Before the Han Dynasty, there were occasional five-character poems, but there were no complete five-character poems. Five-character poems first appeared and developed in folk songs and Yuefu folk songs in Han Dynasty. According to Records of Five Elements in Hanshu and Biography of Yinshang, the ballads of the Western Han Dynasty when it proclaimed itself emperor have become a complete five-character style. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, five-character poems emerged constantly and were incorporated into Yuefu, such as Mulberry on the Stranger, Lotus Picking in Jiangnan and so on. , are relatively mature five-character works.
At the beginning of the literati's five-character poems, the views of predecessors were quite different. In the Western Han Dynasty, Mei Cheng, Li Ling, Su Wu and Ban Jieyu, these old five-character books, are actually unreliable. Today, the earliest five-character poem written by literati should be Ban Gu's Ode to History in the Eastern Han Dynasty:
Write poems about history
Third, Wang Demi is thin. Only after corporal punishment. Being too pale will make you feel guilty. Give it to Chang 'an. I hate not having children. I'm trapped and lonely. My daughter is bitter about her father's words. The dead are not renewable. Write me a letter. Think of ancient songs and cock crow. Worry destroys cracks. The morning breeze bursts. Emperor xiaowen of the holy Han dynasty. Feel sad and affectionate. What is a hundred people? Not as good as Ti Ying.
Zhong Rong's Poem says that he is "ignorant", which shows that scholars are still very unskilled when they first learn five-character poems.
The following authors are Zhang Heng's Song of Simultaneous Speech, Qin Jia's Poem for Women, and Zhao Yi's Song of Sickness. Their performance skills are becoming more and more mature. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the appearance of "Nineteen Ancient Poems" by Anonymous marked the development of five-character ancient poems to a mature stage. By Jian 'an, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, five-character poems had become the most popular poetic style, and a large number of famous poems appeared.
Five-character poetry can accommodate more words, thus expanding the capacity of poetry and being able to write and narrate flexibly and meticulously. In terms of syllables, even-odd matching is more musical. Therefore, it is more suitable for the social life developed after the Han Dynasty, thus gradually replacing the orthodox position of four-character poetry and becoming the main form of classical poetry. Modern poetry appeared after the early Tang Dynasty, including five-character poems and five-character quatrains. Five-character poems after the Tang Dynasty are generally called "five-character poems in ancient style" or "five-character poems in ancient style".
Everything has an origin, a beginning and an end. Poetry is no exception. As we all know, poetry is a kind of rhyme that can be sung. Poetry, like other art forms, originated from labor. It is produced in order to coordinate the labor rhythm. The original poems were written orally by human collective. The same is true of the original old poems.
In the history of literature, when it comes to old poetry, it is generally divided into two genres, namely "ancient poetry" and "modern poetry". The so-called ancient poetry and modern poetry are not completely divided by the times, but only a genre. Let's not misunderstand the meaning of words. As for new poems, that is, free poems in vernacular Chinese, they are not among the old poems. Don't misunderstand that they are modern poems.
The so-called modern poetry (also known as modern poetry, as the ancients called it) is relative to ancient poetry. They developed from "New Style Poetry" in the Qi and Liang Dynasties into distinctive poems. In this respect, Shen Yue, a poet, established a set of phonological theories, which first laid the foundation for metrical poetry. At first, it was limited to five words, and seven words were created by people in the Tang Dynasty.
Rhyme and quatrains are two major parts of modern poetry. If you understand the metrical poem, you can also understand the quatrains. Because quatrains come with metrical poems.
Metric poetry is also divided into five words and seven words, which is a poem with eight sentences each. They are composed of certain parallelism and duality, harmonious syllables, neat chapters and sentences. The author can't go beyond its scope and limitations at will.
Ping means that every word has four tones: Ping, Qu, Qu and Jin. What doesn't belong to the flat sound is the snoring. On this point, we will discuss it in detail below. Every sentence of a metrical poem or quatrain is restricted by a fixed level tone.
The so-called duality is the four sentences in the middle of the rhyme, which literally must be a pair, and the opposite is a pair. The first four sentences and the last four sentences are not arranged. Three or four sentences are called "front connection" or "parallel connection"; Five or six sentences are called "back couplet" or "neck couplet". These opposites, like the Shuang Ye of a door and the two wheels of a car, all function words and real words must be measured by Thai baht. Intentionally right, right thing, right thing? There are many objections and methods. Here, let's take a look at Bai Juyi's five-character poem "Grass":
The long grass is so lush that the withered grass will thicken the color of the grass every autumn and winter. Wildfire can't burn it out, but the spring breeze can revive it.
Sweet they pressed on the ancient highway and reached the crumbling gate. Oh, my friend's prince, you left again, and I heard them sigh behind you.
It is not difficult to see from this poem that the third sentence and the fourth sentence are a pair; The fifth sentence and the sixth sentence are a pair again. But it doesn't have to be played from beginning to end.
As for leveling? Make the "four tones" clear first, and then talk about the application of these parallelism in metrical poems and quatrains.
Four tones and even tones
As we said, when writing old poems, especially quatrains with strict meter, we must abide by the inherent flat and level restrictions. What is leveling? People who have a little common sense about phonology certainly understand what it is; But if you haven't paid attention to this aspect at all, it is necessary to explain. The so-called flat tone is the flat tone of every word. How to call it a quiet voice, and how to call it a purr? It turns out that since the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China, people have paid great attention to tone when writing poems. Both Zhou Qing of Qi and Shen Yue of Liang have special books on this subject, and the tone of each word is adjusted to four tones: flat, up, down and inside.
For example, "Fang" is a flat tone; "coat" is the top sound; "Beating" means removing the sound; "Live" means entering tone.
Except for the flat voice, the three tones of up, go and in are all dull. But we should know that the flat sound itself can be divided into "flat sound" and "flat tone" For example, "Fang" is a level tone, and "Fang" is a level tone. As for the three tones of up, go and in, there is no distinction between yin and yang.
To put it more clearly, it is to divide the tones of all words into Yin Ping, rising tone, Shang, Qu and Ru (hereinafter referred to as Yin and Yang, Shang, Qu and Ru); Every word, if not flat, belongs to a weak sound (that is, up, down and middle). For example, the word "Yin" itself is a flat tone; The word "Yang" is the upper sound, and the word "Shang" is the upper sound; The word "go" is to go to the sound; The word "Ru" means Ru Sheng. If you are familiar with these four tones, people can easily tell that every word belongs to Zhu Ping. Here are a few more examples to familiarize readers who are not familiar with this aspect with the four tones. See the following:
Cause (yin), forbearance (upper), sealing (going) and one (middle);
Man (yang), forbearance (up), sealing (away) and heaven (middle);
Gold (Grade), Dare (Up), Forbidden (Go), Urgent (Middle).
Familiar with the four tones, distinguish which word is flat and which word is flat, so let's talk about how these flat and even poems are arranged.
Levels of Five-character Rhyme
Rhyme is one of the most popular forms of old poetry "modern poetry". The so-called "law" means regularity. These laws, including the definition of flat and parallel, the length of words, the neatness of antithesis and so on. Now, let's talk about leveling.
Generally speaking, regular poems are all in five words and seven languages. If you write five words, the level is as follows:
Plain, plain, plain, plain.
Plain, plain, plain, plain.
These flat poems are only eight sentences. Those who learn to write old poems must read them well first. But it's not difficult. Here are some tips to remember it. First, these eight sentences are actually two groups. The first four sentences form a group; The last four sentences are only repeated once. Just remember the four sentences. Second, if each group begins with the word "ping", the fourth sentence must also end with the word "ping". This is what people often call "leveling" and "leveling". Third, if each group is "equal", then the second and third sentences must start with a moan. Four, the normal flat formula, except for the third sentence of each group, the last word of the other three sentences must be flat. (However, the above formula has also changed. Because if the first sentence doesn't rhyme, you can start with "flush", so it happens to be a group of four sentences.
The above one is a format that begins with a flat voice; But the other one is lifted with a fork, and the formula is as follows.
It's flat, flat, flat, flat, flat.
Flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat.
If the above sentence doesn't rhyme, you can also start with "even".
There are only two forms of five-character poems, which become four types with the change of the first sentence. However, when you are familiar with the first one and know that the second one is a variant, it will be solved. Because when I look at it, the cities are all the same.
As for these flat lines, how do they match poetry?
Now let's give an example. This is Li Bai's "seeing friends off":
Green mountains are located on the north side of the city wall, and the sparkling water surrounds the east of the city. Here we say goodbye to each other, and you, like losing your father, are floating in the wind and traveling far away.
I will think of you in the clouds, so think of me in the sunset! With a wave of his hand, he will be separated from now on, and his friend on horseback will carry him on a long journey, blowing a long wind, as if reluctant to leave.
In order to facilitate the discussion, we might as well copy the flat format used in this poem again to see if it fully conforms to this flat format, which is the first one we talked about earlier:
Plain, plain, plain, plain.
Plain, plain, plain, plain.
The flatness of this poem certainly conforms to this meter. But if you match a pair word for word, it is not difficult to find that the third sentence, the seventh sentence and the eighth sentence are somewhat irregular. For example, the word "one" in the third sentence should be flat, and now it is flat, and the whole sentence will become "flat and flat"; The word "wave" and the word "zi" in the seventh sentence are also inconsistent, and they should be flush and become "flush"; The word "class" in the last sentence is also wrong. It should be plain, and it will become "plain".
Are these irregularities caused by the poet's carelessness and writing mistakes? Or when choosing words, if you can't find a more suitable one, just make do with it?
No, you know, when it comes to meditation, whether it's verse or quatrains, there is such a rule: "No matter one, three or five; Two, four and six are distinct. " The actual meaning of this sentence is: the first, third and fifth words in each sentence are correct, even if they are not in the original horizontal format; But second, fourth and sixth, we must strictly abide by the rules and not make it plain.
Because this poem is five words, it is "one, three don't care; Second, four distinct. " Try to look at the three words in the whole poem, aren't they in the second or third position of each sentence?
The first sentence "Castle Peak beyond the Great Wall" in Li Bai's poem "Farewell to Friends" quoted earlier doesn't rhyme with the following sentences. We mentioned this sentence pattern at the beginning of the level tone.
Now, for another song, it rhymes from the first sentence. This is Du Fu's "Remembering Brothers on a Moonlit Night":
The drums of the defenders cut off people's communication, and a lonely goose was singing in autumn in the frontier. The dew turns to frost tonight, and the moonlight at home is bright!
Brothers are scattered, and no one can ask about life and death. Letters sent to Luoyang city are often not delivered, and wars often do not stop.
This poem is about Geng Yun, just like Li Bai's Seeing Friends Off. But from the first sentence, it began to rhyme, because it used this flat format:
It's flat, flat, flat, flat, flat.
Flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat.
If you want to review these plane patterns, you can refer to this and the examples cited above. Except for the first word of the third sentence and the seventh sentence, Du Fu's five-character metrical poems are absolutely in line with the norms. As for the words at the beginning of the third sentence and the seventh sentence, of course, the principle of "no matter one, three or five" applies.
People say that Du's metrical style is rigorous, which not only refers to his brushwork and artistic conception, but also relates to his metrical style. You see, how neat the antithesis of this poem is and how difficult it is to keep it flat, so the tone is extraordinary.
If you want to learn parallel prose well, here is another trick: choose a few good parallel prose and original metrical poems, read them well before reciting them, so that when you write poems in the future, you will have a model in your heart and be afraid of making mistakes; You don't have to keep saying "Ping, Ping, Ping …". Some examples of old poems, such as 300 Tang poems, are punctuated by a flat symbol next to the text of each poem. This flat symbol is an oblate circle (O); With a little noise (. ). Finding a copy of this model is very helpful for people who just started to learn leveling.
Levels of Seven-character Rhyme
Seven-character poems and five-character poems didn't become popular until the Tang Dynasty. And seven words came later, more than five words in the Woods. Before the Tang Dynasty, five-character poems were widely used, while seven-character ancient poems were rare. This shows that things are developing from scratch.
When it comes to seven-character quatrains, the tone and level are roughly the same as those of five-character quatrains. The predecessors said that five words originated from four words, and now we can also say that seven words originated from five words. The five-character rule adds two words to each sentence to make seven words. For example, for example, five words are "plain", and adding two words will become "plain"; Five words are "flush", and if two words are added, it becomes "flush". Therefore, we can get a formula, in which the sentence begins with a flat voice and adds two; Instead, two flat tones were added at the beginning of the purr. Now, two kinds of flat formulas of seven-character poems are listed as follows.
Plane formula:
Flat, flat, flat, flat, flat,
Flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat.
Comparing this formula with Wuyan, it is obviously developed by Wuyan, isn't it obvious? Also abide by the law of "leveling up and down". In addition, if the first sentence doesn't rhyme, it can also be changed to "even". Now, let's take two more seven laws of the Tang Dynasty as examples.
This is Liu Changqing's Changsha Passing Jia Zhai Yi. Even with the above formula, the first sentence began to rhyme:
Jia Yi lived here in exile for three years, which is a tragedy of tens of millions of generations. I look for traces of human existence in autumn grass and watch the sunset slowly tilt in the cold forest.
China people have a small idea. Do you want the plain Xiangjiang River to understand you? These desolate waters, these silent mountains, when you come, like me, so far away? !
Look at Yuan Zhen's empty sorrow. Even with the above formula, the first sentence doesn't rhyme, so the first sentence is even:
You are like Gong's favorite daughter, and it's not going well to marry me, a poor man. You saw me naked in the box. You take off the gold brooch and buy me wine.
You eat your food with wild vegetables, but your food is sweet. You cook with dead branches with leaves. Now that I am a high official, you are far away from the world and sent some monks and priests to be at the mercy of monks.
Seven-character metrical poems, like five-character metrical poems, have another formula besides the above-mentioned "level-tone" formula. Copy it here.
Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping Pingping.
Flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat.
If this formula is used, if the first sentence doesn't rhyme, it will be changed to "ping ping ping". Now I also give two examples of Tang poetry, so I might as well compare them. This is Du Fu's Shu Xiang, which uses the above formula and rhymes at the beginning:
Where is the temple of the famous prime minister in a pine forest near the Silk City? The green grass in spring dyed the steps red; Birds are chirping happily under the leaves.
The third summons increased his burden of handling state affairs; He gave his heart to two generations. But before he conquered, he died, and since then the heroes have been crying on their coats!
However, his other poem is also a tribute to Zhu Gekongming's "ode to the monument". Although the same level tone is used, the first sentence is "level tone", which generally does not rhyme.
Zhuge Liang's name will remain in the world forever, and his portrait is lofty and respectable. In order to plan the strategy of the world, generations seem to be Luan Feng's Luan Feng.
Yi Yin and Lv Shang are neck and neck, and their command of military operations is calm, which makes Xiao He Cao Can far behind. Although he knew that there was no hope for the Korean family, he was still desperate for it and gave his life!
If you carefully check the above example and find that some words are uneven, it can't be wrong; Because you don't forget what we mentioned, "One, three, five don't care; Two, four and six are completely different. Regarding the training of regular poetry, whether it is five words or seven words, it can come to an end here. However, this is just a general rule and way. In addition, there are many special ones worth talking about. In the future, after we talk about quatrains, we will go back and discuss and point out them one by one in more detail.
The same word, the next three words in a row, and loneliness
What is the same word, the next three words in a row, and loneliness?
The same word, which is better to explain? For example, the opening of the Yellow Crane Tower: "A long time ago, the Yellow Crane carried saints to heaven. Now there is nothing left but the Yellow Crane Tower, and the Yellow Crane has never returned to the earth ..." Every sentence is repeated with "Yellow Crane". Isn't that the same word?
In ancient poetry, it is not surprising to express it with the same words, words or even sentences. That's not special or inappropriate; Moreover, in order to get a clear meaning or strengthen the momentum, poets often have to repeat certain words or phrases several times in their poems! Open the oldest collection of poems, The Book of Songs, and you can see many examples, such as:
Vole, vole, don't eat my millet! I have served you hard for years, but you don't care about me.
Vowed to get rid of you and go to a happy land. That promised land, that promised land, is my good place!
Vole, vole, don't eat my wheat! I have served you hard for many years, but you are not kind to me.
Swear to get rid of you and enjoy the state. That country, that country of music, is my good place!
This is the case with The Book of Songs, and so are other folk songs. We can watch two more songs:
Song of surging waves;
The water in the rough waves is clear, you can help me! The water in the rough waves is turbid, which is enough for me!
Lotus picking song:
Jiangnan can pick lotus, lotus leaves are sweet! Lotus leaf east in fishing play, lotus leaf west in fishing play,
Fish plays lotus leaf south, fish plays lotus leaf north!
But this kind of writing has disappeared in modern poetry after the Tang Dynasty. Even in ancient times written by poets in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, there was no such syntax and a large number of repeated words, words and sentences.
In ancient times, words, phrases and sentences that could be widely used were taboo in metrical poems and quatrains. This is not only a matter of poetic style, mainly because the language used by ancient people is relatively simple, and most ancient poems come from folk songs, which is much more colloquial. Modern poetry has become a literary work written by literati, so it is natural to choose words carefully.
Some people may say that besides the poem "Yellow Crane Tower", Li Bai's "On the Phoenix Terrace in Nanjing" also has the same beginning. The first two sentences are: "The phoenix that once played here made this place famous, and the wind went to Taiwan for its own flow". There are two "phoenixes" in one sentence. Isn't this more serious than the Yellow Crane Tower? But we should know that Li Bai's works are a deliberate imitation of the Yellow Crane Tower, and he wants to compete with it.
In addition, it is really hard to find in the laws and poems after the Tang Dynasty. Especially the words that rhyme (that is, rhyme) are different; Because once it's the same, it's not loud enough to read.
In addition, it is really hard to find in the laws and poems after the Tang Dynasty. Especially the words that rhyme (that is, rhyme) are different; Because once it's the same, it's not loud enough to read.
As we have said, although the law and absoluteness are limited by some flat or even rules, there is still an accommodating rule in general, that is, "135 regardless; Two, four and six are distinct. " For odd-numbered words, seven or five words can be changed, and there is no need to strictly abide by the hierarchy, while even-numbered words are not. For example, when writing a poem, it can be changed to "flat". There are many such sentences. However, can it suddenly become "plain"? This poem changed the level of one, three and five words. But this is not allowed; It is extremely difficult to read because the last three words of this sentence are in a flat voice one after another. However, the fourth sentence of the Yellow Crane Tower: "White clouds will never fly without him" is exactly the case. That's an exception. You should know that no matter whether it is flat or flat, it is not allowed to appear three times at the end of the sentence. Just look at the poems of our predecessors. As for loneliness, even in every sentence, there is a single flat and muddy word in the sentence, such as "flat and flat, flat and flat", which is also not acceptable. But the Yellow Crane Tower has this kind of sentence, so it is a special exception.
In the past, when we were talking about the format of metrical poems and quatrains, we pointed out some tips for remembering those flat words. More precisely, this is the "sticky" and "right" methods that people often mention when writing poems.
What are "sticky" and "right"?
Let's take the plane mode (flat edge formula) as an example:
Is flat, flat (right) flat,
Flat (sticky) flat, flat (right) flat.
Flat (sticky) flat, flat (right) flat,
Flat (sticky) flat, flat (right) flat.
Looking closely at the flat format above, we can find two laws, namely "right" and "sticky". The so-called "right" means that starting from the second sentence, the second word and the fourth word of each sentence (if it is seven words, the sixth word also follows this rule) must be opposite to the level of the second word and the fourth word of the previous sentence. For example, at present, the second word of the first sentence in this format is silent, and then the second word of the second sentence will be "right" in a flat voice. Similarly, the fourth word of the opening sentence in the same format is flat, so the fourth word of the second sentence should be corrected with a flat tone.
What about "stickiness"? That is the second word and the fourth word of each sentence (if it is seven words, the sixth word follows this rule), and it must be the same as the flush word of the previous sentence. For example, if the second word of the second sentence in this format is flat, then the second word of the third sentence must also be flat. Four, six and so on.
Should we persist in opposing or deal with anti-persistence? In other words, should we use flat instead of flat? This is called "depression".
Why are the methods of "pasting" and "matching" only based on two characters, four characters and six characters? As I said before, the words one, three and five can be changed.
"Stripping" and "Dislocation"
Now that we understand what is "stickiness" and what is "rightness", it is not particularly important to write rhymes and quatrains, so there will be no awkward sounds and no violation of the rules of leveling; Moreover, it's much easier to remember these flat metrical patterns. Why? The secret of memory is this:
After reading the first sentence, that is, the hierarchy of the first sentence, use "right" in the second sentence, "sticky" in the third sentence and "right" in the fourth sentence. This kind of alternation between "right" and "sticky", whether it is eight quatrains or four quatrains, as long as you remember the two characters, four characters and six characters of each sentence, it will certainly conform to the method of "right" and "sticky", and naturally it will not be wrong.
In modern poetry, whether it is a metrical poem or a quatrain, we must abide by the laws of "rightness" and "stickiness". Otherwise, violating the law is called "mismatch" and "misposting" (some people call it "misposting"). Especially when writing regular poems, we should strictly abide by this law.
However, there are occasional "mistakes" in the works of poets in the Tang Dynasty. As for "losing adhesion", there is more. Here is an example of "losing adhesion":
Weicheng district Wang Wei
Weicheng is rainy and dusty, and the guest house is green and willow. I advise you to drink a glass of wine and go out of Yangguan for no reason.
Flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat flat.
This poem, according to the meter, since the second word of the first sentence is flat, the second word of the second sentence is "right" with a hyphen, which is correct; But the second word of the third sentence should be flat "sticky", but it is used here, and even the fourth sentence is wrong. The whole poem is only "right" but not "sticky", so it is called "sticky"
This kind of mistake may be intentional in ancient times, but it is the most common mistake when new scholars write poems. Therefore, we should pay special attention not to defend ourselves with the exceptional works of the ancients.