Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2015

 

Formation of and Changes in the Level and Non-Level Tones in Classical Chinese Poetry

(Abstract)

 

Li Feiyue

 

As the most important prosodic form in classical Chinese poetry, the level and non-level tone evolved through the opposition of tone and voice (音声对立), differentiation of the second and fourth tones (二四异声), division of the fourth tone into two (四声二元化), and the historical evolution of contrasting tones (声对), nianzhui (粘缀) and definition of poetic form (定体). The evolution of the former was marked by establishment of the pattern of one level tone to three non-level tones (一平对三仄) and that of latter by the lüjuepai tishi (律绝排体式) style. The formation of the standard for level and non-level tones represents the creativity and shared understanding of the poetic community as well as the maturation and final form of many prosodic forms and the clarification and theoretical awareness of the concept of prosody. “After the 15th year of Kaiyuan,” taking Du Fu’s poetry as a marker, the form of regulated verse was standardized. The concepts of “regulated verse,” “metrics,” and “level/non-level tones” (平侧) appeared one after another. As language forms and ideas of rhythm changed over time, the final form of regulated verse was succeeded by irregular poems (拗体), the rise of the ci and the qu were followed by level tone/non-level tone variable rhyming schemes (平仄通叶), and the creation of new poetry was basically followed by the abandonment of the tonal scheme outlined above. We need to look again at the contemporary forms of new poetry in terms of the history and relativity of the level and non-level tonal scheme.