Chinese Language Stack Exchange
Chinese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [poetry]

Questions concerning the meaning, context, style, or composition of poetry, classical or modern.

Classical Chinese poetry refers to a plethora of poetic forms written in classical Chinese, including but not limited to: Shijing (詩經) and Chu Ci (楚辭) in the pre-Qin times, Han fu (漢賦), shi (詩), ci (詞), and qu (曲).

Modern Chinese poetry, xinshi (新詩), is the result of literary breakthrough during the May Fourth Movement. It is characterised by its free verses and use of modern Chinese.

79 questions
10
votes
1 answer

What do the Symbols ◒ and ◓ Signify In Old Chinese Poetry Books?

I recently bought an old manual of how 詞 (classical lyric) are supposed to be "filled". The pages look like this: Naturally am curious about the meaning of the circle symbols next to each characters and suspect they are related to classical "平／仄"…
Master Sparkles
  • 1,969
  • 13
  • 21
6
votes
2 answers

Are there poems in Chinese that rhyme?

I've mostly read classical poems from guys such as 李白 and 杜甫, very nice in their own way, but it made me wonder if there is some form of poetry with rhymes in Chinese. It would probably be more difficult to write such poems, due to the lack of…
Lars Andren
  • 1,438
  • 3
  • 13
  • 17
5
votes
3 answers

Tone 平仄 of the 5th character in a seven-character jueju 七絕

In writing regulated verses 近體詩, there's a saying "一三五不論，二四六分明。" (We don't care the tone 平仄 of the odd-numbered characters in each line, but we care about that of the even-numbered ones.) However, Baidu's page about seven-character jueju 七絕 shows…
GNUSupporter 8964民主女神 地下教會
  • 183
  • 1
  • 9
5
votes
2 answers

Original Chinese version of the mango poem

I was reading an article about mango's cultural significance in modern Chinese history. It mentioned about the following poem which was translated from Chinese: Seeing that golden mango / Was as if seeing the Great Leader Chairman Mao! Standing…
Fabricator
  • 325
  • 1
  • 8
3
votes
4 answers

How is my understanding of 李白’s poem 《闻王昌龄左迁龙标遥有此寄》?

This is a poem by Tang Dynasty poet 李白 in my grade-7 语文 textbook: 《闻王昌龄左迁龙标遥有此寄》，李白 杨花落尽子规啼， 闻道龙标过五溪。 我寄愁心与明月， 随风直到夜郎西。 From what I understand, the poem laments how 李白's friend 王昌龄 has been 左迁 = 降职 = demoted and sent to 龙标 in Hunan province (away…
Becky 李蓓
  • 16,291
  • 9
  • 49
  • 165
3
votes
3 answers

Tao Yuanming Poem

I am reading this poem by Tao Yuanming. 飲酒詩二十首之五 結盧在人境 而無車馬喧 問君何能爾 心遠地自偏 採菊東籬下 悠然見南山 山氣日夕佳 飛鳥相與還 此還有真意 欲辨已忘言 I have a general idea, because I found the translation below on Wikipedia. But the most difficult line is 心遠地自偏 Must I understand 偏 as a…
Ludi
  • 2,816
  • 1
  • 14
  • 31
2
votes
1 answer

Song of the River / Why Be Jealous

I have a poem by Li Bai in English translation, from an anthology called The Jade Flute. The poem is titled Why Be Jealous, but another publication gives it the title Song of the River. The poem reads: MY LITTLE BOAT IS MADE OF EBONY; MY FLUTE-STOPS…
河南宝宝
  • 378
  • 2
  • 9
2
votes
3 answers

What rules are there for combining characters in couplets? (对联)

So I want to practice writing Chinese couplet poetry. I have been reading about the character count matching in each line, with parallel meanings, etc. However, my question is, are there limits to what characters can be combined in couplets to be…
Josh Weinstein
  • 123
  • 4
2
votes
2 answers

Poetry that deals with wanting to be rescued?

I'm looking for some, mainstream, poetry that deals with wanting to be rescued. China Baike gave me: 黄鹤洞中仙…
Mou某
  • 35,955
  • 9
  • 53
  • 137
2
votes
1 answer

Why Have Modern *duilian*'s become 成语+3 Random Characters?

I keep seeing parts of modern duilian's made of one 成语 + three random characters. Something like: 国泰民安 + 增财富 How did duilian evolve to this level?
Mou某
  • 35,955
  • 9
  • 53
  • 137
1
vote
2 answers

不打诗, 朱淑真 (乞望老爷饶恕它)

The poem 不打诗 by 朱淑真 ends with this line: 乞望老爷饶恕它 From a literal reading of this sentence, it is saying something along the lines of "pleading hopefully with the old man to forgive him". Yet in actuality we know in this poem the daughter is pleading…
ronald christenkkson
  • 219
  • 5
1
vote
1 answer

Does anyone know this Chinese poem?

My friend gave an English translation of this Chinese poem to me long time ago. It was a long poem and it was about two men, talking by the river and enjoying the moon. It contained a phrase, "Have you seen the moon and the water?" They talk about…
old river
  • 19
  • 1
1
vote
2 answers

Poems about parents love and care for children

I'm looking for poems about parents' love, concern, and caring of their children. I'm aware of 孟郊《游子吟》: “慈母手中线,游子身上衣。临行密密缝,意恐迟迟归。谁言寸草心,报得三春晖?” But that's heavy on the "repayment" aspect. I'm looking for something that emphasizes the amount of…
Mou某
  • 35,955
  • 9
  • 53
  • 137
0
votes
2 answers

Chinese poems that rely not on rhymes but similarity or relationship of characters?

I have a limited (one year Mandarin) understanding of Chinese. I read that Chinese poetry can rhyme extensively but is there the possibility that a poem might use the appearance of characters or characters that share radicals? Forgive me for the…
releseabe
  • 149
  • 6
0
votes
1 answer

Chinese Verse: Is "Broaden One's Horizons" a Translation That Makes Sense?

Here's the verse in question, the last verse of a Chines language poem: "如再宽阔些便可知千里阵云怎么写了" My current translation: "If you broaden your horizons, you can learn how to write about vast formations of clouds." Is "broaden horizons" a good way to…
Coleman Gailloreto
  • 151
  • 4
1
2