Nineteen Old Poems

Nineteen Old Poems (traditional Chinese: 古詩十九首; simplified Chinese: 古诗十九首; pinyin: Gǔ​shī​ Shí​jiǔ​ Shǒu​), also known as Ku-shih shih-chiu shih is an anthology of Chinese poems, consisting of nineteen poems collected during the Han Dynasty. These nineteen poems were very influential in regards to later poetry, in part because of their use of the five-character line (or, wuyen shi)^[1]. The dating of the original poems is uncertain, though in their present form they can be traced back to about 520 CE, when these poems were included in the famous literary analogy Wen Xuan. Watson's feeling is that the Nineteen Old Poems mainly date from the second century CE.^[2] The gushi, or old style, poetry developed as an important poetic form of Classical Chinese poetry, in subsequent eras.

See also

• Classical Chinese poetry
• Han poetry

Notes

1. ^ Watson 18-19
2. ^ Watson, 19

References

• Birrell, Anne (1988). Popular Songs and Ballads of Han China. (London: Unwin Hyman). ISBN 0-04-440037-8
• Watson, Burton (1971). CHINESE LYRICISM: Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-03464-4
• Yip, Wai-lim (1997). Chinese Poetry: An Anthology of Major Modes and Genres . Durham and London: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-1946-2

This article incorporates information from this version of the equivalent article on the Chinese Wikipedia.