What is Pingqi? We have all learned Chinese Pinyin, which seems to have been learned in the first grade of primary school. There are four tones in Chinese Pinyin: the first tone is Yinping, the second tone is Yangping, the third is rising, and the fourth is falling. So, roughly speaking, "ping" means the first tone (yin level) and the second tone (yang level), and "廄" means the third tone (up tone) and the fourth tone (down tone). In other words, the four tones are simplified into two tones. Why do we say this is just a rough division? We will talk about it later. In fact, the level and level of each character in poetry are not divided according to the four tones of yin and yang in modern Chinese, but according to a special rhyme called Pingshui. The four tones are divided according to rhyme, and the method of division is somewhat different from that in modern Chinese. We can ignore this for now, let’s start with the modern four tones.
Now let’s look at idioms first. Once in a lecture at a certain university, the students present were asked to casually say a four-character idiom, that is, whichever idiom came to mind first. The students said a lot, such as being strong and strong, being loyal, being smooth and smooth, being strong and orderly, being full of twists and turns, and so on. These idioms have a unique characteristic. What is it?
If we look at its second and fourth characters, we will find that the second and fourth characters have the opposite meanings: tiger's back (oblique) and bear's waist (flat). ), Chi Dan (Level) Loyalty (Level), Yima (Level) Pingchuan (Level), Wind (Level) Strong Grass (Level), Well (Leave) Orderly (Level), Fenghui (Level) Road Turns (narrow). At that time, the student newspaper reported more than 20 idioms. Except for two that did not conform to this rule, the others were consistent. What does this mean?
This shows that most idioms conform to this rule: two and four are distinct, that is, the second and fourth characters are opposite in level. If we open an idiom dictionary, we will find that most idioms conform to the rule of "two and four are distinct". I have not made statistics on the proportion, but based on my feeling, it should be 70% to 80%. The proportion of students who signed up that day was higher. At that time, more than 20 students signed up for idioms. Only two students did not conform to this rule, and the proportion of conforming was over 90%. This illustrates the following issues:
1. It shows that there is an alternating rhythm of flat and oblique sounds in Chinese. Because if this kind of rhythm does not exist, purely based on probability, this phenomenon of "two and four are distinct" cannot have such a high ratio.
2. It shows that idioms with this alternation of oblique and oblique are easier to remember. Because if purely based on probability, the idioms reported by students that conform to "two and four are distinct" should be consistent with those in the idiom dictionary, which is 70% to 80%, and now it has reached more than 90%. Idioms that illustrate this pattern are more ups and downs, catchy, and easy for everyone to blurt out.
We know that most idioms were produced before the Tang Dynasty, as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties. This shows that the rhythm of Chinese is an objective existence and is not a rigidly prescribed or fabricated thing. This alternating rhythm of flat and oblique sounds is like the drum beats of dance steps. It is both regular and full of changes in ups and downs, which can achieve a pleasant and beautiful effect. Therefore, Chinese is a text with harmonious form and sound, and Chinese metrical poetry is the perfect crystallization of form, sound, and meaning. Although the four tones and the oblique tones have been latent in Chinese for a long time, it was not until the Southern Dynasties that Zhou Yong, Shen Yue and others clearly proposed the concept of four tones. Shen Yue also applied this concept to poetry and proposed the concept of "four tones". "Eight Diseases". "The Theory of Four Tones and Eight Diseases" can be said to be the predecessor of modern poetry rhythm. The rhythm of modern poetry matured in the Tang Dynasty. Or in other words, modern poetry (also called metrical poetry) was formed in the Tang Dynasty.
We will hear that metrical poetry has several names: modern poetry, modern poetry, and old poetry. The two names of modern poetry and modern poetry were given by the people of the Tang Dynasty, because metrical poetry was produced in the Tang Dynasty. Compared with the earlier ancient poetry, the people of the Tang Dynasty called metrical poetry modern poetry, and some also called modern poetry. The name "old-style poetry" was given by those who engaged in the New Culture Movement after the May 4th Movement, because at this time a new poetry genre emerged, namely vernacular poetry, which is what we call "new poetry" today. Because of the "new poetry", the original poetry was called "old poetry" and "old style poetry". But there are also some people who are dissatisfied with the name "Old Style Poetry", believing that it implies a derogatory connotation of "outdated". By the way, some people who write new poetry call all traditional Chinese poetry ancient style, which is wrong. Ancient style and modern style are two different poetry styles.
The rhythm of two metrical poems
When we write metrical poems today, we no longer need to consider the "four tones and eight diseases", as long as they conform to the meter. Let’s talk about the rhythm of metrical poetry.
Since the four characters have the pattern of alternating oblique and oblique, and "distinct two and four", what about the six characters? What about eight characters? We naturally think, can this law be extended? In fact, it can be extended. We know that there are two common metrical poems, one is five-character poems with one sentence, four-line poems are called Wujue (short for five-character quatrains), and eight-line poems are called Wulu (short for five-character rhyme poems); one is seven-character poems. One-line poems, four-line poems are called Qijue (short for seven-character quatrains), and eight-line poems are called Qilv (short for seven-character rhymed poems). So, are there any metrical poems with six words per sentence, or eight words per sentence, or even more words per sentence? Theoretically it's possible, but it's extremely rare. There are a small number of predecessors' works with six-character and one-character sentences, but there are almost no eight-character and one-character poems, or they can only be found in some game poems.