This question is too broad. I wonder if you are looking for the history of ancient Chinese poetry or the history of modern poetry?
1. Pre-Qin Poetry
(1) The earliest poetry collection in my country - "The Book of Songs"
"The Book of Songs" ***300 There are five chapters, so it is also called "Three Hundred Poems", covering a history of more than 500 years from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period (11th century BC to 6th century BC). The complete collection is divided into Feng, Ya and Song, among which Feng includes the fifteenth "National Style", Ya is divided into "Daya" and "Xiaoya", and Song is divided into "Zhou Song", "Lu Song" and "Shang Song". The techniques of expression include Fu, Bi and Xing. "The Master said: "Poetry" three hundred, in one sentence, said: thinking without evil." For example, "Guan Sui", this is a folk love song, written with Qixing's artistic technique, "Guan Guan Jujiu, in "He Zhizhou, a graceful lady, a gentleman is a good man." It writes about a young man who is in love with a girl, and his feelings are sincere and bold. Because this poem has strong ideological and artistic qualities and is the first chapter in the Book of Songs, it has always been valued.
(2) Qu Yuan's "Li Sao"
"Li Sao" is the greatest lyric poem among Qu Yuan's works and has a unique status in the history of Chinese poetry. The meaning of the title of "Li Sao", according to Ban Gu's interpretation of the Han Dynasty, is: "Li" means "still suffering"; "Sao" means "worry", and it is a poem written when it is clear that one has already suffered. The whole poem has 373 lines and 2490 words. More than two thousand years ago, there was such a monumental work, which is indeed the pride of the history of Chinese poetry. Qu Yuan's masterpieces include "Nine Songs", "Heavenly Questions", etc.
2. Poetry of the Qin and Han Dynasties When my country's poetry developed between the Han and Wei dynasties, a new situation emerged, mainly Yue (yue) poetry, folk songs and literati five-character poems.
(1) Yuefu: Yuefu was originally a music institution set up in the Qin Dynasty. It was later enriched and adapted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Its mission was to formulate music scores, collect lyrics, etc.; in the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties, Yuefu referred to music The musical style of poetry gradually transformed into the name of a new style of poetry. Yuefu in the Tang Dynasty is a relatively lively and simple style of poetry compared to modern poetry and ordinary five-seven-character ancient poetry. It is "feeling the decline of music and inspired by events," and has the tradition of realism. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, all music that belongs to Heyue, such as Ci and Sanqu, can be called "Yuefu".
(2) Han Yuefu Poetry: It mainly includes four categories of works: 1. Suburban Temple Songs; 2. Xianghe Songs; 3. Advocacy Songs; 4. Miscellaneous Songs. Yuefu folk songs were developed on the basis of "The Book of Songs" and have similarities with the "Book of Songs". It can be said that the Book of Songs has moved forward again.
3. Poems of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were the heyday of the development of five-character poetry, and poetic styles of different periods and styles began to form, mainly including Jian'an style, Zhengshi style, Yongjia style, and Tao style. Body, Xie body, Yongming body, etc. Without going into details here, let’s briefly talk about Tao Yuanming.
Tao Yuanming (365-427): a famous poet in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His name was Qian, his courtesy name was Yuanliang, his private name was Jingjie, and he was a native of Chaisang, Xunyang. The content of his poems is particularly rich. Through the singing of rural pastoral life, he expresses the various experiences of cultivating the fields and the fighting spirit of adhering to lofty ideals, rising out of the mud and remaining unstained, and protesting against the dark rule of feudal society.
He created China's pastoral poetry, regarding the pastoral as a pure land of innocence, praising the pastoral life and expressing its natural sounds and beauty. Tao Yuanming has a keen understanding and lives in an environment with a small distance from nature. He has the same appreciation for pastoral life, praising it and returning to nature. For example, in his "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Fields", "the warmth of the distant village and the smoke in the ruins" express a profound and unexpected situation.
The poetry forms of the Southern and Northern Dynasties were inherited from the Han and Wei dynasties and started from the Tang and Song dynasties. On the basis of folk lyrics and through the efforts of many poets, various poetic styles were gradually formed and became an important poetic style transition. period.
4. Poetry of the Tang Dynasty The Tang Dynasty was the golden age in the history of Chinese poetry, when all types of poetry were fully mature. Over the past three hundred years, poetic talents have emerged in large numbers, with numerous works, a wide range of themes, various forms, and different styles; the poetry world is full of colors and flowers.
(1) Early Tang Period - Preparatory Period The representative writers of this period are the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty" - Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin, and King Luo Bin; in addition, there is Chen Zi'ang.
(2) The prosperous Tang Dynasty - the peak period. The economy was prosperous and the national power was strong. Tang poetry reached its peak period, with broad themes and many schools, such as the "Frontier Poetry School" and the "Pastoral Poetry School". The great romantic poet Li Bai and the great realist poet Du Fu are the most outstanding representatives of this period. Their poems are regarded as the best of their generation. In their writings, whether they have five rhymes or seven rhymes, five unique styles or seven unique styles, or ancient style songs, they have reached high artistic achievements. As Han Yu said, "Li Du's writings are as bright as ever." For example, Li Bai's "Sleepwalking Tianmu Yin Liu Farewell" and "Jian Jin Sa"; Du Fu's "Three Officials", "Three Farewells" and so on.
(3) The Middle and Late Tang Dynasties - Development and Maturity Period In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, poets had their own achievements. But the one with the most outstanding achievements is Bai Juyi. He put forward the progressive theoretical proposition of "articles are combined to be written for the time, and songs and poems are written for the event". He personally participated in the leadership of the "New Yuefu Movement". Bai Juyi's poems are clear and easy to understand. , deeply loved by the masses, and his representative works include "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", "Pipa Play" and so on. The more famous poets of the middle and late Tang Dynasty include Wei Yingwu, Liu Changqing, Han Yu, Meng Jiao, Liu Zongyuan, Li He, Li Shangyin, Du Mu, etc.
5. Song Dynasty Poetry
Poetry originated in the Tang Dynasty. Song lyrics are another peak in the history of Chinese poetry. Famous poets in Beining include Yan Jidao, Ouyang Xiu, Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi, Liu Yong, Su Shi, Qin Guan, Zhou Bangyan, etc.
Su Shi (also known as Dongpo) was the most famous writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. He wrote poems, lyrics and prose very well. Su's poetry has a wide range of themes, many aspects of artistic accomplishment, and diverse styles, but its main style is bold and unrestrained. He not only wrote about love affairs between men and women, partings and farewells, but also used them to express patriotic passion and reflect rural life. His representative works "Shui Tiao Ge Tou, Bing Chen's Mid-Autumn Conception of a Child" and "Niannujiao·Chibi Love in Ancient Times" express the poet's persistence in his ideals. With pursuit, praise and love for the beautiful rivers and mountains of the motherland, and yearning for heroic figures in history, it is unrestrained in emotion, rich in associations, heroic in writing, and has a positive romanticism color, becoming a model work of the bold and unrestrained poets.
The famous poets of the Southern Song Dynasty are Zhang Xiaoxiang, Xin Qiji, Li Qingzhao, Lu You, Jiang Kui...
The famous poets of the Song Dynasty are Ouyang Xiu, Mei Yaochen, Su Shunqin, Wang Anshi, Su Dongpo, Huang Tingjian, Yang Wanli, Fan Chengda, Lu You, and Wen Tianxiang. Among them, Lu You and Su Dongpo achieved the highest achievements.
Lu You was a prolific poet who wrote more than 9,300 poems in his life. Many of his poems were filled with patriotic pride, passionate and tragic, powerful and bold, and were unique in the poetry world of the Song Dynasty. His representative works such as "Moon Over the Mountain", "Golden Wrong Knife", "Shu Anger", "Showing Children", etc. fully express his resentment towards the Southern Song Dynasty for enduring humiliation and concern for the fate of the motherland. His poems had a profound impact both at that time and on later generations.
6. Yuan Opera and Zaju
The Yuan Dynasty was an era when Sanqu and Zaju flourished. Sanqu in the Yuan Dynasty is a new poetry style that emerged after poetry. Ma Zhiyuan was a great master of Sanqu in the Yuan Dynasty and was very influential. Most of his works describe the grief and anger of unrecognized talents or the pain of wandering. His representative works include "Shuang Tiao·Night Sailing" (Autumn Thoughts) and "Tian Jingsha" (Autumn Thoughts). "Withered vines and old trees are full of crows, and small bridges and flowing water are home to people. The west wind blows and the horses are thin on the ancient road. The sun sets in the west, and the heartbroken people are at the end of the world." ("The Pure Sky and the Sand") Ma Zhiyuan is indeed good at absorbing natural scenery, blending the wandering feeling of traveling in the desolation and desolation The scenery strongly highlights the autumn thoughts of "a heartbroken man at the end of the world". Although the mood is sentimental, the artistic technique is very high, giving people a strong artistic appeal.
The representative writers of Yuan dramas are Guan Hanqing and Wang Shifu, whose representative works are "The Injustice of Dou E" and "The Romance of the West Chamber" respectively.
7. Poetry of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
The Ming and Qing dynasties were an era when opera and novels flourished. The more accomplished poets include: Gao Qi, Yu Qian, Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, Gu Yanwu, Chen Zilong, Xia Wanchun, Wu Weiye, Wang Shizhen, Nalan Xingde, Yuan Mei and others.
The development of new poetry is inseparable from the reference to old-style poetry. The creation of new poetry should comprehensively inherit and develop the fine traditions of Chinese classical poetry in both content and form for thousands of years, and strive to create and carry forward national forms of new poetry that are popular with the people. Here I only give a brief introduction to the history of Chinese poetry and outline a basic concept, which needs to be continuously enriched and improved.