1, four fonts.
Four-character poems prevailed in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and there were few other poems except Chu Ci. Four-character poem is the earliest poetic style in ancient times. Four-character poems are the basic genres in The Book of Songs, such as national style, Xiaoya and elegance. In other ancient books of the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, such as Mai Xiuge in Historical Records, Notes on Song Chengzi, and Zi Chanyong in Zuo Zhuan, etc. Four fonts are also dominant.
It can be seen that from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, the most popular poetic style is four-character poetry, whether it is the upper or lower class of society, whether it is entertainment or sacrificial occasions.
2. Five fonts.
Five-character poetry, ancient poetry genre. Refers to a five-word poem, and the whole poem consists of five words. Five-character poems can accommodate more words, thus expanding the capacity of poems and expressing feelings and narratives more 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 one of the main forms of classical poetry.
Modern poetry appeared after the early Tang Dynasty, including five-character poems and five-character quatrains. The five-character poems before the Tang Dynasty are generally called "five-character ancient poems" or "five-character poems". Five-character poem is a poem with five words in each sentence. As an independent poetic style, it originated in the Western Han Dynasty and matured in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
3. Six fonts.
Six-character rhyme belongs to ancient poetry, which is rare. Six-character poetry is a genre of old poetry, which consists of six words and one sentence. It has sprouted in the Book of Songs. Later, the poet occasionally wrote a short poem of six words and four sentences, such as Wang Wei's pastoral song: peach blossoms are full of rain, willow lines are more smoky. The flowers have left home, but the servants have not come back, and the birds are still sleeping.
The complete and standardized six-character metrical poem only appeared in Jian 'an period. The earliest and most complete existing six-character poems are Kong Rong's three six-character poems. Kong Rong, one of the seven sons of Jian 'an, is famous for his poems. In poetry creation, he created a complete six-character poem on the basis of drawing lessons from The Book of Songs, Songs of the South and two six-character scattered sentences of Han Yuefu.