268 t He F i v e Dy na s t i e s anD t He s ong Dy na s t y
level. While each strophic unit has its own center, all the units within a song lyric
have a common center at a higher level. In this way, the whole song lyric is sus-
tained by an “incremental structure.”6
Looking again at Liu Yong’s lyric, we can see this incremental structure at work.
The four steps in the poet’s presentation of autumn in the first stanza and the four
segments in the second (altogether eight beats as the tune title indicates) are all
strophic units. Each of them captures a particular moment in a series of poetic
events, representing one stage in the development of the theme. Working as a
whole, and with the help of the stanzaic division, they allow the poet to unfold his
description of scenery and narration of inner activities step by step. It is fair to say
that Liu Yong’s creative use of leading words in the manci marked the beginning of
the literati ci poets’ conscious experiment on the multifaceted structure; such uti-
lization of leading words eventually became the most important aesthetic feature
of the genre.
Just as Liu Yong introduced exciting innovations to the techniques of the manci,
Su Shi expanded its thematic scope. Su Shi’s manci lyrics prove that the ci could
be skillfully used to express sentiments that were generally thought to be suit-
able only for shi poetry.7 Moreover, the formal properties of the manci provided
him with powerful poetic devices that could be used to convey personal feelings
and emotions that were too intense and too exquisite to be fully expressed in shi
poetry.8 As a result, not only did he further expand the subject matter of manci, but
he also gave many of his songs a genuine personal voice, an unambiguous auto-
biographical tone as found in traditional shi poetry.9 He was sometimes accused of
ignoring the intrinsic musicality of the ci, but, at his best, the spontaneous flow of
his thoughts and feelings unfold with a natural ease and fit comfortably the syn-
tax and the phonetic modules of the manci tunes, which had developed from the
sound patterns that Liu Yong had discerned in the performances of the popular
musicians and singers half a century before.C 1 3. 2
To the Tune “Prelude to the River Tune”On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival of bingchen [1076], I enjoyed drink-
ing until dawn—I got completely drunk. This piece was composed for the
occasion and also to express my thoughts for my brother Ziyou.
For how long has the bright moon been there?
2 I hold up the wine cup and ask the blue sky.
I wonder in the palaces in heaven
4 What year tonight is.
I wish to ride the wind and return there,
6 But fear the crystal towers and jade galleries
So high up there would be too cold for me.
8 I rise to dance with my solitary clear shadow,
How does this compare to the human world!