Chinese poetry

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain" by Emperor Gaozong
Lijiang City, Yunnan
.

Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, and a part of the Chinese literature. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernacular forms of the language, its poetry generally falls into one of two primary types, Classical Chinese poetry and Modern Chinese poetry.[1][2]

Poetry is consistently held in high regard in China, often incorporating expressive folk influences filtered through the minds of Chinese literati.[3] Poetry provides a format and a forum for both public and private expressions of deep emotion, offering an audience of peers, readers, and scholars insight into the inner life of Chinese writers across more than two millennia.[4] Chinese poetry often reflects the influence of China's various religious traditions.[5]

ci (詞/词) and qu (曲). There is also a traditional Chinese literary form called fu (賦/赋), which defies categorization into English more than the other terms, but perhaps can best be described as a kind of prose-poem.[2] During the modern period, there also has developed free verse in Western style. Traditional forms of Chinese poetry are rhymed, but the mere rhyming of text may not qualify literature as being poetry; and, as well, the lack of rhyme would not necessarily disqualify a modern work from being considered poetry, in the sense of modern Chinese poetry.[1]

Beginnings of the tradition: Shijing and Chuci

The earliest extant anthologies are the Shi Jing (詩經) and Chu Ci (楚辭).[2] Both of these have had a great impact on the subsequent poetic tradition. Earlier examples of ancient Chinese poetry may have been lost because of the vicissitudes of history, such as the burning of books and burying of scholars (焚書坑儒) by Qin Shi Huang, although one of the targets of this last event was the Shi Jing, which has nevertheless survived.

Shijing

Main article: Classic of Poetry

The elder of these two works, the

folksongs
("Songs"). The Shijing poems are predominantly composed of four-character lines (四言), rather than the five and seven character lines typical of later Classical Chinese poetry. The main techniques of expression (rhetorics) are Fu (賦, Direct elaborate narrative), bi (比, metaphor) and Xing (興, describe other thing to foreshadowing the main content).

Chuci

Main article: Chu Ci

In contrast to the classic Shijing, the

transliterated as the Chu Tz'u) consists of verses more emphasizing lyric and romantic features, as well as irregular line-lengths and other influences from the poetry typical of the state of Chu. The Chuci collection consists primarily of poems ascribed to Qu Yuan (屈原) (329–299 BCE) and his follower Song Yu, although in its present form the anthology dates to Wang I's 158 CE compilation and notes, which are the only historically reliable sources of both the text and information regarding its composition.[7] During the Han dynasty (206 BCE−220 CE), the Chu Ci style of poetry contributed to the evolution of the fu ("descriptive poem") style, typified by a mixture of verse and prose passages (often used as a virtuoso display the poet's skills and knowledge rather than to convey intimate emotional experiences). The fu form remained popular during the subsequent Six Dynasties period, although it became shorter and more personal. The fu form of poetry remains as one of the generic pillars of Chinese poetry; although, in the Tang dynasty, five-character and seven-character shi
poetry begins to dominate.

Han poetry

Main article: Han poetry

Also during the Han dynasty, a folk-song style of poetry became popular, known as yuefu (樂府/乐府) "Music Bureau" poems, so named because of the government's role in collecting such poems, although in time some poets began composing original works in yuefu style. Many yuefu poems are composed of five-character (五言) or seven-character (七言) lines, in contrast to the four-character lines of earlier times. A characteristic form of Han dynasty literature is the fu. The poetic period of the end of the Han dynasty and the beginning of the Six Dynasties era is known as Jian'an poetry. An important collection of Han poetry is the Nineteen Old Poems.

Jian'an poetry

Main article: Jian'an poetry

Between and over-lapping the poetry of the latter days of the Han and the beginning period of the Six Dynasties was Jian'an poetry. Examples of surviving poetry from this period include the works of the "Three Caos": Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi.

Six Dynasties poetry

Main article: Six Dynasties poetry
Jin dynasty

The Six Dynasties era (220–589 CE) was one of various developments in poetry, both continuing and building on the traditions developed and handed down from previous eras and also leading up to further developments of poetry in the future. Major examples of poetry surviving from this dynamic era include the works of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, the poems of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, the Midnight Songs poetry of the four seasons, the great "fields and garden" poet "Tao Yuanming", the Yongming epoch poets, and the poems collected in the anthology New Songs from the Jade Terrace, compiled by Xu Ling (507–83). The general and poet Lu Ji used Neo-Taoist cosmology to take literary theory in a new direction with his Wen fu, or "Essay on Literature" in the Fu poetic form.

Tang poetry

Main article: Tang poetry

A high point of classical Chinese poetry occurred during the

lushi, a type of regulated verse with an eight-line form having five, six, or seven characters per line; ci (verse following set rhythmic patterns); and jueju (truncated verse), a four-line poem with five, six, or seven characters per line. Good examples of the jueju verse form can be found in the poems of Li Bai[8] and Wang Wei. Over time, some Tang poetry became more realistic, more narrative and more critical of social norms; for example, these traits can be seen in the works of Bai Juyi. The poetry of the Tang dynasty remains influential today. Other Late Tang poetry developed a more allusive and surreal character, as can be seen, for example, in the works of Li He and Li Shangyin
.

Song poetry

Main article: Song poetry

By the Song dynasty (960–1279), another form had proven it could provide the flexibility that new poets needed: the ci (词/詞) lyric—new lyrics written according to the set rhythms of existing tunes. Each of the tunes had music that has often been lost, but having its own meter. Thus, each ci poem is labeled "To the tune of [Tune Name]" (调寄[词牌]/調寄[詞牌]) and fits the meter and rhyme of the tune (much in the same way that Christian hymn writers set new lyrics to pre-existing tunes). The titles of ci poems are not necessarily related to their subject matter, and many poems may share a title. In terms of their content, ci poetry most often expressed feelings of desire, often in an adopted persona. However, great exponents of the form, such as the Southern Tang poet Li Houzhu and the Song dynasty poet Su Shi, used the ci form to address a wide range of topics.

Yuan poetry

Main article: Yuan poetry

Major developments of poetry during the

Chinese Sanqu poetry (散曲), a freer form based on new popular songs and dramatic arias, that developed and lasted into the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Examples can be seen in the work of playwrights Ma Zhiyuan 馬致遠 (c. 1270–1330) and Guan Hanqing
關漢卿 (c. 1300).

Ming poetry

Main article: Ming poetry

The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) poets include Gao Qi (1336–1374), Li Dongyang (1447–1516), and Yuan Hongdao (1568–1610).

Ming-Qing Transition

Ming-Qing Transition includes the interluding/overlapping periods of the brief so-called

Manchu Qing dynasty are the so-called Three Masters of Jiangdong: Wu Weiye (1609–1671), Qian Qianyi (1582–1664), and Gong Dingzi
(1615–1673).

Qing poetry

Main article: Qing poetry

The

imperial period
.

Post-imperial Classical Chinese poetry

Both shi and ci continued to be composed past the end of the

imperial period; one example being Mao Zedong, former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
, who wrote Classical Chinese poetry in his own calligraphic style.

Modern (post-classical) poetry

Main article: Modern Chinese poetry

ci closer to what was being spoken (baihua) rather than previously prescribed forms.[1][3] Early 20th-century poets like Xu Zhimo, Guo Moruo (later moved to the proletarian literature) and Wen Yiduo sought to break Chinese poetry from past conventions by adopting Western models.[1] 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.

At the same time, in Taiwan has flourished modernist poetry, including avant-garde and surrealism, led by Qin Zihao (1902–1963) and Ji Xian (b. 1903). Most influential poetic groups were founded in 1954 the "Modernist School", the "Blue Star", and the "Epoch".[1][9]

In the contemporary poetic scene, the most important and influential poets are in the group known as

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. A special case is the mystic poet Hai Zi, who became very famous after his suicide.[1][10][11]

However, even today, the concept of modern poetry is still debated. There are arguments and contradiction as to whether modern poetry counts as poetry. Due to the special structure of Chinese writing and Chinese grammar, modern poetry, or free verse poetry, may seem like a simple short vernacular essay since they lack some of the structure traditionally used to define poetry.[1]

See also

General

Poetry works and collections

Further information:
List of Classical Chinese poetry anthologies

Individual poets

Lists of poets

Important English translators

English-language translation collections

Technical factors of poetry

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Greene 2012a.
  2. ^ a b c Greene 2012b.
  3. ^ a b Greene 2012c.
  4. ^ Cai 2008, pp. xxi, 1.
  5. ^ Williams 2022.
  6. ^ Yip 1997, p. 31.
  7. ^ Yip 1997, p. 54.
  8. ^ 五言絕右丞，供奉(白曾供奉翰林，故云)，七言絕龍標，供奉，絕妙古今 ，別有天地。
  9. ^ Lupke 2017.
  10. ^ Klein 2017.
  11. ^ "A Brief Guide to Misty Poets". Poets.org. Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-10-19.

Bibliography

Sources

Further reading

External links
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