Word Poetry (in simplified Chinese 词) is a form of art. The Word Poetry initially started in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the basic shape of the poetry was formed during the Tang Dynasty. Word Poetry reached the peak during the Song Dynasty. Therefore, many people would call Word Poetry the Song Words and there are a lot of famous lyrics formed during this Dynasty.

In fact, the form of Word Poetry in the past was different from that in Song. In the past, a lot of restrictions were added to the art and this made the Words came out become not very creative.

However, during the Song Dynasty, the great artist, Su Shi, invented a lot of new styles and patterns for poems and became one of the most famous Chinese artists. When talking about Poems, Li Bai, Du Fu would come to many people’s mind but when talking about Words, Su Shi would surely come to many people’s mind. Actually, Su Shi is one of the 8 Great Artists in Tang and Song Dynasties.

In fact, Su Shi was a government official. However, since he refused to cooperate with the other officials in the government, he was not supported and a lot of people said Su Shi was not very faithful to the Emperor. Therefore, he was sent to be a very remote district and given a very small grade of position.

However, just because Su Shi had such unpleasant experience, he had a lot of things to express through his Words. He expressed his concern about the government and he expressed the missing feeling towards his brother. All these made Su Shi create touching Words and shocked the whole art world in China. These Words are passed from generation and generation and many of them are still very well-known nowadays.

Of course, besides Su Shi, there are also a lot of great and famous Words writers and many of them are very well-known nowadays. During the late Song Dynasty, Words became more and more popular and it had become a tool for people to express their sad feeling towards the government’s weak performance in wars.

Filed under: Ancient China

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