When the Tang dynasty and its age of poetry was brought to an end in 907, the Chinese Empire was torn by civil wars. The strife had begun with the large-scale rebellion of Huang Ch'ao, which lasted from 875 to 884 and set the stage for the dynasty's fall. During the 50 years which elapsed between the close of T'ang and the re-establishment of unity under the Sung dynasty, the empire ran the gamut of five separate rules referred to by subsequent historians as the Later Liang, the Later Tang, the Later Chin, the Later Han and the Later Chou. Besides these five dynasties, 10 small states were established on the periphery of Central China. Southern Tang was one of these.
As the founders of the Five Dynasties were uneducated soldiers, the times were not favorable for the development of literature. Fortunately, those dark years were illumined by the names of two of the kings of the Ten States. One ruled Shu (modern Szechwan) and the other Southern Tang. Most of the men of letters of the period flocked to these literary patrons: Chao Ts'ung-tsu, king of the Later Shu, and Li Hou-chu, the last king of Southern Tang. Thanks to the encouragement of these two rulers, literary production did not come to a complete standstill. Works of Shu were compiled in an anthology. The writings of Southern Tang, located on the south bank of the Yangtze River with its capital at Nanking, were not anthologized and most of the poetry has been lost. Of surviving works, the best-known are those of King Li Hou-chu.
The development of Shih poetry reached its height toward the end of the Tang. Though later poets continued to write Shih, they were imitators. When a literary form has been current for a long time, it has to be replaced by another, because independent and original writers cannot content themselves with saying the same things over and over in the same way. In China, an example is the transition from four-syllable to seven-syllable verse and then into other forms. The period from the end of the eighth to the start of the tenth centuries brought the change from Shih to Tz'u.
Chinese poetry is written in verses of equal length, either all five-syllable or seven-syllable, with a fixed tone pattern and rhyme scheme. If a poem is written in the manner of Ancient Verse, the number of lines is indefinite. Rhyme usually occurs at the end of even-numbered lines. The rhyme can be changed or one rhyme used throughout. Fixed tone pattern is waived in Ancient Verse.
Regulated Verse includes quatrains and eight-line poems. An eight-line poem must be either of five-syllable or seven-syllable lines. There are two kinds of fixed tone patterns. Rhyme is used at the end of the even-numbered lines, rhyming at the end of the first line being optional. The same rhyme is used throughout a poem. The four lines in the middle must form two antithetical couplets.
The quatrain corresponds to half of an eight-line poem in Regulated Verse, the difference being that there is no obligatory antithetical couplet. A quatrain is an independent piece of writing and not a truncated poem.
The Tz'u became popular toward the end of T'ang. Tz'u are lyrics-poems to be sung. Poems were sometimes sung in earlier T'ang, too. But the musician wrote a melody to go with the poem. In the case of the Tz'u, the poet wrote words for an existing tune.
The Tz'u resemble the Yüeh Fu (songs collected by the Department of Music, a practice which originated with Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynasty). Yüeh Fu were generally folksongs, however, whereas the Tz'u were original creations and became the representative literary form of the Five Dynasties and the Sung dynasty.
There are two theories as to the origin of Tz'u. One holds that Tz'u grew out of the Yüeh Fu. The other suggests the Tz'u are derived from the regulated five-syllable and seven-syllable verses. As a matter of fact, five-syllable and seven-syllable verses also originated in the Yueh Fu.
When regulated five-syllable or seven-syllable verses are set to music, they cannot be fitted into the melody unchanged. Musical phrases are usually of unequal length, while regulated verses have a regular meter. Meaningless words are added for padding, not unlike the "Tra-la-la" of an English song. Poets subsequently started choosing the melody and then writing their poem to fit the musical structure. Ergo, the Tz'u.
Rules of versification in a Tz'u are less rigid than in an ordinary poem, which has a limited number of tone patterns and rhyme schemes. Each Tz'u has a fixed tone pattern and rhyme scheme of its own.
Chinese is a language of tones, the number varying according to the dialect. For poetic purposes, each character may be thought of as having either a flat or sharp tone. When writing ordinary verse, the poet has only to distinguish between these. In writing a Tz'u, he must keep in mind that the flat tone is subdivided Into level flat and rising flat and that the sharp tone is subdivided into three: mounting tone, parting tone and entering tone. In other words, the Shih has two tones and the Tz'u five. However, some liberties are allowed in Tz'u written on the model of Hsiao Ling (small or short tunes) as distinguished from the Man Tz'u (slow or long tunes) created under the Sung.
Though Tz'u came to prominence under the T'ang, the earliest specimens date to Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty (502-556) in the Six Dynasties period (420-589). During the eighth century, the age of the great T'ang poet Li Po, further Tz'u efforts were made. The first of these to survive was for the "Buddhist Coiffure" tune and is attributed to Li Po. The authenticity has been challenged but the artistry is undeniable.
The vast stretch of woods is woven with a thick mist.
The chilly mountains lie, a ribbon of green melancholy. Twilight is entering her elevated pavilion,
In the pavilion she is grieved.
In vain she remains standing on the perrons of jade.
Rapidly, birds are returning to perch
Where is the road of homecoming?
Only posting houses, far and near, one after another.
This Tz'u describes a lady longing for her lover. At the outset, in her elevated abode, she watches a Highlight scene: woods covered with thick evening mist and a chain of mountains whose unbroken line looks like a ribbon of green melancholy.
Then the lady steps out and beholds the crows coming back to their nests. This spectacle reminds her of her lover, wandering in a distant land. So she asks: "Where is the road of homecoming?" The answer is: "The road which he should take when he comes back is far away and hidden from my sight. What I see is only post houses."
This Tz'u by Tai Hsui-luen (739-789) will show the structure: tone pattern, rhyme scheme, etc. Capital letters denote the changing of rhymes. The mark "-" denotes flat tones and "/" stands for sharp tones.
Tz'u on a "Small Comic Tune"
Pien Ts'ao Pien Ts'ao A
Frontier grass frontier grass
- / - /
Pien Ts'ao Ching Lai Ping Lao A
Frontier grass end and soldier old
- / / - - /
Shan Nan Shan Pei Hsüeh Ch'ing B
Mountain south mountain north snow clear
- - - / / -
Ch'ien Li Wan Li Yüeh Ming B
Thousand mile ten thousand mile moon bright
- / / / / -
Ming Yüeh Ming Yueh C
Bright moon bright moon
- / - /
Hu Chia Yi Sheng Ch'ou Chüeh C
Barbarian pipe one sound sorrow extreme
- - - - - /
Properly translated, the Tz'u reads:
Grass of the frontier, grass of the frontier,
Grass of the frontier is exhausted, soldiers are old.
South of the Mountain, north of the Mountain, snow ceased to fall,
For a thousand miles, for ten thousand miles, the moon is bright.
The bright moon, the bright moon
A most mournful note of a barbarian pipe.
Two auditory qualities of the Tz'u are to be emphasized: the monosyllabic character and the five fixed tones: P'ing Sheng (flat tone) which is subdivided into Ying P'ing (level flat) and Yang P'ing (rising flat); Shang Sheng (mounting tone); Chü Sheng (parting tone); and Ju Sheng (entering tone). For metrical purposes, the first of these tones is called flat (P'ing Sheng) while the other three are called sharp (Che Sheng). These tones differ from one another not only in pitch but also in length and movement. The flat tone is relatively long and keeps to the same pitch, while the other three are comparatively short with upward or downward modulations.
In versification, flats and sharps have their fixed positions in a line. In an ordinary poem, quatrain or eight-line, five-syllable or seven-syllable, there are only two kinds of tone patterns for each. Rhyme occurs at the end of the even-numbered lines, rhyming at the end of the first line being optional. The Tz'u poet chooses a tune and writes the words. He is bound by the tone pattern and meter of the song. The Tz'u has no title of its own and takes the song's name.
While an ordinary poem has verses of equal length, the Tz'u lines are often of unequal length but with a fixed number of syllables. As the Chinese characters are monosyllabic, the number of characters in each line is identical with that of the syllables.
The "Small Comic Tune" Tz'u already cited has two two-word repetitions. The first occurs at the beginning of the first line, the second occurs at the beginning of the fifth line; it should be composed of the last two words of the preceding line but in an inverted order. Any new Tz'u written to the "Small Comic Tune" should share this and other particularities.
The "Small Comic Tune" Tz'u has six lines. The first comprises four characters, including a two-word repetition. The second, third and fourth have six characters. The fifth has four characters, including a two-word repetition. This repetition is composed of the last two words of the preceding line but in inverted order. The last line has six characters. Three rhyme schemes are employed.
Here is another Tz'u to the tune "Buddhist Coiffure." The structure is entirely different from that of the preceding Tz'u.
Tz'u on "Buddhist Coiffure"
Jen Jen Ching Shuo Ching Nan Hao A
Man man all say river south good
- - / - - - /
Yu Jen Chih Ho Chiang Nan Lao A
Wandering man only fit river south old
- - / - - - /
Ch'un Shui Pi Yu T'ien B
Spring water bluer than sky
- / - - -
Hua Ch'uan T'ing Yü Mien B
Painted boat hear rain sleep
/ - - /
Lu Pien Jen Ssu Yüeh C
Wine-jar side person like moon
- - - / /
Hao Wan Ming Shuang Hsüeh C
White wrist bright frost snow
/ / - - /
Wei Lao Mo Huan Hsiang D
Not yet old not return home
/ / / - -
Huan Hsiang Hsü Tuan Ch'ang D
Return home must break bowels
- - - / -
Properly translated, the Tz'u reads:
Everyone sings of the beauty of the south of the river.
Travelers must end their youthful days south of the river.
The spring water is bluer than the sky,
In a painted barge I lie, listening to the rain.
The one over the wine jar is as bright as the moon.
Her white wrists shine like frost and snow.
I'm not old yet, for home let me not start;
For going home will surely break my heart.
This Tz'u was written by Wen T'ing-yun (820-870?), the first T'ang poet to master the art of Tz'u. Most of his works have been lost. Many of them dealt with the romances of courtesans. Wen wrote this Tz'u when taking refuge south of the Yangtze River, a region renowned for natural beauty and lovely girls. The poet was lying idly in an elegant barge while a beautiful sing-song girl served him wine. The maid's skin was snow-white and hers was a shining beauty. While longing to go' home, he was at the same time reluctant to leave the scenery and the lovely maiden. These conflicting emotions are expressed in simple and direct language. He finally decides to stay and enjoy life while he is still young.
As the Tz'u came into vogue toward the end of T'ang, its artistry was much improved. The first Tz'u were not much different from Shih and the structure was nearly as monotonous. By late T'ang, Wen T'ing-yun and Wei Chuang were perfecting the form and establishing models that would influence writers of the Five Dynasties period.