Chinese poetry

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Chinese poetry
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Three main periods the early period --
characterized by folk songs in simple,
repetitious forms the classical period
-- from the Han Dynasty to the fall of the
Qing Dynasty, in which a number of
different forms were developed the modern
period -- more westernized free verses.
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Early period
The Shi Jing (6th century BC) -- "Classic
of Poetry or "Book of Songs" the first
major collection of Chinese poems ( 305
500 ) collecting both aristocratic poems
(Odes) and more rustic poetry, probably
derived from folksongs (Songs) .
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Guan-guan go the ospreys, On the islet in the
river.
The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady 
For our prince a good mate she.
Here long, there short, is the duckweed, To the
left, to the right, borne about by the current.
The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady 
Waking and sleeping, he sought her.
He sought her and found her not, And waking and
sleeping he thought about her.
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Long he thought  oh ! long and anxiously  On
his side, on his back, he turned, and back again.
Here long, there short, is the duckweed  On the
left, on the right, we gather it.
The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady 
With lutes, small and large, let us give her
friendly welcome.
Here long, there short, is the duckweed  On the
left, on the right, we cook and present it.
The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady 
With bells and drums let us show our delight in
her.
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The Chu Ci (Songs of Chu) more lyrical and
romantic anthology was made up primarily of
poems ascribed to a legendary poem Qu Yuan
(340-278 B.C.) and his follower Song Yu (4th
century B.C.).
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Classical period
During the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- A.D. 220), the
Songs of Chu evolved into the Fu (? ) , a poem
usually in rhymed verse except for introductory
and concluding passages that are in prose,
often in the form of questions and answers often
called a poetical essay.
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From the Han Dynasty onwards, a process similar
to the origins of the Shi Jing produced the Yue
Fu poems. These were song lyrics, including
original folk songs, court imitations and
versions by known poets
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From the second century AD, the Yue Fu
poems began to develop into Shi or classical
poetry - the form which was to dominate Chinese
poetry until the modern era.
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five or seven character per line with a
caesura before the last three characters of
each line divided into the original gushi
(old poems) and jin ti shi. Jin ti shi
has a stricter form developed with rules
governing tone patterns and the structure of
the content. The greatest writers of gushi
and jintishi are often held to be Li Bai, Du
Fu and Bai Juyi respectively.
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Li Bai
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Du Fu
Bai Juyi
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antithesis
xiang shuang guang
Night Thoughts I wake
up and moonbeams play around my bed Glittering
like hoarfrosts to my wondering eyes Upwards the
glorious moon I raise my head Then lay me down
and thoughts of home arise
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??? --- ??  
?????, ??????
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A TRAVELLER'S SONG --- Meng Jiao
The thread in the hands of a fond-hearted
mother Makes clothes for her boy
who is about to leave. Carefully
she sews and thoroughly she mends,
Dreading that her boy comes back home late.
How much love can the inch-long
grass Pay back for the light
of the spring sun?
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???? --- ???
?????, ??????   LOOKING AT THE MOON
AND THINKING OF ONE FAR AWAY
--- Zhang Jiuling
The moon, grown full now over the sea,
Brightening the whole of heaven, Brings to
separated hearts The long thoughtfulness of
night....
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????????
-- ??  
?????, ?????? FAREWELL TO
VICE-PREFECT DU SETTING OUT FOR HIS OFFICIAL
POST IN SHU
-- Wang Bo We hold our
friendship no matter where we are   and feel like
being neighbors even through we are in different
corner of the world.
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???? -- ?? ?????, ?????? ?????, ??????
DRINKING ALONE WITH THE MOON
--- Li Bai From a pot
of wine among the flowers I drank alone. There
was no one with me -- Till, raising my cup, I
asked the bright moon To bring me my shadow and
make us three.
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? --
??? ?????, ?????? ?????, ?????? ?????, ??????
?????, ??????
GRASSES -- Bai Juyi
Boundless grasses over the plain
Come and
go with every season
Wildfire never quite consumes them --
They are tall once more in the
spring wind. Sweet
they press on the old high- road
And reach the crumbling
city-gate... Oh Prince of
Friends, you are gone again...
I hear them sighing
after you.
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?? --
?? ?????, ?????? ?????, ?????? ?????, ??????
?????, ?????? A
SPRING VIEW -- Du Fu
Though a country be
sundered, hills and rivers endure And spring
comes green again to trees and grasses Where
petals have been shed like tears And lonely
birds have sung their grief. ...After the
war-fires of three months, One message from home
is worth a ton of gold. ...I stroke my white
hair. It has grown too thin To hold the hairpins
any more.
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?? --- ??
?????, ??????  
A View Of Mount TAI --- Du Fu When
shall I reach the top and hold All mountains
in a single glance?
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Behind the gates of the wealthy food lies
rotting from waste Outside it's the poor who
lie frozen to death
--- Du Fu
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Towards the end of the Tang dynasty, the Ci
lyric became more popular. Most closely
associated with the Song dynasty, Ci
most often expressed feelings of
desire, but the greatest exponents
of the form used it to
address a wide range
of topics.
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Ten years, dead and living dim and draw apart.
I don't try to remember,But forgetting is
hard.Lonely grave a thousand miles off,Cold
thoughts, where can I talk them out?Even if we
met, you wouldn't know me,Dust on my
face,Hair like frost.
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In a dream last night suddenly I was home.
By the window of the little room, You were
combing your hair and making up. You turned
and looked, not speaking, Only lines of tears
coursing down. Year after year will it break
my heart? The moonlit grave, The stubby
pines.
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??????? ?????? ???????????? ??????,?????? ???????
??????,?????, ?????,?????????,???,???? ????,????
???? ??????,??????, ?????? ?????,??????
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Shui Tiao Ko Tou Will a moon so
bright ever arise again?Drink a cupful of wine
and ask of the sky.I don't know where the palace
gate of heaven is,Or even the year in which
tonight slips by.I want to return riding the
whirl-wind! But IFeel afraid that this heaven of
jasper and jadeLets in the cold, its palaces
rear so high.I shall get up and dance with my
own shadow.From life endured among men how far a
cry!
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Round the red pavilionSlanting through the
latticesOnto every wakeful eye,Moon, why should
you bear a grudge, O whyInsist in time of
separation so th fill the sky?Men know joy and
sorow, parting and reunionThe moon lacks
lustre, brightly shines is al, is
less.Perfection was never easily come by.Though
miles apart, could men but live for everDreaming
they shared this moonlight endlessly!
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As the Ci gradually became more literary and
artificial after Song times, the San Qu,
a freer form, based on new popular
songs, developed.
The use of San Qu songs in
drama marked an important
step in the development
of vernacular

literature.
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Modern poetry
Modern Chinese poems usually do not
follow any prescribed pattern. Writers try to
use vernacular styles closer to what was
being spoken rather than previously
prescribed forms. Early twentieth-century
poets like Xu Zhimo, Guo Moruo and Wen Yiduo
sought to break Chinese poetry from past
conventions by adopting Western models.
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For example Xu Zhimo consciously follows
the style of the Romantic poets with end-
rhymes. Afterwards, Chinese modern poets like
Ai Qing used more liberal running lines
and direct diction, which were vastly popular
and widely imitated.
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? ? ? ?
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Saying Good-bye to Cambridge Again Very
quietly I take my leave As
quietly as I came here Quietly I wave good-bye
To the rosy clouds in the
western sky. The golden willows by the riverside
Are young brides in the setting sun
Their reflections on the shimmering waves
Always linger in the depth of my heart. The
floatingheart growing in the sludge Sways
leisurely under the water In the
gentle waves of Cambridge I would be a water
plant! That pool under
the shade of elm trees Holds not water but the
rainbow from the sky Shattered to pieces among
the duckweeds Is the sediment of a rainbow-like
dream? To seek a dream? Just to pole a boat
upstream To where the green grass is more
verdant Or to have the boat fully loaded with
starlight And sing aloud in the splendour of
starlight. But I cannot sing aloud
Quietness is my farewell music
Even summer insects keep silent for me Silence
is Cambridge tonight! Very quietly I take my
leave As quietly as I came
here Gently I flick my sleeves
Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring
away
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?? ??? ????????
?????????? ?????????
???????? Duan Zhang -- Bian Zhilin You
are watching the scenery on a bridge
The one who is watching the scenery is
watching you from a balcony The moon
decorates your window And you have
decorated someones dream
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The development of Chinese poetry
the early period the classical
period the modern period
-- the Shi Jing -- the Chu Ci ( Songs of Chu )
-- Fu -- Yue Fu poems -- Shi the classical
poetry (the original gushi jin ti shi.) --
Ci -- San Qu
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??? jing ye si chuang
qian ming yue guang ?
? ? ? ?, yi shi
di shang shuang ? ?
? ? ?? ju tou
wang ming yue ? ? ?
? ?, di tou
si gu xiang ? ?
? ? ??
Night Thoughts I wake
up and moonbeams play around my bed Glittering
like hoarfrosts to my wondering eyes Upwards the
glorious moon I raise my head Then lay me down
and thoughts of home arise
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(No Transcript)
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???? ??????,??????, ?????? ?????,??????
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???
--- ??   ? ? ? ?
?, ? ? ? ? ?? ?
? ? ? ?, ? ? ? ? ??
? ? ? ? ?, ? ? ? ? ??
A TRAVELLER'S SONG --- Meng
Jiao The thread in the hands of a
fond-hearted mother Makes clothes
for her boy who is about to leave.
Carefully she sews and thoroughly she mends,
Dreading that her boy comes back home
late. How much love can the
inch-long grass Pay back for
the light of the spring sun?
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???? -- ??? ?
? ? ? ?,? ? ? ? ?? ?
? ? ? ?,? ? ? ? ??
Step up the Guan Que Building
-- Wang Zhihuan The
pale sun disappears beside the mountains The
Yellow River flows into the ocean Hope to have
see a thousand li farther Climb up one more floor

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?? -- ?? ? ?
? ? ?,? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ?
?,? ? ? ? ?? Hoeing the
crops Li Shen Hoe the crops in the mid-day
Sweat drops onto the soil under the crops Who
knows that every rice on your plate Comes from
the hard work
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?? -- ???
? ? ? ? ?,? ? ? ? ??
? ? ? ? ?,? ? ? ? ??
Snow at the river -- Liu
Zongyuan No a single bird flies above the
mountains No a single person walks on the
paths A lonely fisherman in a straw mantle
sits beside a boat Fishing in the
chilly snow at the river
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??? ??????? xing ??????? ??????? ???????
qing --- ??

To Wang Lun By Li Bai Li Bai takes a boat
and is about to depart, When suddenly he hears
the sound of footsteps and singing on the shore.
The water in the Peach Blossom pool is a
thousand feet deep, But not as deep as Wang
Lun's parting care for me.
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????? -- ??? ?????, ?????? ??????, ???????
ON A GATE-TOWER AT YUZHOU
-- Chen Ziang Where, before me,
are the ages that have gone? And where, behind
me, are the coming generations? I think of
heaven and earth, without limit, without end,
And I am all alone and my tears fall down.
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??????? --- ??
????,???,??????? ????,???, ??????? ????,????,???
??? ????,??????? ??????,?????,
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????,?????,?????
????,???????
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Nien nu chiao - Battle of Red
Cliff The Ynagtze flows eastWashing awayA
thousand ages of great menWest of the ramparts
-- People say --Are the fables Red Cliffs of
young Chou of the Three Kingdoms
Rebellious rocks pierce the sky
Frightening waves rip the bank
The backwash churns vast snowy
swells -- River and
mountains like a painting
how many heroes passed them, once ...
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Think back to those years, Chou Yu --Just
married to the younger Chiao --Brave,
brilliantWith plumed fan, silk kerchiefLaughed
and talkedWhile masts and oars vanished to
flying ash and smoke! I
roam through ancient realms
Absurdly moved Turn gray
too soon -- A man's life
passes like a dream --
Pour out a cup then, to the river,
and the moon