Seven-character quatrains are a genre of China's traditional poetry, which belongs to the category of modern poetry. There are four poems in this style, each with seven words, and there are strict metrical requirements in rhyme and adhesion.
This poetic style originated from Yuefu songs in the Southern Dynasties or Yuefu folk songs in the Northern Dynasties, or can be traced back to folk songs in the Western Jin Dynasty, and it matured in the Tang Dynasty. Representative works include Wang Changling's Poems on Newly Built Lotus Inn, Li Bai's Poems on Newly Built Baidicheng, and Du Fu's Poems on Riverside Meeting Li Guinian.
Seven-character quatrain is a kind of quatrain, which is called seven-character quatrain for short, and its origin is not clear. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people thought that the Four Musts originated from Xiao Gang, Yu Shinan or the four great masters, and all of them referred to the seven-character law. Although in its development process, the Seven Juexing was indeed dominated by the law, like the Five Juexing, the formation of the ancient Juexing still preceded the law. Modern scholars at home and abroad generally tend to regard Yuefu folk songs in the Northern Dynasties as the source of seven-character ancient poems.
Poetic meter
Seven-character quatrains belong to modern poems with strict metrical requirements. The first is fixed length. The whole poem consists of four sentences, each with seven words, totaling * * * 28 words. Secondly, the rhyme is rigorous, usually only flat, not rhyming. Also pay attention to the level tone, that is, it conforms to the level tone law, that is, under normal circumstances, two syllables (two words) are a step, and the level tone is alternately arranged.
According to the level of the first two words in the first sentence, seven-character quatrains can be divided into two categories: upgrading and upgrading. Among them, there are two types of flat-rising: one is flat-rising and flat-receiving, and the first sentence rhymes; Second, the first sentence doesn't rhyme. There are also two types of pouting: one is to flatten out and rhyme the first sentence; Second, from beginning to end, the first sentence doesn't rhyme.