172 t He tang Dy na s t y
In the final analysis, we can say that there are only two basic types of tonal pat-
terning: type I and type II. All the tonal patterns presented are merely their deriva-
tives at different removes. A fourfold division (I, II, Ia, IIa) is derived through a
slight variation of the opening line for the sake of rhyming. At the next remove,
an eightfold division is derived through a further differentiation by poem length
(four-line jueju versus eight-line lüshi). At the last remove, even a sixteenfold divi-
sion may be derived through yet another differentiation by line length (pentasyl-
labic versus heptasyllabic). This analysis, I hope, lays bare the inherent relation-
ships among all the tonal patterns of recent-style shi poetry.
It is important to remember that the tables represent perfect tonal patterns that
exist in theory but not always in practice. Rigid adherence to a tonal pattern can
lead to a sacrifice of meaning for the sake of tonal regularity. So poets often took
advantage of a certain amount of freedom to diverge from the set tonal patterns.
For an example of the employment of one of these tonal patterns, let us return to
Du Fu’s “Spring Scene.” The tonal pattern employed is type I. With four entering
tones (kwok, bjet, yowk, pwot) restored, this poem demonstrates a much more rig-
orous observance of the required tonal pattern than if read in modern standard
Chinese. Nonetheless, we can note four instances of variation from the established
tonal pattern. For instance, from a purely technical point of view, the first charac-
ter in line 3 should be in level tone, but the character găn is in oblique tone. Gener-
ally speaking, it is often permissible to deviate from the required tones of the first
and third characters in a pentasyllabic line or the first, third, and fifth characters in
a heptasyllabic line. All but one of the four violations here occur in the first word
of a line. Students who wish to reconstruct the tonal pattern of a lüshi or regulated
jueju poem need only mark out its alternation of level and oblique tones and then
find out to which tonal pattern it conforms. The tonal patterns for all recent-style
shi poems presented in this book are identified at the end of each citation and
listed in the preceding tables.Variant Lüshi Tonal Patterns
Type Ia Type IIa
(─ ─) │ │ │ ─ ─ △ (│ │) ─ ─ │ │ ─ △
(│ │) ─ ─ │ │ ─ △ (─ ─) │ │ │ ─ ─ △
(│ │) ─ ─ ─ │ │ (─ ─) │ │ ─ ─ │
(─ ─) │ │ │ ─ ─ △ (│ │) ─ ─ │ │ ─ △
(─ ─) │ │ ─ ─ │ (│ │) ─ ─ ─ │ │
(│ │) ─ ─ │ │ ─ △ (─ ─) │ │ │ ─ ─ △
(│ │) ─ ─ ─ │ │ (─ ─) │ │ ─ ─ │
(─ ─) │ │ │ ─ ─ △ (│ │) ─ ─ │ │ ─ △
A pentasyllabic lüshi employing this
tonal pattern is C8.4. Heptasyllabic lüshi
employing this tonal pattern are C9.1, C9.6,
C17.1, C17.2, C17.8, C17.12, and C18.1.None of the pentasyllabic lüshi
presented in this book employs this
tonal pattern. Heptasyllabic lüshi
employing this tonal pattern are
C9.5, C9.7, C9.8, C15.6, and C18.2.