CHINESE POETRY

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INTRODUCTION

Poetry has always been highly regarded among the Chinese folk. It all began with Shijing, an anthology dating back to ancient China (11th to 6th century BCE). Chinese Poetry roughly divides into two main groups: Classical Chinese Poetry and Modern Chinese Poetry. Let's take a glance at them.

WHAT IS CHINESE POETRY?

Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language and is part of Chinese literature. (2)

While there are several different Chinese dialects, Chinese poetry is generally divided into only two separate groups: Classical Chinese poetry and Modern Chinese poetry. (2)

DIFFERENT POETRY STYLES

Classical Chinese poetry can further be divided into several different poetry forms. Among them are:

• Shijing

• Shi

• Chuci

• Ci

• Fu

• Qu

• Yuefu

Modern Poetry, known as Xinshi, New Poetry, encompasses:

• Free Verse

• Prose Verse

• New Formal Verse

• Concrete & Visual Poetry

CLASSICAL POETRY

SHIJING AND HUCI - WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Chinese poetry began with the famous Shijing and Chuci. The Shijing, also known as the Book of Songs, is a collection of Classical Chinese poetry dating back over two millennia into ancient China (11th to 6th century BCE). This anthology features poems with a very rigid four-character line structure. (2)

Chuci, on the other hand, is an anthology dating back to the Warring States period (circa 4th–3rd century BCE). The poems are emotional, mystical, political, and heavily filled with mythology. It finds its origins in Southern folk songs, shamanistic rituals, and the works of Qu Yuan. (3)

CI

Cí, also known as "song lyrics, is a chinese poetry form that dates all the way back to the Tang Dynasty, but peaked during the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE).

It is known for its use of various poetic meters derived from a base set of fixed pattern forms, using fixed-rhythm, fixed-tone, and line-lengths varying according to the model examples. (4)

FU

Fu is a form of Chinese rhymed prose that was the dominant literary form in China during the Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220). It is often translated as "rhapsody" or "poetic exposition". (5)

It came about in the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC and continued to be regularly used into the Song dynasty. Often, it were used as grand praises for the imperial courts, palaces, and cities. (5)

QU

Qu is a form of Classical Chinese Poetry consisting of words written in one of several certain, set tone patterns, based upon the tunes of various songs. The poems are lyrics with lines of varying lengths, set according to certain and specific, fixed patterns of rhyme and tone of conventional musical pieces. It is from the Yuan Dynasty. (6)

YUEFU

Yuefu are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style that cover original folk songs, court imitations, and versions by known poets. The term originally literally meant "Music Bureau". It was a reference to the imperial Chinese governmental organization originally charged with collecting or writing the lyrics.

MODERN POETRY

Modern Chinese Poetry refers to post-Qing dynasty (1644 to 1912) Chinese poetry.

FREE VERSE

Free verse is the dominant form of modern Chinese poetry. Emerging from the May Fourth Movement (1919), it breaks away from strict rhyming schemes and syllable counts, prioritizing natural speech rhythms.

PROSE VERSE

This form of Modern Chinese poetry is a blend of poetry and prose.

NEW FORMAL VERSE

New Formal Verse Poetry began its emergence in the 20th century. It blends Western poetic forms (like the sonnet) with the cadence and rhythm of the spoken Chinese language.

CONCRETE AND VISUAL POETRY

Concrete and visual poetry are experimental forms where the visual materiality of Chinese characters, spatial arrangement, and typography dictate the meaning. The were first popularized in Taiwan.

CONCLUSION

Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language and is part of Chinese literature. It is roughly divided into Classical Chinese Poetry and Modern Poetry. Classical Poetry encompasses Shijing, Shi, Chuci, Ci, Fu, Qu, and Yuefu. The forms that we can find in Modern Poetry, on the other hand, are free verse, prose verse, new formal verse, and concrete/visual poetry.

SOURCES

1. Image was created via canva.com

2. Wikipedia. Chinese Poetry. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_poetry

3. Wikipedia. Chu Ci. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Ci

4. Wikipedia. Ci (poetry). Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ci_(poetry)

5. Wikipedia. Fu (poetry). Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_(poetry)

6. Wikipedia. Yuefu (poetry). Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu_(poetry)