r e C e n t-s t y l e Sh i P oe t ry : P e n ta s y l l a biC r e gul at eD v e r s e 169cosmic vision, characterized by the inseparable, empathetic bonds a moral man
forges with his fellow human beings, his country, and the universe at large. By
his creation of such a Confucian vision of the universe and the self, Du Fu earned
the appellation of “poet-sage” (shisheng), the highest honor to which a Confucian-
minded poet could aspire.
Rules of Tonal Patterning
Chinese tonal meter is much more complex than English poetic meter. Whereas
a sonnet writer only needs to alternate five unstressed and stressed syllables
within a line, a lüshi poet has to do more. He must meticulously alternate level
and oblique tones between as well as within lines. Level tones refer to the first and
second tones—the flat tone (for example, mā) and rising tone (má)—in Mandarin.
Oblique tones consist of the third and fourth tones—the falling-rising tone (mă)
and the short falling tone (mà)—of Mandarin and the entering tones (rusheng)
of Middle Chinese.1 This patterning of tones is constructed with a precision that
leaves nothing to chance.
Ironically, this precision is what makes the complex tonal patterning easy for
us to observe and master—it becomes a fairly simple matter of observing its three
basic rules.2 Turning again to “Spring Scene” for our example, let us go through
these rules and work out all the major tonal patterns of recent-style shi poetry, as
shown in the table.
The first rule demands a maximum contrast of tones within a line. This rule
dictates that the tones of a pentasyllabic line must appear in two opposite pairs, a
pair of level tones (─ ─) and a pair of oblique tones (│ │), with an odd “one” (─ or │)
tipping the balance. This casting of tones mirrors the semantic rhythm of 2 + (1 +
2/2 + 1). If the odd one is placed at the end of a line, we have the first two of the
four line types in recent-style shi poetry: (1) │ │ ─ ─ │ and (2) ─ ─ │ │ ─. If it is placed
at the beginning of a line, we have the other two line types: (3) ─ ─ ─ │ │ and (4) │ │
│ ─ ─.3
The second rule demands a maximum contrast between the two lines of a cou-
plet. In a standard couplet, the tonal combination of the opening line is antitheti-
cally matched by that of the closing line. For instance, if the opening line is │ │ ─
─ │, the closing line must be ─ ─ │ │ ─. Alternatively, ─ ─ ─ │ │ is to be followed by
Tonal Pattern of “Spring Scene”
國破山河在
城春草木深
kwok
chéngpò
chūnshān
căohé
muwkzài
shēn│
─│
──
│─
││
─ △感時花濺淚
恨別鳥驚心
(găn)
hènshí
bjethuā
niăojiàn
jīnglèi
xīn(│)
│─
│─
││
─│
─ △烽火連三月
家書抵萬金
(fēng)
jiāhuŏ
shūlián
dĭsān
wànng jwot
jīn(─)
─│
──
│─
││
─ △白頭搔更短
渾欲不勝簪
(baek)
hùntóu
yowksáo
pwotgèng
(shèng)duăn
zān(│)
│─
│─
││
(─)│
─ △