The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry (9 page)

In regulated verse, the key tonal positions in the five-character lines are 2, 4, and 5. There are two basic rules governing the arrangement of the tones: within a pair of lines, characters placed at the key tonal positions should always form a contrast between a smooth tone and a sharp tone, while between the paired lines, i.e., in the second line of a preceding pair and the first line of the pair to follow, characters placed at positions 2 and 4 should actually share a tone in the same category (either a smooth tone or a sharp tone), though the contrast at the end positions is still maintained. Here is the tonal chart for Du Fu's poem “Gazing in Springtime”:

The musicality of the lines is best explored by their intrinsic tonal qualities since the first rule guarantees a tonal yin-yang balance
within a pair, while the second rule helps to break the monotony of repeating the same pattern in the next pair. Depending on the first line, many different tonal charts can be worked out for regulated verse. If it is a seven-character verse, an extra key tonal position (position 6) is added, and the basic rules remain the same. To write regulated verse is often compared to dancing in chains. Many poets enjoyed their chains and wrote great works in this restrictive and elegant form.

After the maturity of regulated verse (both five-character and seven-character forms) in the Tang dynasty, the essence of the verse tradition was stabilized, coming to include both the old forms (unregulated)
and the new forms (regulated)
, the long forms
and the short forms
By the end of the Tang dynasty, regulated verse had become the dominant form in poetry writing, and yet the pleasures of its symmetry began to be outweighed by the negative impact of its restrictive form. Though
shi
poetry continued to be written in the Song and later dynasties, the stage was set for new forms to gain predominance, and to revitalize the tradition.

The Song Dynasty and Lyric Songs

Verses in the
shi
tradition written in the Song dynasty (960–1279) are manifestly different from Tang poetry. As a reaction to the Tang tradition, Song verses appeal more to human intellect than to emotions. As a result, the poet's individuality often becomes hidden behind the form and wit. On a sociopolitical level, there was also a major change in the notion of poetry: it was now more a vehicle for ideology than an expression of self. Nonetheless, human emotions and individuality always need an outlet in poetry, and so lyric songs
prospered in the Song dynasty. In fact, poets were already experimenting with this new form of poetry in the Tang dynasty, even though they were considered only “leftovers of poetry”
composed to fill in fixed tunes. The best-known lyric poet using this form in the transitional period between the Tang and Song dynasties was Li Yu, a Southern Tang emperor who lost his throne and palace to the Song court, was taken captive, and then was poisoned
for writing lyric songs mourning his lost state. In the Song dynasty many masters of lyric songs emerged who authentically expressed their personalities and experiences in this form. To illustrate the difference between lyric songs and verses, we should take a close look at a poem written by Li Yu:

When we compare this poem to Du Fu's “Gazing in Springtime,” there are some obvious differences. With its form determined by specific tunes, a lyric song often consists of a mixture of long and short lines (hence this form is also called long-and-short lines
Meanwhile, its rhyme scheme does not always fall on even lines. As a lyric song is supposedly to be appreciated by the ear, it is naturally easier to understand than a
shi
verse, which is presented in written form, to be read and reread many times. In comparison with parallel movement prescribed by the paired symmetrical lines in verse, the movement in a lyric song is normally linear and narrated from a fixed perspective. Moreover, the poem is often set at a clearly perceivable geographical location. As a result, the points of entry and and exit in a lyric song are more distinct than those in a verse, which sometimes gives the Western reader a sense of an abrupt beginning followed by an unexpected ending with no fixed location. The high-water mark in poetry of the Song dynasty was reached by lyric songs; however, as with
shi
verse after the
High Tang, lyric songs became too regulated and refined by the end of the Song dynasty, and the momentum and vitality of the form were lost.

Though China's history is one of unending conquest and invasion, of rising and falling dynasties, sometimes in quick succession, the Mongolian invasion of China in the thirteenth century was a particularly important watershed in Chinese poetic writing. During this period, known as the Yuan dynasty (1280–1367), Confucian scholars and literati poets were ranked number nine on the social ladder, between prostitutes and beggars. For about a hundred years the world of Chinese poetry shrank to its smallest size, even as the actual territory of China expanded considerably. The only literary form encouraged by the Mongolian rulers was Yuan opera, and so opera songs, or arias (
qu
), rose in importance and became the dominant form in poetry writing. The specific term for songs intended to be sung in the theater is “dramatic aria” (
xiqu
). Most of the opera songs selected for this anthology were composed as
“
separated arias” (
sanqu
), arias written to be totally independent from plays. Here is an example by Ma Zhiyuan: