We look at style from the perspective of rhyme. Cifu, eulogy, inscriptions, epitaphs and funeral offerings are generally rhythmic articles, which we call "rhyme". However, there are some complete rhymes and some incomplete rhymes. Some don't rhyme at all. The five rhymes are different and must be discussed separately.
1. Words and fu are complete rhymes, with rhyme from beginning to end (note: if the fu is orderly, of course there is no rhyme. )。 Therefore, the ancients often called poetry and fu together. Ban Gu's Preface to Fu in Two Cities says: "The giver also makes the ancient poems flow", and the Selected Works also puts the poems together (before the poems), which shows that Fu has always been regarded as close to poetry. Yao Nai said in "The Word Order of Ancient Chinese": "Words and fu should have rhyme, but there were some people in ancient times who didn't have rhyme." This statement is untrue. Mei Cheng's "Seven Hair" does not use rhyme completely, precisely because it is not a pure fu style. Yang Xiong's Street Dance and Han Yu's Jin Xuejie basically rhyme, but they are slightly modified.
2. Praise is also a complete poem. Although some eulogies are allowed to be organized (prose), such as Liu Zongyuan's Five Odes to Yi Yin, they are still rhymes, because rhymes are the main body of the whole article. Generally, there is no order of praise, and rhymes are used from beginning to end, such as Han Yu's ode to rural schools without destroying property.
Another kind of praise is different from praise. Praise is only a few conclusive words, usually four words, such as the praise at the back of each article in Wen Xin Diao Long. But this praise also rhymes from beginning to end.
Proverbs and inscriptions are also complete rhymes. Liu Yuxi's Humble Room Inscription has rhyme from the beginning, and it is based on "name, spirit, fragrance, green, tripod, classics, shape and pavilion" to the end. Only the last sentence doesn't rhyme.
4. The situation of epitaph is slightly different. The inscription of Fengchan still rhymes from surrender to the end. However, the inscriptions on the Ji Palace may not rhyme completely, especially after the Tang Dynasty, which means that the prose part is longer than the verse part. For example, most of Han Yu's Pinghuai Xibei is a preface.
Tombstones and epitaphs rhyme less (note: this is about the situation after the Tang Dynasty. There is an epitaph written by Ren Fang in Selected Works. On the contrary, it is a complete poem. )。 Generally speaking, narrative accounts for most of the space, which is slightly equal to one line and the last few lines of inscriptions. Take Ouyang Xiu's Epitaph of Mr. Culaishi as an example. The full text is more than a thousand words, and there are only 78 words in the end:
The rock of Culai is the virtue of Zi and what Lu people expect. The soup of Wenshui, like the way of a child, is far and long. The Tao is difficult to walk, and Confucius and Mencius are also floating clouds. The chariot of life is the light of all ages. Yue: I don't have a life, but I'm at home with my husband Huan Xuan and Sima Zangcang (note: Yi Tu) of the Song State in the Spring and Autumn Period. They want to kill Confucius. Zangcang, a courtier of Lu Ping, once prevented Lu Jun from seeing Mencius. )? Since ancient times, sages have been happy. Why did my son destroy it?
There are also epitaphs that don't rhyme, such as Liu Zihou's Epitaph by Han Yu, but that is a rare exception.
5. Mourning is close to ci. Wen Gu Ci Tan Lei classifies Jia Yi's Ode to Diaoqu Yuan as a kind of mourning, while Wenxuan regards it as a kind of mourning, which is on an equal footing with mourning. Eulogy is generally a complete poem, so it has the same nature as Ci Fu (from a linguistic point of view). Han Yu's "Sacrifice to Liu Zi Hou Wen" rhymes completely except for the first few sentences. Li Ao's "A Tribute to Han Shi Lang" rhymes from surrender to the end.
It is a custom of Song people that eulogies rhyme in a long distance and the sentences are uneven in length. Wang Anshi's official document commemorating Ouyang Wenzhong can be regarded as a representative.
There are also some poems that don't rhyme at all and are extremely rare. Han Yu's "Sacrifice to Twelve Langs" is an example.
Eulogy and mourning (or obituary) may be orderly. But after the Tang Dynasty, the eulogy was no longer orderly; On the contrary, funerals after the Tang Dynasty are generally long. Therefore, the eulogy is similar to the epitaph in form.
In addition to the above five categories, other styles may also use rhyme. For example, Liu Zongyuan's Preface to Yuxi Poetry is totally unnecessary in terms of genre, but there is rhyme in it:
Sing a silly song about silly flow, you will be at a loss, will not violate, but will be confused and return to the original place. Super HarmonyOS system, mixed with foreigners, lonely but I don't know. Among them, "violation" rhymes with "return" and "yi" rhymes with "knowledge" (it can also be considered that the four words rhyme together and can be regarded as a micro-bet).
In addition, some rhyming situations can often be seen in miscellaneous notes. Try to read a passage in Liu Zongyuan's The New Pavilion of Wei Shijun in Yongzhou;
The weeds were burned, the clear spring was cleared, and the strange scenery continued. Delicate and dirty, separated, beauty replaced desolation. Look at those trees, handsome and tall, with branches and leaves stretching; Look at the lake, rippling and winding. The rock is thick and thick, surrounded by it. Depending on its planting, it is delicate and comfortable; Depending on its storage, it will dissolve excess. The cave is deep and deep, and the stone mountain is towering. Or column or kneeling, or standing or servant, Joe suddenly, pile mound sudden anger. Among them, Wu rhymes with Tu, Qiu rhymes with Liu, Chu rhymes with Wei, Shu rhymes with Jiao, and servant rhymes with slave. Another example is a passage in Fan Zhongyan's Yueyang Tower:
If the husband rains heavily, he can't even open the moon. Evil wind whistling, turbid waves emptying; The sun, the moon and the stars are hidden, and the mountains are hidden. The business trip is bad and ruined. Twilight is boundless, tigers roar and apes crow. When you go to the temple building, you are homesick, sad, sad and sad. If it is spring, it will be calm. The sky is up and down, and there is a blue sky. Li Jing swims in Ji Xiang, Sha Ou. The coast is blue and green. It's still gone, the moon is thousands of miles away, the lights are glittering and the static shadows are heavy. How happy it is to answer the fisherman's song! If you go to the temple building, you will feel relaxed and happy, forget all the insults and leave the wine in the wind, which will make you happy! Among them, "Fei" and "Kai" rhyme (incomplete rhyme), "Empty" and "Xing" rhyme (incomplete rhyme), "Extinction" and "Crying" rhyme (incomplete rhyme), "Mock" and "Sadness", "Ming", "Quiet" and "Qing" rhyme. This is a free verse, its rhyme is intentional or unintentional, and it is not bound by any meter. Therefore, you can use incomplete rhyme, flat and even, and you don't have to abide by the rules of rhyme books (such as ridicule, sorrow, Ming, quietness, clearness, blue and extreme). The reason for this is to let readers feel the beauty of sonorous timbre when reading.
The practice of prose rhyming comes from far away. Prose in the pre-Qin period is often mixed with some rhymes (see Volume II, pages 499-500).