"Three Hundred Songs of Song Dynasty - Full Explanation"

Author: Cai Yijiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The term "ci" () originally referred to musical literature, as it was lyrics composed to accompany a piece of music. Therefore, its full name is "quzi ci" (), and it is abbreviated as "ci." Since it is necessary to fill words according to the rhythm of the music, it is difficult to use uniform five-character or seven-character lines in all cases, as melodies always vary in length and speed. Thus, except for a very small number of exceptions, the lines in a piece of ci are always of varying lengths, which is why it is also called "chuanquan shu" (). Ci also has other names such as "yuefu" (), "gugue" (), and "yuezhang" (), all of which reflect its relationship with music. Only the later term "shiyou" () ignores this connection. The term "shiyou" refers to the idea that ci is merely a byproduct of poetry (a derogatory view) or that it evolved from poetry by adding or removing characters and changing its form. These perspectives focus solely on the differences and similarities in the wording, phrasing, and structure of ci and poetry, without considering its musical foundation.