TERMBASES
Shi (诗) is a major genre of ancient Chinese literature, the earliest literary form that emerged in China. Observing the requirements of a certain rhythm, rules of rhyming, number of characters, and type of verses, and using concise language and rich imagination, it reflects social life and conveys thoughts and emotions. Shi and wen (文) are two principal forms of ancient Chinese literature. Shi, as referred to by the ancient Chinese, consists of the older type of poetry and the latter type of poetry. It generally does not include ci (词 lyric) and qu (曲 melody), which appeared as literary genres after the Tang Dynasty. The older type of shi is also called gufeng (古风), meaning ancient style, which is a general appellation for all kinds of poetic forms produced prior to the latter type of shi, except the style employed in the odes of Chu. With relatively few restrictions in rules and forms, shi is not constrained by any antithetical arrangement or a fixed tone pattern, and its rhyme is fairly free. In addition, the length of a piece is not limited. A verse may have four, six, seven, or a mixed number of Chinese characters. The latter type of shi is also called gelüshi (格律诗), meaning poetry with fixed patterns. Its number of characters, rhyming, tone pattern, and antithetical arrangement are all strictly fixed. A poem of this type may contain four lines (known as jue 绝), each with five or seven characters, or eight lines (known as lü 律), each with five or seven characters. Occasionally, it is much longer than normal, expanding to one and a half dozen lines, which is referred to as pailü (排律). The difference between shi, and ci and qu is that the former is not set to music, while the latter may be set to music and sung. Shi has existed as a literary form for more than 2, 000 years in China. Ancient Chinese used shi to connect humans with nature, voice aspirations, and give expression to emotions. It embodied the spirit and aesthetic pursuits of literature and art in ancient China, which is very different from the West, which only sees poetry as a category of literature. In ancient China, Confucian thought played an important guiding role in poetic creation, while Daoist and Buddhist thoughts had a profound influence on the theory of poetry’s artistic conception. Since The Book of Songs was China’s earliest collection of poems, later generations also used shi to refer to The Book of Songs in particular.
A poem expresses aspirations in one’s heart. Zhi (志) here means the author’s aspirations, emotions, and thoughts. The concept of “poetry expressing aspirations,” first seen in the Confucian classic The Book of History, was hailed by Zhu Ziqing as the “manifesto” of Chinese poetry. Enriched by poetry critics through the generations, it was later established as a basic concept in Chinese literary criticism.
Poems originate from the poet’s heart-felt feelings. Lu Ji （261-303）of the Western Jin Dynasty said in “The Art of Writing” that a poet must have a surge of feeling deep in his heart before he could create a poem. This view, complementing the concept of “poetry expressing aspirations,” stresses the lyrical and aesthetic nature of literary works and echoes the evolution of literary tastes during the Wei and Jin dynasties. “Poetry springing from emotions” represents another viewpoint on the nature of poetry and literature in ancient China.
This expression highlights the connection between poetry and painting in their ability to create aesthetic imagery. This idea was first put forward by Su Shi（1037-1101）in his “Notes to Wang Wei’s Painting 'Mist and Rain over Lantian'.” Painting creates an aesthetic effect through images presented. Poetry, on the other hand, is a language art, which creates an aesthetic effect through the use of words. The former is an art that has shape but no sound, while the latter is an art that has sound but no shape. The term means that good poetry and painting should be fused so that a spontaneous and novel aesthetic realm can be created by a “picturesque poem” or a “poetic picture.” This idea of Su Shi’s had a far-reaching influence on the subsequent development of literature and painting in China.
Yuefu (乐府) poems were written in the Han Dynasty. Originally, yuefu was a government office set up by the imperial court to train musicians, collect folk songs and ballads, compose music, and match musical instruments to it. It later came to refer to folk songs and ballads collected, matched with music, and played by court musicians. Poems of this style represented a new creation of ancient folk songs and ballads in the years after The Book of Songs was compiled, and equaled The Book of Songs and Odes of Chu in importance. About 50 to 60 yuefu poems have been handed down to this day. They truthfully depicted various aspects of society at the time and revealed genuine emotions, thus creating a literary tradition reflecting ordinary people’s sentiments. In particular, yuefu poems were noted for their vivid depiction of women’s life. All poems that could be chanted or were written with yuefu themes were collectively called yuefu poems in later times.
Ci (词) originated in the Tang and the Five Dynasties, and developed to maturity as a new literary form in the Song Dynasty. Also known as “lyric with a melody,” “yuefu (乐府) poetry” or “long and short verses,” ci developed from poetry. Its main feature is that it is set to music and sung. Each piece of ci has a name for its tune. There are strict requirements for the number of lines and the number of characters as well as tone pattern and rhyming in different tunes. In terms of length, ci is divided into short lyrics, medium lyrics, and long lyrics. In terms of musical system, a piece of ci is usually divided into two stanzas of que (阕) or pian (片), as ancient Chinese called them. Occasionally, it consists of three or four stanzas, or just one. Thus, the music can be played once or many times. In terms of style, ci falls into the graceful and restrained school and the bold and unconstrained school. The former is delicate and sentimental, often describing family life and love, while the latter is bold and free, often expressing one’s vision about major social issues like the fate of the nation. Many literati and scholars of the Song Dynasty composed ci lyrics, which played a significant part in promoting its development. Today, ci is generally not set to music and sung. Rather, it is a literary form composed in accordance with the requirements of a music tune.
Qu (曲) is a literary form that came into being later than poetry and ci (词). It generally refers to the northern- and southern-style melodies created in the Song and Jin dynasties. Northern melodies were composed mostly with tunes in northern China and performed in northern dialect, while southern melodies had southern tunes and southern dialect. Since qu reached its peak in the Yuan Dynasty, it is generally known as Yuan qu or Yuan opera. Qu is similar to ci in form but is more flexible in sentence structure, and colloquial language is used. There are two main types of qu: one is northern zaju (杂剧) opera and southern chuanqi (传奇) opera； such qu is known as xiqu (戏曲) or juqu (剧曲). The other type is sanqu (散曲) or lyric songs, also known as qingqu (清曲). As with other forms of poetry, sanqu describes a scene, a sentiment or an event and can be sung, but it has no spoken parts or instructions for performers’ movements and expressions. Generally speaking, the old-style opera is much more accomplished and influential than sanqu. The Yuan period was a golden age in the development of Chinese opera. There are more than 80 known playwrights from that time. Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan (1251?-1321?), Bai Pu (1226-1306?), and Zheng Guangzu (?- 1324?) represent different styles from different stages of the Yuan opera, and they are recognized as the four leading Yuan opera writers. Yuan opera has distinctive plots and artistic appeal. Together with Tang and Song poetry and Ming and Qing fiction, it marks an important milestone in the historical development of Chinese literature.
Ci (词 a form of poetry with long or short verses which can be set to music and sung) and qu (曲 a form of rhyming compositions which can be set to music and sung) are a combined appellation for two kinds of literary styles. In Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature, they are listed at the very end of the “Collections” section (Qu is a sub-genre and is not listed in the table of contents). This is because according to the literary views of ancient scholars, poetry and essays were the only accepted tradition to express important ideas. To write in the form of ci (lyric) and qu (melody) was only seen as a minor skill showing a person’s talent. Sometimes, the combined appellation ciqu also refers to traditional opera and genres of performances featuring speaking and singing.
This term refers to a poetic style that chiefly explicated Laozi, Zhuangzi (369?-286 BC), Buddhism, and The Book of Changes. Metaphysical poetry emerged at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty and flourished during the subsequent Eastern Jin Dynasty. Represented by Sun Chuo (314-371), Xu Xun (314-361), Yu Liang (289-340), and Huan Wen (312-373), this genre featured the expounding of abstruse and metaphysical thinking in poetry. During the turbulent years of the Wei and Jin dynasties, scholars stayed away from politics and focused on the study of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Buddhism to explore abstruse and philosophical ideas unrelated to current social developments. By the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, this rarefied discourse found its way into writing, creating the metaphysical style of poetry, which later merged with landscape poetry.
Recluse poetry refers to poems written by literary figures who retreated to the remote mountains or countryside and expressed their sentiments through depicting this kind of life. Some Chinese scholars in the old days, having disdain for taking official position or were dissatisfied with political reality of the day, chose to live in seclusion in mountains and forests or in the countryside. They expressed their pursuit of a state of mind that transcended the worldly through depicting images of mountains, rivers, and other natural scenes. Tao Yuanming (365 or 372 or 376-427) is regarded as the forerunner of this genre. Inspired by his recluse lifestyle, many learned men in the post-Tang and Song period also sought solace and peace of mind in the mountains and countryside, thus giving rise to recluse poetry.
Poetry on history refers to poems written to convey a poet’s sentiments by reflecting on historical events or historical figures. A poem on history touched on historical events and expressed the poet’s historical insight as well as his emotional attachment to history. Such poems recounted, relived, revived, interpreted, or chanted about history. Some poets used historical figures or events as titles for such poems.
Landscape poetry, as the name suggests, describes the beauty and charm of natural scenery, and landscape poets express their emotions through extolling the enchanting scenery. Landscape poetry is characterized by vivid description of sights with rich and refreshing language. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, scholars who had fled war-torn homes in the north sought solace and escape in nature in the south, and this found expression in poetic description of mountain and river scenes. Xie Lingyun (385-433), a great poet of the late Eastern Jin and early Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, created this poetic style. He introduced the depiction of natural beauty into poetry writing, freeing poetry from bland and insipid moral preaching. Further developed by Xie Tiao (464-499), He Xun (?-518?), Yin Keng, and others, landscape poetry became an important literary school. It gained prominence in the Tang Dynasty, especially in the prime of Tang, during which such landscape poets like Wang Wei (701?-761) and Meng Haoran (689-740) distinguished themselves. Mid-Tang poets including Liu Changqing (?-789?), Wei Yingwu (737?-791), and Liu Zongyuan (773-819) also became famous for writing landscape poems. This gave rise to a new form of expression in poetry and a new trend of aesthetic appreciation.
A genre created by Tao Yuanming (365 or 372 or 376-427) of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, idyllic poetry depicts rural life and scenery. Taking country life as his favored theme, Tao Yuanming used plain language to portray rural scenes. His poems were unpretentious, refreshing, and natural, thus creating a far-reaching aesthetic conception and a lasting charm. Idyllic poetry represented a new stage in classical Chinese poetry and shaped poetic development in the Six Dynasties period and beyond.
Poems of this kind depicted frontier scenery as well as fighting along the northern border area and the life of soldiers garrisoned there. These poems described the scenic splendor north of the Great Wall, fierce war scenes, or hardships endured by frontier guards. Some of the works were about soldiers’ agony caused by long separation from families and about their homesickness, but many such poems also extolled their patriotism. Some of the works voiced the longing for reunion of women left at home when husbands and sons went to the frontier. Frontier poems showed the poets’ attitude towards and reflections on war, highlighting the tension between valuing individual lives and the need to respond to call to duty. The most compelling frontier poems were written in the Tang Dynasty. Frontier poems of later generations could not rival the powerful expression of Tang frontier poems.
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