Chinese Sanqu poetry refers to a fixed-rhythm form of Classical Chinese poetry

Classical Chinese poetry

thumb|right|300px|Attributed to [[Han Gan]], Huiyebai , about 750CE .Classical Chinese poetry is that type of poetry that is the traditional Chinese poetry written in Classical Chinese. It is typified by certain traditional forms, or modes, and certain traditional genres...

, or "literary song", specifically sanqu is a subtype of the qu

Qu (poetry)

In Chinese literature, qu , or yuanqu consists of sanqu and zaju . Together with the various shi and fu forms of poetry, the ci, qu, and the other fixed-rhythm type of verse comprise the three main forms of Classical Chinese poetry.Yuanqu is a form of Chinese opera, which became popular in Yuan...

formal type of poetry. Sanqu was a notable Chinese poetic form, possibly beginning in the Jin Dynasty

Jin Dynasty

Jin Dynasty may refer to:* Jin Dynasty , Chinese dynasty, subdivided into the Western and Eastern Jin periods* Later Jin Dynasty , one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China.* Jin Dynasty , a Jurchen kingdom in northern China* Later Jīn Dynasty, or...

 (1115–1234); but, especially associated with the Yuan

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

 (1271-1368), Ming

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

 (1368–1644), and Qing

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 (1644-1912) dynastic eras

Dynasties in Chinese history

The following is a chronology of the dynasties in Chinese history.Chinese history is not as neat as is often described and it was rare for one dynasty to change peacefully into the next. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they...

. The sanqu were literary lyrics directly related to the Zaju

Zaju

Zaju was a form of Chinese drama or Chinese opera which provided entertainment through a synthesis of recitations of prose and poetry, dance, singing, and mime, with a certain emphasis on comedy...

  arias: these were dramatic lyrics written to fixed musical modes, or metrical forms, and could contain several aria or lyric song segments in one suite. Sanqu, however, could be composed in single discrete sections. It is often said that the sanqu verses tend to reflect excess energies and resentments of contemporary disenfranchised Chinese literati, due to contemporary Jurchen and Mongol political domination. Often the poetry could be humorous as is the following anonymous lyric:

WEARING RUINED BOOTS

The seams have come unstitched,

All falling apart, the leather is ruined.

Money wasted several times fixing them.

I haven’t repaid

The money used to buy them.

I dare not swagger,

But only take half-steps;

Fearing stones like wolves’ teeth,

Stairs like turtles’ backs.

Climbing the lookout

I veer left and right.

I dare not use the shoe stretcher;

At best I can hang them out in the sun.

Both sanqu dramatic lyrics and plays enjoyed the same social milieu; for example, esteemed playwrights like Ma Zhiyuan

Ma Zhiyuan

Ma Zhiyuan , courtesy name Dongli , was a Chinese poet and celebrated playwright, a native of Dadu during the Yuan Dynasty.Among his achievements is the development and popularizing of the new sanqu lyric form of poetry...

  (c. 1270-1330) and Guan Hanqing

Guan Hanqing

Guan Hanqing , sobriquet "the Oldman of the Studio" , was a notable Chinese playwright and poet in the Yuan Dynasty.-Biography:...

  (c. 1300) were also well established writers of sanqu. This poetry was strongly influenced by the linguistics of vernacular or semi-vernacular Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...

. In terms of historical transmission to modern times, textual problems abound; and, this has perhaps contributed to the paucity of translations of a truly significant Chinese literary genre that expanded the limits of literary expression. The collection and printing of sanqu poetry is ongoing. Recently a Ming period collection has seen a modern edition.

Books

• Crump, James I, Songs From Xanadu, Ann Arbor, 1983.
• Lynn, Richard John and Bailey Roger B. Guide to Chinese Poetry and Drama, G.K.Hall, 1973.
• Nienhauser, William H. The Indiana Companion to Chinese Literature, Indiana University Press, 1986.

Translations

• Carpenter, Bruce E. "Chinese San-ch’ü Poetry of the Mongol Era: I", Tezukayama Daigaku kiyo (Journal of Tezukayama University), Nara, Japan, no. 22, pp. 27–72.
• Carpenter, Bruce E. "Chinese San-ch’ü Poetry of the Mongol Era: II", Tezukayama Daigaku kiyo (Journal of Tezukayama University), Nara, Japan, no. 23, pp. 31–76.