中国古代诗歌

李全忠

五千年歷史，写就华夏文明奇迹。唐宋元明清，诗词歌赋曲。绵延不息，源远流长。

难词探意

1. couplet / k pl t/  n. 对联;对句

2. rhythmically / r  m kli/  adv. 有节奏地

3. tonally / to n li/  adv. 在调子上;就音色的方面

4. affective /  fekt v/  adj. 情感的;表达感情的

5. puppet / p p t/  n. 木偶

6. illuminate /  lu m ne t/  v. 阐明;说明;照亮

7. prose /pro z/  n. 散文

Poetry has been a favorite literary genre for thousands of years. The greatest poets are thought to have lived a thousand years ago or more during the Tang （618—907）， Song （960—1279） and Han （206 BC—220 AD） dynastic eras. Du Fu， Li Bai and Su Shi are considered among the best ancient poets， and there are five major kinds of major ancient poetic styles called Shi， Ci， Ge， Qu and Fu.

Five Kinds of Poems

Shi

Shi poems are composed of couplets. They are poems of two more coupled lines. The two lines of a couplet usually rhyme and match rhythmically and complement each other tonally. Modern Mandarin only has five tones， but ancient languages usually had more， so the tonal rhythms are generally lost.

Ci

Ci poetry can be described as poems that have patterns of syllables and tonal patterns. In making a Ci poetry， a poet chooses words that fit a specific pattern. These patterns may have once been part of a song. But the music has been lost. There are various patterns that provided affective settings for various effects or moods.

Ge

The word "ge" means song. Ge poems are the words to a song that can be sung. There were folk songs as well as songs composed by the literate and educated composers.

Qu

When the Mongols conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty （1279-1368）， they brought with them their own style of music and forms of entertainment. They especially liked to watch shadow puppet theaters that were puppet plays of little guided figurines and puppets illuminated by a lamp so that the shadows fell against a screen. It is thought that the form of operatic drama of the Yuan Dynasty imitated their shadow play theaters. The style of music and song in the operas was called Yuan Qu or Mongol Music. The songs from the operas and popular songs were a poetic style called Qu that was also popular in later eras. The poetic style is freer of form.

Fu

A fifth major style of poetry is called "Fu." These are descriptive poems that contain both prose and couplets. These were popular about 1，500 years to 2，000 years ago. Often poets included rare or unusual written characters from preceding eras in their poems.

Reading check

True（T）or false（F）questions

1. Ancient languages only has five tones.  （  ）

2. Ci poetry and poems have the same patterns of syllables and tonal patterns.  （  ）

3. The types of Ge poems can vary.  （  ）

4. The poetic style of Qu is fixed.  （  ）

5. "Fu" is a kind of informative poem that contains prose and couplets.  （  ）