Cí is a type of lyric poetry in the tradition of Classical Chinese poetry. Cí use a set of poetic meters derived from a base set of certain patterns, in fixed-rhythm, fixed-tone, and variable line-length formal types, or model examples. The rhythmic and tonal pattern of the ci are based upon certain, definitive musical song tunes. They are also known as Changduanju and Shiyu. Typically, the number of characters in each line and the arrangement of tones were determined by one of around 800 set patterns, each associated with a particular title, called cípái. Originally, they were written to be sung to a tune of that title, with a set rhythm, rhyme, and tempo. Therefore, the title may have nothing to do with its content. Indeed, several ci often shared the same title. The titles did not refer to the content, but rather their shared rhythmic and tonal patterns. Some cí would have a "subtitle" or a commentary, sometimes as long as a paragraph, indicating the content. Sometimes, for the sake of clarity, a cí is listed under its title, followed by its first line. Cí most often express feelings of desire, often in an adopted persona, but the greatest exponents of the form used it to address a wide range of topics.
History
Although the oldest surviving textual examples of cí are from 8th century CE Dunhuang manuscripts, beginning in the poetry of the Liang Dynasty, the ci followed the tradition of the Shi Jing and the yuefu: they were lyrics which developed from anonymous popular songs into a sophisticated literary genre. In the case of the cí form some of its fixed-rhythm patterns have influenced poetry in Central Asia. The form was further developed in the Tang Dynasty. Although the contributions of Li Bai are fraught with historical doubt, certainly the Tang poetWen Tingyun was a great master of the ci, writing it in its distinct and mature form. One of the more notable practitioners and developers of this form was Li Yu of the Southern Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. However, the ci form of Classical Chinese poetry is especially associated with the poetry of the Song Dynasty, during which it was indeed a popular poetic form. A revival of the cípoetry form occurred during the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty which was characterized by an exploration of the emotions connected with romantic love together with its secularization, often in a context of a brief poetic story narrative within a cí poem or a linked group of cí poems in an application of the chuanqi form of short story tales to poetry.
Classification
Song
In Song Dynasty, two main categories of cí employed were xiǎolìng 小令 and màncí 慢詞, depending on the song being either short and in fast tempo or long and in slow tempo. Mostly xiǎolìng were written in Pre-Song era.
Ming, Qing
Later in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasties, the cí, or rather the cípái, became classified for the number of characters it dictates. It is called
xiǎolìng 小令 if it's no more than 58 characters,
zhōngdiào 中調 for 59–90, and
chángdiào 長調 for over 90.
If the ci appears in one stanza, it's called dāndiào. The largest majority is shuāngdiào 雙調 with two stanzas or què 闋 in identical or nearly identical patterns. There also are rare cases of sāndié 三疊 and sìdié 四疊, for three and four qüè, respectively. In terms of style, cí can also be classified as either wǎnyuē 婉約 or háofàng 豪放.
Formation
According to Chinese Pronunciation, "Mandarin is said to have four main tones and one neutral tone. Each tone has a distinctive pitch contour which can be graphed using the Chinese 5-level system." The Wikipedia page on Old Chinese phonology states that "The four tones of Middle Chinese were first described by Shen Yue around AD 500. They were the "level", "rising", "departing", and "entering" tones." The level is classified in 平 ping; and the rising, departing and entering are classified in 仄 ze. So, in any Cipai, the formation of Ci, each Chinese character in Ci will be required in detailed tones with 平 or 仄.
Cipai
Cipai, also called Cige and Cidiao, is the name of various formations of Ci. Most cípái consist of three characters. The literal meaning of a cípái can be rather obscure, making it difficult to translate. Some are taken straight from earlier poems, and some are clearly of Non-Han origin—mostly songs introduced from Central Asia. Some cípái have alternative names, usually taken from a famous piece of that very cípái. There also are variants of certain cípái, indicated by a prefix or a suffix. The formations of Ci are complicated, in different names of Cipai, the number of characters, syntactical structure, tones and rhyme are also different.
Example
For example, choosing the Cipai, Jiang Chengzi or "Riverside City", the tones requirement of each characters in this Cipai is following: 仄平平仄仄平平。仄平平，仄平平。仄仄平平，仄仄仄平平。仄仄平平平仄仄，平仄仄，仄平平。 平平仄仄仄平平。仄平平，仄平平。仄仄平平，仄仄仄平平。仄仄平平平仄仄，平仄仄，仄平平。 The following content is a cí poetry of 江城子. 十年生死两茫茫，不思量，自难忘。千里孤坟，无处话凄凉。纵使相逢应不识，尘满面，鬓如霜。 夜来幽梦忽还乡，小轩窗，正梳妆。相顾无言，惟有泪千行。料得年年肠断处，明月夜，短松冈。 General translation: In the title of this cí, "Riverside City" is the name of cípái.Su Shi got married when he was 19, his wife 16. His wife died when she was only 27. Because of his government duties, Su Shi had moved to many different places in China, all far away from his hometown. One night in early 1075, about 10 years after her death, Su Shi dreamed of his wife, then composed this famous cí.
