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Lǜshī

Lüshi

律詩

Read lüshi through rhyme and parallel couplets, with examples of ordinary eight-line regulated verse and the longer pailü form.

A lüshi normally has eight lines, each of five characters or each of seven. Its organization involves rhyme, patterned relationships between historical tone categories, and parallel couplets. This shelf also includes the longer regulated form called pailü; a poem’s individual notes identify that extension.

The rules that matter

In the usual pattern, even lines share a level-tone rhyme. The first line may join them or remain outside the rhyme. Those recurring endings help hold the poem together while its images and argument change.

Level (平) and oblique (仄) categories create contrasting and linked line patterns. A summary such as “odd positions are free” is inadequate: flexibility depends on the particular line pattern, rhyme ending, and recognized substitutions or compensations. A departure from a basic pattern may require discussion of 拗 and 拗救. A reader need not settle every technical question before noticing the poem’s movement.

The third and fourth lines normally form a parallel couplet, as do the fifth and sixth. Corresponding words or phrases answer one another: a place to a place, an action to an action, a measure of time to a measure of value. The opening and closing couplets have more freedom in their use of parallelism.

Historical tone categories are not modern Mandarin tone marks. Entering-tone words belong to the oblique category even when their modern pronunciation has a different pitch pattern. Pinyin on PoemWell supports modern reading aloud; it does not reconstruct Tang sound. See the reading guide.

Read the pairs before the grid

Spring View pairs flowers with birds, then beacon fires with a family letter. The second pairing joins a long public emergency to the private value of news. Its rhyme links 深, 心, 金, and 簪 across the even lines; the opening 在 does not join them.

Compare Autumn Evening in the Mountains. Moonlight among pines answers spring water over stones. Then sounds among bamboo and movement among lotuses introduce people returning from work. Parallelism organizes a progression rather than merely placing two attractive pictures side by side.

When regulated verse continues past eight lines

Pailü (排律) extends the regulated pattern to ten or more lines, normally maintaining parallelism through the interior couplets. The Ministry of Education dictionary explains this distinction. Qian Qi’s The Xiang Spirit Plays the Se is a twelve-line example on this shelf. Its extra couplets belong to the complete poem; they should not be cut off to fit an eight-line template.

Length alone does not establish the form. Drinking Alone beneath the Moon is a longer gushi, while a regulated poem with four lines belongs on the jueju shelf. Read the structural notes with the actual text rather than classifying every poem by its line count alone.

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Poems in this hub

Du Fu Spring View 春望 Du Fu’s Spring View, written in occupied Chang’an in 757: a regulated eight-line poem of a broken capital, with gloss, tone notes, and an original translation. Bai Juyi Grass on the Ancient Plain 賦得古原草送別 Read all eight lines of Bai Juyi’s grass poem, including its farewell ending, with Chinese, pinyin, a gloss, original English translation, and notes. Meng Haoran Visiting an Old Friend’s Farm 過故人莊 Meng Haoran visits an old friend’s farm: Chinese text, pinyin, and English notes on the feast, talk of crops, and a return planned for the Double Ninth festival. Chen Zi’ang Seeing Wei Da Off to Military Service 送魏大從軍 A farewell urges a departing friend to measure himself against the remembered achievements of earlier warriors. Read the original Chinese with pinyin, word meanings, an original English translation, and notes. Liu Yuxi Thinking of the Past at Mount Xisai 西塞山懷古 Warships, broken defenses, and a quiet riverside frame a vanished kingdom. Trace the poem's movement from military conquest to an ordinary present. Meng Haoran A Night on the Tonglu River, Sent to Old Friends 宿桐廬江寄廣陵舊遊 River sounds surround a solitary boat while the traveler sends his thoughts toward old companions in Guangling. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Meng Haoran Taking Leave of Wang Wei 留別王侍御維 A disappointed visitor turns toward home while regretting the loss of a rare understanding friend. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Liu Zongyuan Parting from My Younger Brother Zongyi 別舍弟宗一 Two brothers separate after years of displacement. Follow the immense distances, southern rivers, and imagined dreams that give their farewell its weight. Meng Haoran Viewing Dongting Lake, for Chancellor Zhang 望洞庭湖贈張丞相 The vast lake becomes an indirect request for a way into public service. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Meng Haoran Climbing Mount Xian with Friends 與諸子登峴山 Visitors to Mount Xian read an old memorial and feel themselves entering the landscape’s succession of generations. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wang Wan Mooring below North Solid Hill 次北固山下 Wang Wan’s boat reaches a river landscape where daylight and spring arrive before night and the old year have quite ended. Meng Haoran Thoughts on the River in Early Cold 早寒江上有懷 Falling leaves and migrating geese sharpen a traveler’s longing, but the river crossing remains uncertain. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Du Fu Remembering My Brothers on a Moonlit Night 月夜憶舍弟 A military night closes the roads while the speaker has no reliable news of his scattered brothers. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wang Wan Answering Director He’s Moonlit Drinking Poem 奉和賀監林月清酌 Moonlight enters a freshly cleared grove and breaks into reflections at a literary gathering in Wang Wan’s responsive poem. Du Fu Climbing High 登高 An immense autumn river view is set against illness, age, and the narrowing life of a traveler. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Du Fu Climbing Yueyang Tower 登岳陽樓 A long-imagined view of Dongting Lake opens onto immense water and unresolved human distress. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Du Fu News That the Imperial Army Has Recovered the North 聞官軍收河南河北 News of military recovery turns tears into a rush of plans for the journey home. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Du Fu Thoughts on a Traveling Night 旅夜書懷 A tall mast under immense stars gives way to the image of a single gull between heaven and earth. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wen Tingyun Early Departure from Shang Mountain 商山早行 A traveler leaves an inn before sunrise. Read the famous sequence of rooster, moon, footprints, and frost, then follow its turn toward a dream of home. Du Fu Welcome Rain on a Spring Night 春夜喜雨 Du Fu’s Welcome Rain on a Spring Night, with pinyin and English notes on timely growth, one boat light, and the wet flowers imagined for dawn in Chengdu. Wang Wei Autumn Evening in the Mountains 山居秋暝 Wang Wei’s Autumn Evening in the Mountains, with pinyin and English notes on moonlight, washing women, a fishing boat, and reasons to remain after spring. Wang Wei An Envoy at the Frontier 使至塞上 An envoy’s sparse journey opens into a desert marked by one straight smoke trail and a round setting sun. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wang Wei A Retreat at Zhongnan 終南別業 A walk reaches the end of a stream, becomes cloud-watching, and ends in unhurried conversation. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Li Bai Seeing a Friend Off 送友人 Clouds, sunset, and the cries of parting horses hold a farewell outside the city. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation.