Everything about Chinese Poetry totally explained
Chinese Poetry is the most highly regarded
literary genre in China. Traditionally, it's divided into
shi (詩),
ci (詞) and
qu (曲). There is also a kind of
prose-poem called
fu (賦). During the modern period, there also has developed
free verse in Western style. All the traditional forms of Chinese
poetry are
rhymed, but not all rhymed texts in ancient China are classified as poetry - for instance, lines from
I Ching are often rhymed, but it isn't considered poetry. (Compare the
Pre-Socratic philosophical works in
ancient Greece which are in the form of poetry.)
Early poetry
There could have been a number of important anthologies of early poetry in ancient China, but since the
burning of books by
Qin Shihuang, the earliest extant anthologies are the
Shi Jing and
Chu Ci, dating to the
Spring and Autumn Period and the
Warring States Period, respectively.
Shi Jing (詩經 "Classic of Poetry") was the first major surviving collection of Chinese poems, collecting both aristocratic poems (Odes) and more rustic poetry, probably derived from folksongs (Songs). They are mostly composed of four-character (四言) lines.
A second, more lyrical and romantic anthology was
Chu Ci (楚辭 "Songs of Chu"), made up primarily of poems ascribed to
Qu Yuan and his follower
Song Yu. These poems are composed of lines of irregular lengths, in the style prevalent in the state of
Chu.
Classical poetry
During the
Han Dynasty, the
Chu Ci-type of lyrics evolved into
fu. During the
Six Dynasties,
fu remained a major poetic genre, and together with
shi formed the twin generic pillars of Chinese poetry until
shi began to dominate during the
Tang dynasty.
From the Han Dynasty onwards, a process similar to the origins of
Shi Jing produced the
yue fu (樂府 "Music Bureau") poems. Many of them are composed of lines of five-character (五言) or seven-character (七言). These two forms of
shi were to dominate Chinese poetry until the modern era. They are divided into the original
gushi and
jintishi. The latter is a stricter form developed in the early Tang dynasty with rules governing the structure of a poem. The greatest writers of
gushi and
jintishi are often held to be
Li Bai and
Du Fu respectively.
Towards the end of the Tang dynasty, the
ci lyric became more popular.
Ci are literally new lyrics made up to fit to pre-existing tunes. Each of the tunes had music that was often lost, but retained a metre unique to the tune. Thus, each
ci written is labelled "To the tune of [TuneName]" (調寄[詞牌]), fits the metre and rhyme of the tune, and may or may not have been sung. Most closely associated with the
Song Dynasty,
ci most often expressed feelings of desire, often in an adopted persona, but the greatest exponents of the form (such as
Li Houzhu and
Su Shi) used it to address a wide range of topics.
As the
ci gradually became more literary and artificial after Song times,
Chinese Sanqu poetry (散曲), a freer form, based on new popular songs, developed.
Later classical poetry
After the Song Dynasty, both
shi and
ci continued to be composed until the end of the
imperial period, and to a lesser extent to this day. However, for a number of reasons, these works have always been less highly regarded than those of the Tang dynasty in particular.
Firstly, Chinese literary culture remained in awe of its predecessors: in a self-fulfilling prophecy, writers and readers both expected that new works wouldn't bear comparison with the earlier masters. Secondly, the most common response of these later poets to the tradition which they'd inherited was to produce work which was ever more refined and allusive; the resulting poems tend to seem precious or just obscure to modern readers. Thirdly, the increase in population, expansion of literacy, wider dissemination of works through
printing and more complete archiving vastly increased the volume of work to consider and made it difficult to identify and properly evaluate those good pieces which were produced. Finally the 1920s saw the rise of
vernacular literature, particularly opera and
novels, which increasingly became the main means of cultural expression.
Modern poetry
Modern Chinese poems (新詩 "new poetry") usually don't follow any prescribed pattern. Poetry was revolutionized after the
May Fourth Movement when writers try to use vernacular styles closer to what was being spoken (
baihua) rather than previously prescribed forms. Early 20th-century poets like
Xu Zhimo,
Guo Moruo and
Wen Yiduo sought to break Chinese poetry from past conventions by adopting Western models; for example Xu consciously follows the style of the
Romantic poets with end-rhymes.
In the post-revolutionary
Communist era, poets like
Ai Qing used more liberal running lines and direct diction, which were vastly popular and widely imitated.
In the contemporary poetic scene, the most important and influential poets are in the group known as
Misty Poets, who use oblique
allusions and hermetic references. The most important Misty Poets include
Bei Dao,
Gu Cheng,
Duo Duo, and
Yang Lian, all of whom were exiled after the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Chinese Poetry'.
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