In the era of The Book of Songs, the dominant form of poetry was the four-character poem. Under its influence, ancient poetry gradually formed the rhythmic characteristics of two syllables (that is, two Chinese characters) as one beat. "In the past I / passed away, and the willows / clinging; now I / come to think of the rain and snow / falling" ("The Book of Songs? Xiaoya? Picking Wei"), which reflects the neat, well-proportioned and catchy rhythmic beauty. However, because the rhythm of the four-character poem was too simple and rigid, it gradually declined after the Han Dynasty, and the six-character poem similar to it has never been able to enter the mainstream form of classical poetry. After the Han Dynasty, five or seven character poems became the most basic form.
Although the five- and seven-character poems are also mainly composed of one beat and two syllables, what is different from the four-character and six-character poems is that in addition to several complete beats, the five-character and seven-character poems also have an abnormal single syllable. , Wuyan is two beats plus a single syllable, and Qiyan is three beats plus a single syllable. Why is such a monosyllable needed? It has two functions: first, it is more convenient to reflect the rhythmic beauty brought by the rhyme of the poem's leaves. We know that poetry must have rhyme, and the conventional method of rhyme is to distribute words with the same rhyme at the end of the sentence. These words with the same rhyme echo back and forth, creating a beautiful loop of sound. Obviously, the rhyme point is the key to the rhythm and should be strengthened when reciting. Prolonging a single syllable to form a beat can well reflect and highlight the rhythm of the poem. The rhythms of five-character and seven-character characters are generally 221 and 2211. The second function is to make the poem more beautiful with frustration and change, because the overly regular rhythm of 22 and 222 lacks change and is therefore rigid. The emergence of abnormal monosyllables changes this rigidity and makes it more rigid. Poems appear more flexible and changeable, and can produce a sense of ups and downs and the beauty of pauses when recited. From the perspective of the melodic effect, when reading "Yuyu/pine at the bottom of the stream, seedlings on the mountain away. With that/diameter/inch/stem, shade this/hundred feet/bar" (Zuo Si's "Ode to History"), it will obviously Comparatively read "The wind and rain/are miserable, the rooster crows/crows. Now that you see/the gentleman, the clouds/are not barbaric?" ("Wind and Rain") or "The big rat/the big rat has no food/my millet! Three "A year old girl, I am willing to take care of you" ("Shuo Shu"), I think it is more beautiful and expressive.
Therefore, 221 and 2221 have become the basic and classic rhythms of five-character and seven-character poems respectively.
When poets after the Han Dynasty wrote poems, they generally followed such a classic rhythm to compose sentences