Therefore, it is not surprising that we can read ancient poems. The pronunciation of the ancients is indeed very different from that of modern times, but why do we rhyme when reading Tang poetry and Song poetry?
First, some rhymes, some don't rhyme, some poems don't rhyme in Mandarin, and some rhyme in Mandarin.
If the time is too long, such as the poems in the Book of Songs, there are many phenomena that don't rhyme. For example:
You two went by boat, and the boats drifted away. I miss you so much that my love is hard to get rid of. The Book of Songs: Two Sons in the Same Boat
The feeling of being closer to age doesn't rhyme very well. For example, Tang poetry and Song poetry mostly rhyme, such as:
It is still the moon and border pass in Qin and Han dynasties, and the enemy has fought a protracted war. If Wei Qing, who attacked Longcheng, and Li Guang, the flying general, were alive today, the Huns would not be allowed to go south to spend their horses in Yinshan.
Looking at Lushan Mountain from the front and side of peaks and valleys, from far, near, high and low places, Lushan Mountain presents various faces. I can't recognize the true face of Lushan Mountain because I am there.
The reason why poetry still rhymes today is that, in addition to the inheritance of spoken language, it is very important that rhyming books play a role.
Since the Sui Dynasty, most of the poems written by poets have rhymed according to rhymes, which is a bit like today's dictionaries, so we can still read ancient poems and enjoy the beauty of rhythm.
Second, the phenomenon of rhyme in poetry before Sui Dynasty. In The Book of Songs, many poems still rhyme. For example, "Jiaxu":
The Millennium is frost. The so-called Iraqis are on the water side. Tracing back and forth, the road is blocked and long. Swim back from it, in the middle of the water
Zhang Heng's Poem of Four Sorrow in Han Dynasty is also very old and rhymes with us:
I was thinking of Mount Tai. It's hard to understand Fu Liang. I looked away and cried.
The beauty gave me Jin Cuodao, so why should I report to Qiong Yao in England? It's a long way to go in Xiu Yuan, so why worry and worry?
My thoughts are in Guilin. If you want to go to the depths of Hunan, watch the south cry.
This poem also rhymes, with three sentences and four sentences. Every group, every sentence rhymes.
Most of the poems handed down from Qin and Han dynasties to today are created or polished by literati, which is one of the reasons why the rhyme has not changed much.
3. When it comes to rhyme of poetry in Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, we can't help but mention an important tool for poets to write poetry: rhyme book.
Han was divided into three countries, belonging to the Jin Dynasty, with five chaos and a great change in accent between the north and the south. After the Sui Dynasty unified the whole country, Lu Fayan and other Sui Dynasty scholars studied local accents and wrote a poem "Qieyun". This book was adapted into Tang Yun by Sun Kun in the Tang Dynasty, which was used in the imperial examination and became a reference book for rhyming poems.
In Song Dynasty, according to the phonological systems of Qieyun and Tangyun, people adapted them into rhyming books such as Guang Yun, Jiyun and Pingshuiyun. After that, no matter how the dynasty changed, even in the Yuan and Qing Dynasties, the poet still stubbornly insisted on rhyming with Pingshui rhyme as the standard.
Su Shun, the powerful minister of the Qing Dynasty, was so proud that he thought he was the top scholar, but he made two wrong rhymes in the imperial examination, mixing twelve articles at a time for thirteen yuan:
It is said that after the list was published by the Ministry of Rites, Su tried his best to be praised among the ministers and was willing to be the first person to treat him. He retaken the Baohe Hall, ordered poems, and the official rhyme was limited to 12 characters. However, Gao mistakenly put the word Yuan Yun in, and because of Band 4, he was suspended from the Palace Examination. Sue is also depressed. A Wild Journey in the Ice Room in Spring
The second time, I mixed eleven truths with thirteen dollars:
In the second year, Geng Shenenke and Gao Yan were in Dimethyl Sang. Su Yu found a poem entitled "Bullfighting with a screen window", and he got the word "door". Sun Ti of the Tang Dynasty spent the night in yunmen temple. I was in a hurry to call the tallest. I gave it a piece of secret paper. I said, "This time, I will do a good job. I will hope it is in the Yuan Dynasty. "Admission, the title of the fruit, the audience of 300 people, people who don't know the source. He is ambitious and pretends not to think of himself as the second person. After he appeared, he took the manuscript to the grave. He watched, stamped his foot and said, "It's over! It's over! Except for the official rhyme, all the seven words of Gaitong are put into the Eleven Truth Department. Send out the list the next day and list it in the fourth class. A Wild Journey in the Ice Room in Spring
Even if you have high respect for talented people, even if Su Shun has a high position of power, it won't help. However, because of the rhyme error, Gaoxinqui was once again listed as the fourth class. Wang Kaiyun, a classmate, made fun of him and gave him a joint gift, saying, "I've been a second-class student all my life, and it's damn thirteen dollars." .
It is precisely because of the poet's persistence and ignorance of the imperial examination that we can still appreciate the rhythmic beauty of ancient works today.
4. In Kangxi Dictionary, there is a record of ancient rhyme about the pronunciation of words. For example, the word Jiang is recorded in the ancient rhyme as follows:
Tang Yun Jiyunhui Ancient Double Cut Audio Bar. Water name.
It also rhymes to make up the ancient red leaf scissors, and the sound is male.
As you can see, Jiang sounds like Gang and Gong. Jiang, the original meaning is water, of course, it is generally pronounced as: port. Although it is different from today's Jiang, the vowels are the same. Laojie estimates that there must be a dialect in the south that says "Jiang Shui": Gangshui.
The word "Jiang" has the same rhyme as the "double bang bang bang cavity" in the rhyme of Song Ping.
Although the pronunciation is different from today, the rhyme of these words has not changed, which is why many poems rhyme so far.
Fifth, the phenomenon of not rhyming, but there are still many ancient poems that don't rhyme today. The reason for not rhyming is the change of stress.