YUEFU

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INTRODUCTION

China, as serious as the country ever is, took its poetry quite seriously. The word Yuefu, the poetry style we are going to explore today, was actually first used to describe an organization tasked with collecting and writing lyrics. What am I talking about? Let's take a quick look.

WHAT IS YUEFU?

Yuefu are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style. The term initially meant "Music Bureau" and referenced the imperial Chinese governmental organization tasked with collecting and writing lyrics. Later on, it began referencing imitations and adaptations of the Music Bureau's poems. It covers original folk songs, court imitations, and versions by known poets. (2)

ORIGIN

The word yuefu came into being in the Qin dynasty. Yue means music, while fu means bureau, hence Music Bureau, as already mentioned. It is especially connected to Han poetry of the Han dynasty. (2)

CHARACTERISTICS

The lines can be of uneven lengths, especially the early works. Later on, the five-character fixed-line length became common, but length still varies depending on the style. It was also known for its social realism and strong narrative plots. The patterns of new yuefu can be quite free or can take the form of five characters per line or the seven-character per line poems; however, the topics are often conventional. (2)

YUEFU THROUGHOUT HISTORY

Han Yuefu was known for their traditional, realistic approach to the Shi Jing. In the final years of the Han dynasty, poets focused their attention on writing literary yuefu, that is, yuefu inspired by or imitating the Music Bureau pieces. During the Jian'an period and into the Three Kingdoms period, Yuefu began to be more personally emotional. The more common 5-character style, using five-character quatrains, appeared in the Six Dynasties era. In the Tang dynasty, the new yuefu style appeared. (2)

CONCLUSION

Yuefu are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style. The word yuefu came into being in the Qin dynasty. Yue means music, while fu means bureau, hence Music Bureau. The lines can be of uneven lengths, especially the early works. Later on, the five-character fixed-line length became common.

SOURCES

1. Image was created via canva.com.

2. Wikipedia. Yuefu. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuefu