(1) Classification of ancient Chinese poetry
1. Poetry can be divided into two categories: ancient style poetry and modern style poetry. Ancient style poetry and modern style poetry are concepts formed in the Tang Dynasty, and are divided from the perspective of the rhythm of poetry.
(1) Ancient poetry: including ancient poetry (poetry before the Tang Dynasty), Chu Ci, and Yuefu poetry. Poems in ancient poetry genres such as "ge", "gexing", "yin", "qu" and "li" also belong to ancient poetry. Ancient poetry does not focus on antithesis and rhymes more freely. The development trajectory of ancient poetry: "The Book of Songs" → Chu Ci → Han Fu → Han Yuefu → Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties folk songs → Jian'an poetry → Tao Shi and other literati five-character poems → the ancient style and new Yuefu of the Tang Dynasty.
①Chu Ci style: It is a poetry form created by Qu Yuan of Chu State during the Warring States Period. It is characterized by the use of Chu dialect and rhyme, and has a strong Chu flavor. The "Chu Ci" edited by Liu Xiang of the Eastern Han Dynasty has seventeen chapters, mainly the works of Qu Yuan, and Qu Yuan's works include "Li Sao" as his representative work. Therefore, later generations also called "Chu Ci style" and "Sao style".
②Yuefu: Originally the name of the official office in charge of music during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it later became the name of the poetic style. The music and songs collected and composed by the Yuefu official office in the Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties are referred to as Yuefu for short. Although the poems written by poets in the Wei, Jin, Tang and later dynasties were not included in Yuefu, they also became Yuefu and pseudo-Yuefu. Such as "Chile Song", "Mulan Poetry" and "Dan Ge Xing" (Cao Cao). Generally speaking, some titles of Yuefu poems include "ge", "line", "yin", "qu", "yin", etc.
③Ge Xing style: It is a variation of Yuefu poetry. There are many Yuefu poems after the Han and Wei Dynasties titled "ge" and "xing". Although the two have different names, there is actually no strict difference. They both mean "song". Their syllables and rhythms are generally relatively free and the form is relatively free. It adopts the ancient style of five-character, seven-character, and miscellaneous words, which is full of changes. Later, there was the "Ge Xing" style. In the Tang Dynasty, poets in the early Tang Dynasty wrote Yuefu poems. In addition to using the old Yuefu titles of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, a few poets also created new titles. Although the title was Yuefu, it was not limited to the rhythm, so it was called New Yuefu. This type of poetry developed greatly by Li Bai and Du Fu. For example, Du Fu's "Sorrowful Chen Tao", "Ai Jiangtou", "War Chariots" and "Beautiful Women", as well as many of Bai Juyi's works, adopt the Yuefu song style, and most of them use three or seven words in a mixed manner.
(2) Modern poetry: Modern poetry, which is opposite to ancient poetry, is also called modern poetry. It is a metrical poetry formed in the Tang Dynasty. It is divided into two types. Its number of words, number of sentences, level and rhyme, etc. There are strict regulations.
① One kind of poem is called "quatrains", each of which has four sentences. The five-character poem is referred to as Wujue, and the seven-character poem is referred to as Qijue.
② One type is called "Lv poetry", each poem has eight lines, five-character poems are called Wulu for short, seven-character poems are called Qilv for short, and those with more than eight lines are called Pailu (or long law).
The rhythm of verse poetry is very strict. The chapters have definite sentences (except for the rhythm), the sentences have definite characters, the rhymes have positioning (the rhyme positions are fixed), and the words have definite tones (the flat and oblique tones of each word in the poem are fixed ), the couplets have definite pairs (the two couplets in the middle of the verse must be in opposition). For example, rhythmic poetry originated in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and matured in the early Tang Dynasty. Each four-part couplet has eight sentences. Each sentence must have the same number of words. It can have four rhymes or five rhymes. The two middle couplets must be in opposition. The second, fourth, sixth and eighth sentences rhyme. The sentence can be pledged or not. If the verses are laid out and extended to more than ten sentences based on the fixed patterns of the verses, it is called rhythm arrangement. Except for the first and last couplets, the upper and lower sentences need to be in opposition, and there are also opposite sentences in every other sentence, which is called "fan pair". For another example, quatrains are only four sentences and two couplets, also known as quatrains, truncated sentences, and broken sentences. They all have certain requirements for level, rhyme, and antithesis.
(3) Ci: Also known as poetry, long and short sentences, tunes, tune lyrics, Yuefu, etc. Its characteristics: the tune has a definite pattern, the sentences have a definite number, and the words have a definite tone. Depending on the number of words, it can be divided into long tune (more than 91 words), middle tune (59~90 words), and small tune (within 58 words). Words can be divided into monotonic and bimodal. Bimodal is divided into two paragraphs. The two paragraphs are equal or roughly equal in number of words. Monotonal only has one paragraph. A section of a word is called a block or a piece, the first section is called the front block, the upper block, and the upper piece, and the second section is called the back block, the lower block, and the lower piece.
(4) Qu: Also known as Ciyu and Yuefu. Yuan opera includes Sanqu and Zaju. Sanqu originated in the Jin Dynasty and flourished in the Yuan Dynasty, and its style is similar to the lyrics. Features: You can add lining words to the fixed number of words, and mostly use spoken language. Sanqu includes two types: Xiaoling and Taoshu (set of songs). A set is a continuous set of tunes, at least two tunes, and as many as dozens of tunes. Each set uses the tune of the first song as the name of the complete set, and the whole set must be of the same tune. It has no guest introduction and is only for a cappella singing.
2. Classified by content: it can be divided into narrative poetry, lyric poetry, farewell poetry, frontier poetry, landscape pastoral poetry, nostalgic poetry (epic poem), poetry about objects, mourning poetry, and allegorical poetry.
(1) Nostalgic poetry.
Generally, people and deeds in ancient times are remembered. Poems about chanting history and remembering ancient times often combine historical facts and reality, either lamenting personal experiences or criticizing social reality. For example, Su Shi's "Niannujiao·Chibi Nostalgia" laments his personal experiences and the contradiction between ideals and reality. He was over fifty years old and had no achievements. Xin Qiji's "Yong Yu Le·Nostalgia for the Past in Beigu Pavilion, Jingkou" expresses dissatisfaction with the imperial court's meager existence and criticizes social reality. There are also some poems that praise history and remember ancient times. They are just calm rational thinking and evaluation of history, or they are just objective narratives. The poet's own experiences are not included in it, and the poet's emotions are just voice off-screen. For example, Liu Yuxi's "Woyi Lane" expresses the poet's sense of historical vicissitudes by contrasting the past and present.
(2) Poems about things.
The characteristics of poems about objects: in terms of content, a certain object is used as the description object, and some of its characteristics are grasped and described deliberately. In thought, it is often based on things to express one's ambitions. From objects to people, from reality to virtuality, the spiritual character is written. Commonly used expression techniques such as metaphor, symbolism, personification, and contrast.
(3) Landscape idyll.
Xie Lingyun in the Southern Dynasty pioneered landscape poetry, and Tao Yuanming in the Eastern Jin Dynasty pioneered pastoral poetry. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a landscape pastoral poetry school, represented by Wang Wei and Meng Haoran. Landscape and pastoral poetry is famous for describing natural scenery, rural scenery and comfortable and tranquil seclusion life. The poetic environment is meaningful and beautiful, the style is quiet and elegant, and the language is clear and concise.
(4) War poetry.
Since the pre-Qin Dynasty, there have been poems with the theme of frontier fortresses and wars. It developed into the Tang Dynasty. As wars were still frequent, the rulers emphasized martial arts and neglected literature. Scholars claimed merit in the frontier court to gain fame rather than advance through the imperial examination. It was much easier to get married, and coupled with the positive and enterprising atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the strange and magnificent frontier fortress poetry developed greatly, forming a new poetry genre. Its representatives are Gao Shi, Cen Shen, and Wang Changling. .
(5) Travel poems and poems about friendship.
The ancients may have been away from home for a long time, or wandered for a long time, or guarded the border for a long time, which will always arouse a strong feeling of homesickness and nostalgia for others, so there are many such poems. They may write about the thoughts of traveling. , or write about missing relatives and friends, or writing about missing someone's hometown, or writing about cherishing someone in the boudoir. In writing, one may be moved by touching a scene, or be moved by a moment, or convey one's feelings through an object, or express one's feelings through a dream, or express one's feelings through a wonderful metaphor.
(6) Farewell poem.
Due to the inconvenient transportation and underdeveloped communication in ancient times, it was often difficult for relatives and friends to see each other for several years, so the ancients paid special attention to separation. On the occasion of parting, people often bid farewell with wine, break willows to see each other off, and sometimes recite poems to say goodbye. Therefore, the emotion of parting has become an eternal theme for ancient literati. Because everyone's circumstances are different, the specific content and ideological tendencies of farewell poems often vary. Some directly express the feelings of parting, some use it to express the resentment in the chest or express one's aspirations, some focus on writing about separation and sorrow, some focus on exhortation, encouragement, comfort, and some are both.
To summarize, it is mainly divided into 9 categories: 1. Satire 2. Love 3. Philosophy 4. Farewell 5. Landscape 6. Ambition 7. Imagination 8. Story 9. Thoughts
(2) Classification of modern poetry
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There are also many ways to classify poetry, which can be divided into different categories according to different principles and standards. The basic ones are as follows:
1. Narrative poetry and lyric poetry. This is divided according to the expression of the content of the work.
(1) Narrative poetry: The poem has a relatively complete storyline and characters, which are usually expressed in the poet's passionate singing style. Epic poems, story poems, verse novels, etc. all belong to this category. Epics such as "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" by Homer of ancient Greece; story poems such as "Wang Gui and Li Xiangxiang" by Chinese poet Li Ji; poetic novels such as "Don Juan" by British poet Byron, and "Don Juan" by Russian poet Pushkin "Eugene Onegin".
(2) Lyric poetry: mainly reflects social life by directly expressing the poet's thoughts and feelings, and does not require the description of complete storylines and characters. Such as love songs, odes, elegies, elegy, pastoral and satire. There are many such works and it is not possible to list them all.
Of course, narrative and lyricism are not completely separated. Narrative poetry also has a certain degree of lyricism, but its lyricism must be closely integrated with the narrative. Lyric poems also often narrate certain segments of life, but they cannot be extended and should be subject to the needs of lyricism.
2. Metrical poetry, free verse and prose poetry. This is classified according to the phonological rhythm and structural form of the work's language.
(1) Metric poetry: It is poetry written according to certain formats and rules. It has strict regulations on the number of lines of poems, the number of words (or syllables) in poems, tones and rhymes, word antithesis, sentence arrangement, etc. For example, the "rhymed poems", "quatrains", "ci" and "qu" in ancient Chinese poetry, European "Sonnets".
(2) Free verse: It is a poetry style newly developed in Europe and America in modern times. It is not restricted by meter, has no fixed format, pays attention to natural and inner rhythm, rhymes with roughly similar rhymes or no rhymes, has relatively free number of words, lines, sentence patterns and tones, and the language is relatively popular. The American poet Whitman (1819-1892) is the founder of European and American free verse, and "Leaves of Grass" is his main collection of poems. This style of poetry has also been popular since the May 4th Movement in my country.
(3) Prose poetry: It is a literary genre that has the characteristics of both prose and poetry. The works contain poetic artistic conception and passion, are often full of philosophy, focus on natural rhythm and musical beauty, are short in length, and have no lines or rhymes like prose, such as Lu Xun's "Wild Grass".