The works of ancient poetry are spectacular, and their types are also diverse. Here, we only analyze from the perspective of meter, and we can divide ancient poetry into two major categories: ancient poetry and modern poetry. Modern poetry, represented by rhymed poetry, has strict metrical requirements; accordingly, we generally refer to any modern poetry that is not bound by the rhythm of ancient poetry as ancient poetry. In addition, judging from the number of words in the poems, there are two main forms of poetry: five-character poems and seven-character poems. Therefore, this article will limit the discussion of ancient poetry rhythm to five-character or seven-character rhymed poetry.
Each verse has eight lines, each forming four couplets. They are called the first couplet, chin couplet, neck couplet and tail couplet in order. When talking about the rhythm of verse poetry, we mainly understand concepts such as "rhyme", "rhyme", "rhyme" and "counterpoint".
1. Rhyme
Rhyme is one of the basic elements of poetry rhythm. When poets use rhyme in their poems, it is called rhyme. There is no poetry (including ancient poetry, folk songs, etc.) that does not rhyme. The so-called rhyme is to put two or more words with the same rhyme in the same position (usually at the end of the sentence). The "rhyme" that is emphasized in the creation of ancient poems is not completely equivalent to the "finals" in modern Chinese pinyin. Therefore, the so-called "same rhyme" can be roughly understood as "the same or similar finals".
Example (1): Shu Huyin's wall (Wang Anshi in the Song Dynasty)
The eaves are often swept clean and free of moss, and the flowers and trees are planted by hand. A river of water protects the fields and surrounds them with green, and two mountains with rows of gates bring in green.
The rhymes of "moss", "zai" and "来" here are all "ai", which naturally belong to the "same rhyme", so they rhyme.
Example (2): Pastoral activities at four o'clock (Fan Chengda in the Song Dynasty)
Farming in the daytime and weaving hemp at night, the children of the village are responsible for their own affairs. The children and grandchildren are still working for farming and weaving, and they are also learning to grow melons near the mulberry tree.
The rhymes of "hema", "jia" and "melon" in this poem are "a", "ia" and "ua" respectively, but the main rhymes are all "a". The ancient rhymes are words with the same rhyme, so they also rhyme.
Example (3): Mountain Walk (Du Mu, Tang Dynasty)
Far up the Hanshan Mountain, the stone path is sloping, and there is a home deep in the white clouds. Stop and sit in the maple forest at night, the leaves are as red as the flowers in February due to frost.
Comparing the pronunciations of the three characters "Xie", "家" and "花", we can find that "xie", "jia" and "hua" should not be words with the same rhyme. However, in the Tang Dynasty, the word "Xie" was pronounced as "sia" (equivalent to xia), so at that time, they also rhymed. Therefore, when judging the rhyme problem of ancient poems, the evolution of pronunciation should also be taken into consideration, and it cannot be measured entirely according to the pronunciation of modern Chinese.
The ancients wrote rhyme poems in strict accordance with the official "rhyme book".
In rhythmic poetry, the even-numbered sentences such as the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth, that is, the endings of the couplets in each couplet, usually rhyme, and the third, fifth, and seventh sentences, that is, the sentences in each couplet are not rhymed. Rhyming, the first sentence of the whole poem may or may not be in rhyme (the first sentence of five rhymes is mostly not in rhyme, and the first sentence of seven rhymes is usually in rhyme); and, the rhymes (rhyming words) are generally flat-tone characters (i.e. Yinping, Yangpingdiao word). For example:
(1) Sending General Wei (Chen Ziang, Tang Dynasty)
The Huns are still not destroyed, and the Wei general returns to the army. I say farewell to the three rivers and chase the heroes of the six counties.
The Yanshan Mountain stretches across the north, and the fox plug connects to the clouds. Don't let Yan Ran come up, but leave Han generals to do their best.
(2) Ode to Coal (Yu Qian, Ming Dynasty)
Cut through the chaos to get black gold, which hides the deepest yang and meaning. The ardent fire burns brightly and rejuvenates the spring, and the huge furnace shines through the dark night.
Ding Yi Yuan relies on the power of creation, but the iron and stone still remain in the heart after death. I hope that everyone in the world will be well fed and warm, and they will go out of the mountains and forests without any trouble.
(1) "Rong", "Xiong", "Zhong" and "Gong" in the poem have the same rhyme, and they are all flat-tone characters, and an even number of sentences in the whole poem are in rhyme. (2) The words "gold", "deep", "shen", "heart" and "lin" in the poem have the same rhymes and are all flat-sounding characters. An even number of sentences in the whole poem rhyme, and the first sentence is in rhyme.
2. Ping and Lei
Ping and Lei are another important factor in rhymed poetry. When we talk about the rhythm of poetry, we mainly talk about the meter. "Ping" is a term for poetry rhythm: poets divide the four tones of Chinese into two categories. "Ping" means the level tone (including Yinping and Yangping), and "廄" includes the three tones of Shang, Lai and Ru. If the flat and oblique tones appear alternately in the poem, the tones can be diversified and a "harmonious" phonological effect can be achieved. This kind of "interleaving" includes: 1. Ping and Qi appear alternately in this sentence, 2. Ping and Qi exist in opposition in the couplet. For example: "The golden sands and water are warm against the clouds and cliffs, and the iron cables across Dadu Bridge are cold." The equivalence of these two lines is "Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping. For this sentence, every two words have a rhythm. In the Ping sentence, Pingping is followed by 任仄, 任仄 is followed by Pingping, and the last one is 仄 again. In a 廄sentence, 廄廄 is followed by ping, which is followed by 廄廄, and the last one is ping again. This is alternation. As far as couplets are concerned, "Jinsha" versus "Dadu" is flat versus flat, "Shuipai" versus "Qiaoheng" is flat versus flat, "Yunya" versus "iron rope" is flat versus flat, "Warm" versus "cold" is equal to equal. This is opposition.
According to the requirements of Ping and Ze, there are only two fixed basic formats in this aspect of rhymed poetry. They are:
(1) Five Laws:
1. Chiqi Style
Chi Chi Chi, Chi Chi Chi. Flat, flat, flat, flat.
廄廄平廄, 平平廄廄平. Flat, flat, flat, flat.
2. Flat-rise pose
Ping-ping-ping-zhi-zhi, 黄廄廄平平. Flat, flat, flat, flat.
Ping, Ping, Ping, Ping, Ping. Flat, flat, flat, flat.
(2) Seven Rhythms
1. Zhiqi Style
Zheqipingpingzhezheping, pingpingzhiqianzhizhiping. Flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, flat.
廄廄平平廄仄, 平平任仄仄平平. Flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, flat.
2. Flat-up pose
Ping-Ping-Ping-Ping-Ping-Ping-Ping-Ping-Ping. 廄廄平平廄廄, 平平任仄仄平平.
Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping. 廄廄平平廄廄, 平平任仄仄平平.
Of course, rhythmic poetry can also be transformed into many other formats, so we don’t need to understand them one by one.
Rhythm poetry also has special requirements on the level and obliqueness, mainly as follows:
First, there is a "sticking pair" rule for the level and obliqueness of rhyme poetry. "Right" means opposition, which has been mentioned above and will not be repeated here. "sticky" means flat sticking flat, 廄sticking 仄; the flat and angled of the second character of the sentence in the second couplet should be consistent with the second character of the couplet in the preceding couplet. Specifically, make the third sentence stick to the second sentence, the fifth sentence to the fourth sentence, and the seventh sentence to the sixth sentence. The five-law ping-ze format and the seven-law ping-ze format mentioned above are all in line with this rule. Let’s take a look at Chairman Mao’s “Long March”, “The Red Army is not afraid of the difficulty of an expedition, and it can only wait for thousands of rivers and mountains. The five ridges are meandering and the waves are thin, and the black clouds are majestic and the mud balls are walking. The golden sands and water are warm when the clouds and cliffs are warm, and the iron cables across the Dadu Bridge are cold. What’s more, I like the thousands of miles of snow in Minshan Mountain. , the three armies showed their faces after the incident." The word "水" in the second sentence has a flat tone, and the word "ridge" in the third sentence also has a flat tone; the word "Meng" in the fourth sentence has a flat tone, and the word "sha" in the fifth sentence has a flat tone; The word "happiness" in the seven sentences is also followed by a oblique sound. It can be seen that the rules of "sticking" are very strict. The function of sticky pairs is to diversify the tones. If it is not "right", the two sentences above and below will be the same; if it is not "sticky", the two couplets will be the same again. Understanding the principle of sticking pairs can help us recite the formula (i.e. format) of Pingli. As long as you know the meaning of the first sentence, you can recite the whole story. Understanding the principle of sticking to pairs can also help us understand the meaning of long rules. No matter how long the long pattern is, it is just arranged according to the rules of sticky pairs. Violating the rules of stickiness is called loss of stickiness; violating the rules of rightness is called loss of rightness.
Second, the taboo of "loneliness" in the rhythm of rhymed poetry. Guping is a taboo in rhythmic poetry, so poets pay attention to avoiding Guping when writing rhymed poems. In the five-character sentence pattern "平平廄廄平", the first character must be in the flat tone; if the character in the oblique tone is used, it is a violation of Guping. Because apart from the rhyme, there is only one flat character left. Seven-character is an expansion of five-character, so in the sentence pattern "廄廄平平廄廄平", if the third character uses a oblique tone, it is also called Guoping. If the first character of Wuyan and the third character of Sevenyan must be pronounced in a oblique tone, then remedies (see below) must be taken.
Third, the "defeat" in the rhythm of verse. Any ordinary sentence that does not follow the regular pattern is called an awkward sentence. If you use "拗" in the first word, you must use "shu" in the second word. The so-called "rescue" means compensation. Generally speaking, if a flat tone is used in the front where a flat tone should be used, a flat tone must (or often) be compensated for in the appropriate position at the back. The specific methods of "rescuing" are extremely complicated, and we don't need to understand them one by one.
Fourth, regarding the statement that “one, three, and five are irrelevant, but two, four, and six are clear.” Regarding the level of rhythmic poetry, it is said that there is such a formula: "One, three, and five are ignored, but two, four, and six are clear." This refers to the seven rhymes (including the seven uniques). This means that the first, third, and fifth characters can be in any order, but the second, fourth, and sixth characters must be in clear order. As for the seventh word, the requirements are naturally clear. As far as five-character rhymed poetry is concerned, it should be "ignore one or three, but make two or four clear". This formula is useful for beginners of rhythmic poetry because it is simple and clear. However, its analysis of the problem is not comprehensive, so it can easily lead to misunderstandings. Let me start by saying that the sentence "don't care about one, three or five" is incomplete. In the five-character pattern "平平廄廄平", the first character cannot be ignored. In the seven-character pattern "廻仄平平廄廄平", the third character cannot be ignored, otherwise the taboo of being alone will be violated. As for the third word of five words and the fifth word of seven words, under normal circumstances, the principle is "theory". In short, a seven-character sentence with a square foot can have three characters, and a sentence with a flat foot can only have two characters. A five-character, square-legged sentence can have two characters, while a flat-legged sentence can have only one character. It is wrong to say "I don't care about one, three or five". Furthermore, the sentence "two, four, and six are distinct" is not comprehensive. The second word of the Five Characters, "clear", is correct, and the second and fourth words of the Seven Words, "clear", are correct. As for the fourth word of the Five Words and the sixth word of the Seven Words, they are not necessarily "clear." For example, the format of "廄廄平廄" can also be changed to "廄仄平廄仄", just add a flat tone in the third word of the couplet. The seven words can be deduced from this. "Two, four, and six are distinct" is not entirely correct.