Cí
Ci
詞
What ci and cipai mean: named tune patterns, line lengths, rhyme, and stanza shapes, with complete examples by Wen Tingyun, Su Shi, and Li Qingzhao.
Ci, 詞, is lyric verse associated with named tune patterns, or cipai, 詞牌. A pattern governs the arrangement of phrases, character counts, rhyme, and tones. The tune name usually identifies that pattern rather than the subject of a particular lyric.
This is the first distinction to learn before opening Su Shi’s Shui Diao Ge Tou. The heading names the pattern; the preface supplies the mid-autumn occasion and the brother in the poet’s thoughts. Another poem with the same tune name need not share that occasion.
Five shapes to compare
| Lyric | Characters | Stanza shape |
|---|---|---|
| Wen Tingyun’s Nan Ge Zi | 23 | One stanza with five phrases |
| Wen Tingyun’s Dreaming of the South | 27 | One stanza with five phrases |
| Li Qingzhao’s Ru Meng Ling | 33 | One stanza with seven phrases |
| Li Qingzhao’s Yi Jian Mei | 60 | Two stanzas with matching phrase lengths |
| Su Shi’s Shui Diao Ge Tou | 95 | Two stanzas with different phrase lengths |
Counts exclude titles, prefaces, and punctuation. Many ci have two stanzas, often called upper and lower, but that is not universal. Ru Meng Ling supplies a short single-stanza example. Uneven phrase lengths are common, though the defining feature is the prescribed tune pattern rather than unevenness by itself.
Hear what the short phrases do
In Ru Meng Ling, four longer phrases give way to two repetitions of 知否, “do you know?” The six-character conclusion then answers the inadequate report about the flowers. The phrase lengths are part of the tune; Li Qingzhao makes them carry an exchange.
In Yi Jian Mei, the recurring four-character phrases sharpen contrasts: one feeling and two places, the brow and the heart. The pattern provides opportunities for balance, but the lyric’s particular thoughts give that balance meaning.
The historical Imperially Compiled Tune Patterns records model lyrics and variants, including the single-stanza Ru Meng Ling pattern. A tune name can have recognized variants; one modern layout should not be treated as the only possible form for every poem under that name.
Sound, text, and translation
The pinyin on our pages gives modern Mandarin pronunciation. Historical tone classes and rhyme require separate attention. Our form notes describe the shape and rhyme of the actual lyric; they do not infer a full tone pattern from Mandarin tone marks.
Our English keeps the relationship to the Chinese phrases visible, without claiming to reproduce the original music. A modern musical setting is another interpretation, not automatically the surviving Song tune.
Ci developed before the Song and became particularly prominent during it. Wen Tingyun’s Tang lyrics make that earlier practice available for comparison here. His two Dreaming of the South poems follow the same phrase lengths while moving through different scenes of longing. Poets continued to write shi, including lüshi and gushi. Read the Song guide for the period, then compare complete lyrics before generalizing about a single “Song voice.”
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