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Cen Can

Tang poet of the frontier who twice served on army staffs in the far northwest, under Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, and later governed Jiazhou in Sichuan

Also known as Cen Jiazhou

Cen Can came from the Cen clan of Jiangling, whose ancestral seat was Nanyang; his great-grandfather Cen Wenben and great-uncle Cen Changqian had both been chief ministers. He passed the metropolitan examination in 744 and five years later joined the staff of Gao Xianzhi, protector-general of Anxi, as secretary; in 754 he went to Beiting as an administrator under Feng Changqing. On these two tours beyond the passes he wrote long ballads such as the Song of White Snow, seeing off Assistant Wu and the Ballad of Zouma River, which describe snow, desert winds and armies on the march around the Tianshan. In 757 Du Fu and others recommended him as a remonstrance official, and early in the Dali reign he became prefect of Jiazhou, the source of his name Cen Jiazhou. Dismissed and unable to travel home down the Yangzi, he died in Chengdu, generally dated to 770. Du Que, who compiled his poems, wrote that each new piece was copied out by everyone.

Life and times

  1. c. 715 CEBornTang
  2. c. 770 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Poetry6
    1. Song of White Snow in Farewell to Assistant Magistrate Wu Returning to the CapitalTangCen Shen's frontier song of farewell in the snow, where the drifts bloom like pear blossom
    2. On the Double Ninth with the Army, Thinking of My Old Home in Chang'anTangCen Shen spends the Double Ninth with the army, thinking of his home in occupied Chang'an
    3. Meeting an Envoy Bound for the CapitalTangCen Shen's quatrain on the road west to Anxi, sending word home with an envoy to the capital
    4. Sent to Du, Reminder in the ChancelleryTangCen Shen writes to his colleague Du Fu, his praise of the court edged with quiet complaint
    5. Climbing the Zongchi PavilionTangCen Shen looks down on the Wei valley from a temple tower and longs to serve the Buddha
    6. +1 more
      1. Replying to Secretary Jia Zhi of the Secretariat on the Morning Audience at Daming PalaceTangCen Can answers Jia Zhi's poem on a dawn court and praises it as too fine to match
  2. Literature · Sayings2
    1. Pear Blossoms Open on Ten Thousand TreesTangLine from Cen Shen's Song of White Snow: frontier snow like pear blossom on every tree
    2. As if a Spring Wind Came OvernightTangLine from Cen Shen's Song of White Snow: overnight the frontier looks like spring