Seven-character poem is one of China's traditional poems.

Seven-character verse is a genre of China's traditional poetry, which belongs to the category of modern poetry. It originated from Shen Yue's new poem which paid attention to the rhythm and duality in Qi Yongming's era in the Southern Dynasties. It was further developed and stereotyped by Shen Quanqi and Song in the early Tang Dynasty and matured in the hands of Du Fu in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Its meter is rigorous, which requires the unity of words in the poem. It consists of eight sentences, and each sentence has seven words. Every two sentences are a couplet * * * quadruple, which is divided into first couplet, parallel couplet, neck couplet and tail couplet. The two couplets in the middle demand antithesis.

1, fixed length. Eight sentences, seven words each, * * * 56 words. The first and second sentences are called "first couplet", the third and fourth sentences are called "parallel couplet", the fifth and sixth sentences are called "neck couplet" and the seventh and eighth sentences are called "tail couplet".

2. Rhyme is strict. The whole article has four or five rhymes, which generally rhymes with even sentences, that is, the last word of the second, fourth, sixth and eighth sentences rhymes. The first sentence can be played or played, usually in a flat voice, with rhyme at the end and no rhyme in the middle. It is also required to rhyme according to the words in the rhyme book.

In principle, only the original rhyme can be used, not the adjacent rhyme; Even if it is a little looser, the neighboring rhyme can only use the rhyme of the first sentence, which is called "borrowing rhyme". According to whether the first sentence rhymes or not, the seven-character rhyme can be divided into two formats: the first sentence rhymes and the first sentence does not rhyme, and the first sentence rhymes in a positive case, which is different from the five-character rhyme.

3. Pay attention to leveling. In other words, it is necessary to conform to the law of flat tones, that is, in general, two syllables (two words) are used as a step, and flat tones are arranged alternately. According to the level of the first two words in the first sentence, the seven-character rhyme is divided into two parts: flat and flat.

According to the law of parallel prose, there are four standard sentence patterns in seven-character rhythmic poetry: one is flat and parallel; Second, it is plain. Third, it is flat and flat; Fourth, it is plain. These four sentence patterns are the basis of the change of the flat and flat format of the regular poem, and constitute the four basic formats of the seven-character regular poem.

4. Seek confrontation. Parallel couplets and neck couplets must be opposite, and the first couplet and the last couplet can be right or wrong. Seven-character verse is based on the first couplet and the last couplet.