China literature was produced before its writing was born. As far as China's national literature is concerned, there have been rich myths and legends, such as Nuwa myth, Yi myth and Dayu legend. Unfortunately, most of them are gone.
Poetry is one of the earliest art forms in China literature and the most mature genre in China literature. It originated from the collective labor of people in primitive times. Early poetry is inseparable from music and dance. They were originally a trinity. Later, poetry became an independent literary style, but it still retained some characteristics of music, the most prominent of which was the distinctive rhythm and sonorous tone.
In the long-term historical development, many kinds of poems have been formed. Broadly speaking, China's ancient poems include poems, words and songs, among which poems are divided into ancient poems and modern poems.
Characteristics of poetry
Poetry is full of the author's thoughts, feelings and rich imagination. The language is concise and vivid, with distinct rhythm, harmonious phonology and rich musical beauty. Sentences are generally in rows, paying attention to the beauty of structure and form.
He Qifang, a modern poet and literary critic in China, once said: "Poetry is the literary style that most strongly reflects social life. It is full of rich imagination and feelings, and it is often expressed in a direct lyrical way. Moreover, in the degree of exquisiteness and harmony, especially in the distinct rhythm, its language and prose are different. "
This definition summarizes several basic characteristics of poetry: first, it reflects life in a highly concentrated and general way; The second is lyrical expression, full of rich thoughts and feelings; Third, rich imagination, association and fantasy; Fourth, language has musical beauty.
Its characteristic is that the content of poetry is the most concentrated reflection of social life. Poetry is full of emotion and imagination. Poetry language has the characteristics of conciseness, image, harmonious tone and distinct rhythm. In form, poetry is not based on sentences, but on behavior, and its branches are mainly based on rhythm rather than meaning.