The number of words and lines in classical poetry: Classical poetry has a fixed verse and a fixed style. All ancient poems are classified according to the number of words in the poem.
Four-character ancient poems are referred to as four-character ancient poems for short; Five-character ancient poems are referred to as five-character ancient poems for short; Seven-character ancient poems are referred to as seven-character ancient poems for short. Four-character poems were adopted by people as early as the Book of Songs. But it gradually declined in the Tang Dynasty, and few people wrote it. Therefore, ancient poetry is still expressed in five words and seven words.
Five-character ancient poetry is the orthodoxy of ancient poetry, and many people write it.
Seven-character ancient poetry is not the mainstream of classical poetry, because it originated late. Therefore, the seven-character style is greatly influenced by the seven-character modern poetry.
Five-character ancient poems and seven-character ancient poems are both ancient poems with neat words. There is also a kind of ancient poetry with mixed words, and the length between the lines is different and uneven.
Classification of ancient poems:
There are many styles of ancient poetry in China, and there are different opinions on the classification and appellation of ancient poetry. Especially for Yuefu, ancient style and ballad poetry, it is even more confusing.
Because, from the formal point of view, Yuefu style and ancient style are both five-character styles, and seven-character ancient poems and ancient songs are all seven-character styles, so it is difficult to distinguish them. But since ancient times, people have unanimously recognized their differences in content, technique and style, and established their names.
In the second topic "Discussion and Practice" of Five Poems of Grade Eight (Volume II) of People's Education Edition, it is said that "The Cottage is Broken by Autumn Wind" and "A Song of Farewell to the Field in the Snow-Secretary Wu Comes Home" are both "Gexing" poems with free form, fluent language and unrestrained style. Please talk about the similarities and differences between these two poems from the aspects of sentence pattern, narration and lyricism. "The ninth grade (1) knowledge essay" How to read "said:" Du Fu's "Shi Qu Guan" has a wide meter, which is called ancient style ... "
The name here doesn't conform to the habit. People used to call Du Fu's Caotang "an ancient poem with seven words", while Cen Can's Bai Xuege was called "a poem with seven words". The editor also clearly saw the difference between the two poems, so this problem arose.
Although Du Fu's "Three Officials and Three Farewells" are all five-character poems, people are used to calling Shi Hao officials "new Yuefu" instead of "ancient style". In order to understand this problem, it is necessary to make a brief review of China's ancient poetry style.