Cen Can (岑参 c. 715 – 770), a native of Jiangling, Jingzhou (present-day Jingzhou, Hubei Province), was a representative poet of the High Tang frontier fortress poetry school. Born into an official family, he passed the jinshi examination in the third year of the Tianbao era (744 AD). He ventured beyond the frontier twice, serving in the military staff of Gao Xianzhi, the Military Governor of Anxi, and Feng Changqing, the Military Governor of Anxi-Beiting. In his later years, he rose to the post of Prefect of Jazhou, earning him the sobriquet “Cen Jazhou.” His poetry is renowned for its frontier themes, characterized by a majestic and splendid style. He excelled particularly in seven-character ancient verse, skillfully depicting the scenery beyond the passes and military life. In Song of White Snow in Farewell to Secretary Wu Going Back to the Capital, the lines “Suddenly, as if a spring breeze came overnight, / Thousands of pear trees burst into bloom” use spring imagery to describe winter snow, displaying extraordinary imagination. In Song of Running Horse River in Farewell to General Feng on His Western Expedition, the lines “Have you not seen the Running Horse River rushing by the snowy sea, / The vast desert with yellow sand stretching to the sky?” vividly capture the boundless desolation of the frontier. He was equally famous as Gao Shi, and together they were called “Gao-Cen.” The poet Lu You praised him, saying, “After Li Bai and Du Fu, he stands alone.” His collected works, Cen Jazhou Ji, have been handed down through the ages.
