the late winter of the thirteenth year of Tianbao and the early spring of the following year. Cen Shen composed "Six Chapters of Victory Song" to praise it; and the Western Expedition described in "Luntai Song" and "Zouma Chuan" should have occurred in September of the thirteenth year, or before Chang Qing returned to the capital in September of the fourteenth year. Shortly after Hu Wen was published, Sun Yingkui wrote "Cen Shen's "Western Expedition" Poetry Skills and Relevant Frontier Place Names" to discuss with Hu Wen. Sun Wen believed that the Western Expedition and Poboxian were the same battle. I heard that it was true. " The "Western Expedition" was not only a campaign against Tubo invaders (rather than a campaign against Huihe), but also a campaign against Boxian, a rebel town supported by Tibet. Moreover, the geographical locations described in the three poems were also consistent, and there was no contradiction in the marching route and location. Hu Dajun's "Rediscussing the Ability of the "Western Expedition" - Reply to Comrade Sun Yingkui" once again emphasized that the "Western Expedition" and "Pobo Immortal" are not the same battle, and put forward some different views from Sun Wen on the understanding of the poetic meaning of the two poems.