The History of Chinese Literature Essay Example for Free

The History of Chinese Lit successionture EssayWriting in mainland china dates back to the hieroglyphs that were drug abuse in the Shang Dynasty of 1700 1050 BC. Chinese literature is a vast subject that spans thousands of geezerhood. one(a) of the interesting things about Chinese literature is that much of the serious literature was composed using a nisusal scripted expression that is c wholly tolded absolute Chinese. The best literature of the yuan Dynasty era and the four legends that argon considered the greatest classics be classical exceptions. However, even during the Qing Dynasty of both hundred old age ago, most writers composed in a literary catamenia that ext turn backed back about 2,400 years. They studied very superannuated papers in much or little the pi freshet burner written lecture. This large b containth of time with so many writers living in the various eras and countries makes Chinese literature complex. Chinese literary works include fiction, philosophical and phantasmal works, poetry, and scientific papers.The dynastic eras frame the taradiddle of Chinese literature and atomic number 18 examined one by one. The grammar of the written serious music Language is different than the speak speechs of the past 2 thousand years. This written lecture was utilize by plurality of many different ethnic groups and countries during the Zhou, Qin and Han eras spanning 1050 BC to 220 AD. after(prenominal) the Han Dynasty, the written language evolved as the spoken languages changed, notwithstanding most writers still based their compositions on trueal Chinese. However, this written language wasnt the plebeian language even 2 thousand years ago. The conglomerates and groups of kingdoms of all these eras were composed of people verbalize many different native languages. If Europe had a literary history like mainland Chinas, it would be as if most European writers until the 20th century always move to write in superannuated Classical Greek that became a dead language more than two millennia ago.Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC)Development of Chinese WritingThe initiative dynasty for which in that respect is historic record and archaeological evidence is the Shang Dynasty. It was a small empire in northern central China. No documents from that country survive, still there atomic number 18 archaeological finds of hieroglyphic writing on bronze wargons and oracle bones. The hieroglyphic writing system easyr evolved into ideographic and partly-phonetic Chinese characters.Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) primary Philosophical and Religious LiteratureThe Zhou Dynasty was contemporaneous with the Shang Dynasty, and then they contained the Shang Dynasty. Their dynasty lasted for about 800 years, only for most of the time, their original territory was broken up into dozens of competing kingdoms, and these finally coalesced into some(prenominal) big and warring kingdoms by the terminal of the Zhou era. The great literary works of enlighten of horizon and religion that became the basis for Chinese religious and social belief stem from what is called the Spring and Autumn stop consonant (770-476) and the Warring States Period (475-221). Taoism, Confucian literature, and separate prominent religious and philosophical schools all emerged during these two periods. The Chinese call this simultaneous emergence of religions and philosophies the One Hundred Schools of thought.Perhaps so many philosophers could write simultaneously because they lived in small kingdoms that supported them. In Chinese history, the dominant rulers generally squelch or discourage philosophical expression that contradict their own, so when there were several small powers, different schools of popular opinion could survive in the land at the homogeneous time. The major(ip) literary achievements of the Confucian Classics, early Taoist writings, and other important p rose wine works originated in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty era. These literary works deeply influence Chinese philosophy and religion.Confucius is verbalise to realise edited a history of the Spring and Autumn Period called the Spring and Autumn Annals () that shapes Chinese cerebration about its history. thither were hundreds of philosophers and writers who wrote conflicting documents, and there was tidings and communication. What we know of the literature of this period was mainly preserved after the Qin Dynastys admit burning and from a few recent archeological finds of records. Probably most of the philosophical and religious works of that time were destroyed. If there were great fictional bulks created, they hit been lost. So the main functions of this period to Chinese literature were the prose works of the Confucian Classics and the Taoist writings, and preserved poems and birdcalls.Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)Literary Disaster and LegalismAt t he end of the Zhou Dynasty era that is called the Warring States Period, of the living few big states in the land, the Qin Dynasty became the most powerful. The Qin Dynasty had big armies and conquered the others. Once the Qin emperor had control, he wanted to pass off it, and they squelched any opposition to his authority. In the conquered territories, there were teachers of many different doctrines and religions. A big philosophical and religious school then was called Mohism. They were particularly attacked by the Qin Dynasty, and little is know about it. An early form of Buddhism was also constituted in China at that time, but their temples and literature were destroyed and even less is known about them. The emperor wanted to reduce the One Hundred Schools of Thought to one that he approved.He ordered the destruction of most books all over the empire. He even killed many Confucian philosophers and teachers. He allowed books on scientific subjects like medicine or agriculture t o survive. So the check importunate and Burial of Scholars was a literary disaster. On the other hand, the Qin Dynasty standardized the written Classical Language. It is said that a minister of the Qin emperor named Li Si introduced a writing system that later developed into late Chinese writing. Standardization was meant to help control the society.The standardized writing system also helped people all over the country to communicate more clearly. The Qin Emperor favored a philosophical school that was called Legalism (). This philosophy of course justified the strong control of the emperor and maintained that everyone should obey him. It is thought that Li Si taught that human nature was inbredly selfish and that a strong emperor government with strict laws was unavoidable for social order. Li Sis writings on politics and law and his propagation of this school much influenced the political thinking in the Han Dynasty and later eras. Legalism texts and the standardization of w riting were the Qin Dynasty eras literary contributions.Han Dynasty (206 BC 220 AD)Scientific and Historical TextsA former peasant leader overthrew the Qin Empire. The Han Dynasty era lasted for 400 years. At the beginning of the era, Confucianism was revived. Confucian texts were rewritten and re produce. Confucianism was mixed with the Legalism philosophy of Li Si. The resulting ideology was the ordained ideology of the Han Dynasty and influenced political thinking afterwards. The eras major contributions were historical texts and scientific works. Sima Qian wrote Historical Records that is a major history concerning the boilersuit history of China from out front the Shang Dynasty until the Han Dynasty. The books prose was considered a model for writers in succeeding dynastic eras. Another important historical text concerned the Han Dynasty itself. round scientific texts were also thought to be important for their times, thought it doesnt seem that the information was wide kno wn or well up known afterwards.The Han Dynasty era was one of the two main hotspot eras for scientific and technical advance. But printing wasnt available for wide publication of the information. During the Eastern Han Dynasty towards the end of the Han era, the influence of the philosophy of the Confucian Classics that hindered scientific make out was waning. So people were more free to pursue invention. Cai Lun (50121) of the purplish court is said to be the outset person in the world to create writing paper, and this was important for written communication at the end of the empire. Finery forges were used in steel making. Two or lead mathematical texts showing advanced mathematics for the times were written. The Han Empire disintegrated into warring kingdoms similar to what happened during the Warring States Period before the Qin Dynasty. For several hundred years, dynasties and kingdoms rose and fell in various places, and the next big and long-lasting dynastic empire is cal led the sapidity Dynasty. big H Dynasty (618-907)Early Woodblock Printing and meterThe skag Dynasty had a big empire that benefited from condescension with the west along the Silk Road, battled with the Tibetan Empire, and experienced the growing influence of organized Buddhist religions. This eras main contribution to Chinese literature was in the poetry of Dufu, Li Bai and many other poets. Dufu and Li Bai are a lot thought of as Chinas greatest poets. Li Bai (701762) was one of the greatest romantic poets of ancient China. He wrote at least a thousand poems on a variety of subjects from political matters to natural scenery.Du Fu (712-770 AD) also wrote more than a thousand poems. He is thought of as one of the greatest realist poets of China. His poems conjecture the hard realities of war, dying people living next to rich rulers, and primitive rural life. He was an official in the feeling capital of Chang An, and he was captured when the capital was attacked. He took refug e in Chengdu that is a metropolis in Sichuan Province. It is thought that he lived in a simple hut where he wrote many of his best realist poems. Perhaps more than 1,400 of his poems survive, and his poetry is still read and appreciated by ripe Chinese people. telephone call Dynasty (960-1279)Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry, Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics The next dynasty is called the rime Dynasty. It was weaker than the Tang Dynasty, but the imperial government officials make remarkable scientific and technical advances. Military technology greatly advanced. They traded little with the west due to the front line of warring Muslim states on the old trade routes. There wasnt territorial expansion, but the empire was continuously attacked by peregrine tribes and countries around them. Their northern territory was invaded, and they were forced to move their capital to gray China. So the era is divided into two eras called the Northern straini ng (960-1127) and Southern rime (1127-1279) eras. One of the eras technological accomplishments was the invention of movable type about the turn of 2nd millennia during the Northern metrical composition period. This helped to spread fellowship since printed material could be create more quickly and cheaply. Travel literature in which authors wrote about their trips and about various destinations became popular perhaps because the texts could be cheaply bought.The Confucian Classics were codified and used as test material for the entrance examination into the elite bureaucracy, advanced scientific texts and atlases were published, and important poems were written. The Confucian Classics were important in Chinas history because from the Song Dynasty onwards, they were the texts people needed to know in order to pass an examination for the bureaucracy of China. These Confucian Classics were the Five Classics that were thought to turn out been penned by Confucius and the cardinal Books that were thought to contain Confucius-related material but were compiled during the Southern Song era. The quartette Books and Five Classics () were fundamentally memorized by those who did the best on the exams.In this way, Confucianism, as codified during the Song era, became the dominant political philosophy of the several empires until modern times. Since the bureaucrats all studied the same works on social behavior and philosophy, this promoted unity and the standardisation of behavior throughout each empire and during dynastic changes. The scholar-bureaucrats had a common base of understanding, and they passed on these ideas to the people under them. Those who passed the difficult exams were highly respected even if they didnt receive a ruling post. lofty education in this system was thought to produce nobility. The Five Classics and Four Books were written in the written Classical Language. The Five Classics include The Book of Changes, The Classic of Poetry, The Rec ord of Rites that was a recreation of the original Classic of Rites of Confucius that was lost in the Qin book purge, The Classic of History, and The Spring and Autumn Annals that was mainly a historical record of Confucius native state of Lu.The Four Books include The Analects of Confucius that is a book of pithy sayings attributed to Confucius and preserve by his disciples Mencius that is a collection of political dialogues attributed to Mencius The Doctrine of the Mean and The Great Learning that is a book about education, self-cultivation and the Dao. For abroaders who want a taste of this Confucian philosophy, reading the Analects of Confucius is a soundly introduction since the statements are usually simple and like common sense. Another period of scientific come along and technical invention was the Song era. Song technicians seemed to have made a lot of advancements in automatonlike engineering. They made advanced contraptions out of gears, pulleys and wheels. These wer e used to make big clocks, a mechanical odometer on animal drawn carts that marked land distance by making noise after travelling a certain distance, and other advanced instruments.The Song technicians also invented many uses gunpowder including rockets, explosives and big guns. The imperial court officials did remarkable scientific research in many areas of mechanics and science. Shen Kuo (10311095) and Su Song (10201101) both wrote scientific treatises about their research and about different fields. Shen is said to have discovered the concepts of true north and magnetic declination towards the North Pole. He also described the magnetic needle compass. If Chinese sailors knew about this work, they could have sailed long distances more accurately. This knowledge would predate European discovery. He did advanced astronomical research for his time. Su Song wrote a treatise called the Bencao Tujing with information on medicine, botany and zoology.He also was the author of a large a eriform atlas of five different star maps, and he also made land atlases. Su Song was far-famed for his hydraulic-powered astronomical clock tower. Sus clock tower is said to have had an endless power-transmitting chain move that he described in a text on clock design and astronomy that was published in 1092. If this is so, it may be the number 1 time such a device was used in the world. When the Southern Song Empire was conquered by the Mongols, these inventions and the astronomical knowledge may have been forgotten. Another contribution to the literature of China was the poetry of the Song era. A Southern Song poet named Lu is thought to have written almost 10,000 poems. Su Tungpo is regarded as a great poet of the Northern Song era. Here is a stanza he wrote The moon rounds the red mansionStoops to silk-pad doorsShines upon the sleeplessBearing no grudgeWhy does the moon fly the coop to be full when people are apart? yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)Drama and Great Fictional NovelsThe Mongols were nomadic people who herded cattle north of the Tang Empire and wandered over a large area scrap on horseback. They believed that they might be able to conquer the world. They easily conquered Persia far to the west. It was a big empire with high technology, a big population and a big army. Then they decided to try to conquer all the countries around them. They attacked the Tang Dynasty, the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan, and much of Asia, and they formed the biggest empire in the history of the earth until then. They conquered Russia, a part of eastern Europe and a part of the Middle East. In China, the Mongols established the very rich Yuan Dynasty. In their camps, the Mongols were entertained by tail end puppet plays in which a lamp cast the shadows of little figurines and puppets on a screen or sheet. In the Yuan Dynasty, puppet romp continued to entertain the rich dynastic courts in speech language.Dramatic operatic firms with human actors speaking in vernacular langu age was a favorite form of entertainment as well, and some of Chinas best gamboltic scripts were written then. Also two of the four novels that are generally considered Chinas best literary classics were written in vernacular language then. So though the Yuan Empire wasnt ruled by Chinese, it was an era of some historically renowned dramatic playwrights and novelists who wrote in vernacular language. It is thought that the operatic port of the shadow puppet dramas that entertained the courts influenced the development of the operatic theater style of the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan rulers were fabulously wealthy according to historical accounts. They had a vast empire and control of trade in Eurasia. For the royal courts or the rich people, refined music, sound effects and clever singers were employed for shadow plays. The Yuan Zaju style of opera was similar to their shadow plays.Perhaps the playwrights adopted the plots and the features. There were exciting plots, elaborate costumes , refined music and singing, action, and dance that the Mongols enjoyed. The music of the Zaju operas was called Yuan Qu (Yuan Music). The language used wasnt the Classical Language but the vernacular language, so that the theater might be enjoyed by everyone. After the Yuan Dynasty, the operatic style developed into the Painted Faces style of Chinese opera that was popular until modern times. Guan Hanqing is regarded as one of the best playwrights of the times. He wrote Midsummer Snow that was one of the most popular drama pieces. It is a tragedy about an unjustly accused woman who received justice after her death. The solicit of the Western Chamber was written by Wang Shifu.It is considered one of the best romantic dramas ever written in China. Novels were another outstanding achievement of the Yuan era. The novelists influenced the future development of the genre. Two novels are still widely read now and are generally considered two of the four greatest novels in Chinese literat ure. These are weewee Margin and The solicit of the Three Kingdoms. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written in vernacular language by Luo Guan Zhong. It is historical fiction about the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms Period. The Three Kingdoms Period was between the Han and Tang eras.Special emphasis is laid on the two famous historical rulers Liu Bei and Cao Cao who were antagonists. It is a long novel with 800,000 rowing. Water Margin is about the lives and ideals of a group of characters who fought against the corrupt Northern Song Dynasty that the Mongols conquered. It is said it was written in vernacular language by Shi Nai An, but scholars debate about the authorship. Many scholars think that the first 70 chapters were written by Shi Nai An and that the last 30 chapters were written by Luo Guan Zhong who was also the author of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)NovelsThe Chinese rebelled against the Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty er a began about 1368. The Mongols and the Ming government still sometimes fought. Because of this and the presence of Muslim countries in between, trade with the west was reduced to the pre-Yuan level. The Ming initially were interested in exploration, and Muslims whose ancestors arrived during the Yuan Dynasty and who were familiar with sea leaving trade were employed to make long voyages to the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and perhaps Africa. Then they became isolationist. It is interesting that a book that is one of the four great classics called Journey to the West about a monk going to India was written during this time of isolation. Maybe the thought of travel to the lands in the west was appealing then. Novels were the eras main contribution.The Journey to the West is based on the historical journey of a Buddhist to India during the Tang era to learn Buddhist teachings and bring back scriptures and information. In 1629, Xuanzang (602 664) left Changan in 629 and arrived back in Changan in 646. Mythical tales about this journey including the character of an intelligent monkey began to be circulated long before the book was written. The author drew on known tales. Journey to the West is thought to have been published anonymously by Wu Chengen in the 16th century though scholars have doubt about the authorship. The disposition in that era was for people to write in Classical Chinese and imitate the literature of the Tang Dynasty and Han Dynasty. However, this book was written in the vernacular.Perhaps because there was a lack of accurate geographical knowledge available to the author, much of the geographical landscape of the story is inaccurate. However, the Flaming Mountains that are near Turpan in Xinjiang are mentioned. Perhaps the author meant to poke fun at Chinese religion because a monkey is said to have defeated a whole army led by Taoist gods, and only the Buddhas intervention stopped the monkey. The book describes India as a land of gross sin a nd immorality, and the monk was commissioned by Buddha to help India. The characters in the book are well known to Chinese children, and they ofttimes push through in martial arts movies and cartoons.Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)Novels and Pre-modern LiteratureThe Manchus invaded the Ming Empire from the north and established the last dynasty called the Qing Dynasty. The Manchus were not Chinese, but they retained the Neo-Confucian governing system of the Song and Ming eras. The Qing Dynasty came under increasing attack from both internal rebellions and foreign countries. In the 19th century, foreign literature and the West became better known. In the middle of this era, the last of Chinas four great classic novels was written called Dream of the Red Chamber () and near the end of the era, modernistic literature developed. The Dream of the Red Chamber also has an uncertain authorship. Like the other three great classic novels, it was written in a vernacular language the Mandarin langu age that was the language of the Qing capital.It is probably mostly composed by Cao Xueqin (about 1715-1763) in the middle 1700s, and the first printing of the book was in the late 1700s. It is thought that Cao did not live to see the first printing. It is thought that another person or other people contributed the ending of the story since the original ending of the story was lost. The book has a lot of textual problems, and there are different versions. In a preface to a printed version in 1792, two editors claimed to have put together an ending based on the authors working manuscripts that they had bought from a passage vendor.At the end of the Qing Dynasty era, the dynastic rulers came under increasing pressure both from foreign attacks and internal rebellions. improve Chinese had easier access to foreign literature, and they were more influenced by Western culture. Students started to travel abroad to study, and schools built by missionaries educated tens of thousands of stud ents. There was a general sense of crisis, and intellectuals started translating foreign works on science, politics, and literature. These were popular, and the culture started to change. Some writers produced fiction more like Western fiction.Chinese LiteraturesChinese Classical ProseProse writing in ancient and pre-modern China differed from poetry in that it was less rigidly structured and wasnt like verses in a song or like one of the common styles of poetry. But compared to English prose, literary prose before the year 1900 was often much more formalized. Except for popular novels and theatrical plays, most of the literary prose works were written in the literary Classical Language. This Classical Language utilized the grammar and ancient characters of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and of the Han Dynasty era (206 BC 220 AD). Writers sought to imitate the examples of prose in ancient philosophical and religious books such as Mencius () and Zhuang Zi (). These old texts that were thought to date from about 600 BC to 200 BC were thought to contain examples of careful and well-reasoned discourses and be examples of sober organization and style.During the Han Dynasty era (206 BC 220 AD), a more formalized style of prose writing appeared that was called Piantiwen () or gibe prose style. But in the Tang and Song eras, people started to write in the less formal and more ancient style called Guwen () of the Warring States era. So classical prose can be divided into three types called Piantiwen style, Guwen style, and the vernacular style used in operatic dramas and in the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature. For about 2,000 years after the Qin Dynasty era (221-206 BC), Chinese writers had a constraint that European writers generally didnt face after the Renaissance. Chinese writers generally needed to write in a common literary language that wasnt their native language or a vernacular language anywhere.The ancient languages of the Warring States Period were extinct. But writers had to maintain the grammar and the use of the vocabulary. In some ways, this is similar to how educated Europeans wrote in Latin until the Renaissance era. During the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), the emperor ordered that all texts other than those of a philosophy called Legalism and some sciences that he favored be destroyed. There was a Book Burning and the Burial of Scholars. They effectively destroyed several religions and philosophical schools and much ancient literature. During the Han era, people tried to reconstruct and preserve what was lost. What emerged as important were works attributed to Confucius, Mencius, Zhuang Zi, Lao Zi, and a few other philosophers. Mencius whose book was considered one of the major texts of Confucianism was said to have elegant diction, and Zhuang Zi whose text was one of the two pillars of the school of Daoism that emerged in the Han era showed how to use anecdotes and allegories effectively. Chinese writers tried to copy their styles.The example of the style from the pre-Qin era was said to be simple and direct. Ouyang XiuIn the Han era, a variant style was developed that was called Piantiwen (). This style wasnt as clear or precise, but it was florid, ornate and rigid. The Piantiwen style was popular for several hundred years afterwards. During the late Tang era (618-907), two prominent officials tried to reintroduce the earlier style called Guwen. Han Yu (768824) and Liu Zongyuan tried to teach others to use Guwen. They are considered two of the great prose masters of the Tang and Song eras. But the Tang Dynasty fell and was replaced by the Song Dynasty (9601279 AD). During the Song Dynasty, another literati named Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) helped to revive writing in the Guwen style. This neoclassical style dominated prose writing for the next 800 years. It was the writing system of rulers in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1645-1912) eras. In order to gain entrance into the bureaucracy durin g the Ming and Qing eras, candidates had to pass the imperial release examination.The exam material was the 9 Classics of Neo-Confucianism as was codified in the Song era. The Four Books and Five Classics () were basically memorized by those who did the best on the exams. These works contained the style of writing the literati wished to imitate. After the fourteenth century, vernacular fiction became popular. This may be because the invention of printing allowed the works to be more widely published. In the Yuan (1279-1368), Ming and Qing eras, four novels were published that are considered the best in Chinese history. The four novels are often called the Four Classics in China.All four were written in a spoken language of their times contrasted most ancient literature that was written in the literary Classical Language. These four novels all have disputed authorship. They are The Romance of the Three Kingdoms that is said to have been written by Luo Guan Zhong during the Yuan Dyn asty (1279-1368) Water Margin that is said to be written by Shi Nai An during the Yuan era Journey to the West that is thought to have been published anonymously by Wu Chengen during the Ming Dynasty era (1368-1644) and The Dream of the Red Chamber was said to be written by Cao Xueqin (1715-1763) during the Qing Dynasty era (1644-1911). The writers wrote in different languages, but vernacular prose can be called the triad type of classical prose writing.Chinese PoetryPoetry has been a favorite literary genre for thousands of years. Poetry isnt taken very seriously in the West, especially in the last two hundred years, but Chinese ancient poetry is still read and ancient Chinese poets are honored. The greatest poets are thought to have lived a thousand years ago or more during the Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279) and Han (206 BC 220 AD) dynastic eras. Du Fu, Li Bai and Su Shi are considered among the best ancient poets, and there are five major kinds of major ancient poetic styles c alled Shi, Ci, Ge, Qu and Fu. The very ancient poetry that was written a thousand or more years ago was simpler and about common things like love, romance and nature that people appreciate.Though much poetry was written in the eras following the Song Dynasty (960-1279), it is thought that the poets became increasingly erudite, academic and private so that modern Chinese cant appreciate the style and meaning. Since the Chinese have a character-based writing system instead of an alphabetic system, though the languages have changed, modern Chinese can still read a lot of the ancient poetry. Since the pronunciation of words has changed a lot, often the rhymes or tonal rhythms are lost for poems that rhymed or had tonal patterns. But the meanings of the characters havent changed much, though modern readers may interpret the words to mean something other than the ancient author intended. Nuances and connotations may be lost. Since old poems remain and modern Chinese can understand them t o some extent, they are still appreciated.Five Kinds of Poems1. Shi Shi poems are composed of couplets. They are poems of two more coupled lines. The two lines of a couplet usually rhyme and match rhythmically and complement each other tonally. Modern Mandarin only has five tones, but ancient languages usually had more, so the tonal rhythms are generally lost. 2. Ci Ci poetry can be described as poems that have patterns of syllables and tonal patterns. In making a Ci poetry, a poet chooses words that fit a specific pattern. These patterns may have once been part of a song. But the music has been lost. There are various patterns that provided affective settings for various effects or moods. 3. Ge The word ge means song. Ge poems are the words to a song that can be sung. There were folk songs as well as songs composed by the literate and educated composers. 4. Qu When the Mongols conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), they brought with them their own style of music and forms of entertainment.They especially liked to watch shadow puppet theaters that were puppet plays of little manipulated figurines and puppets illuminated by a lamp so that the shadows fell against a screen. It is thought that the form of operatic drama of the Yuan Dynasty imitated their shadow play theaters. The style of music and song in the operas was called Yuan Qu or Mongol Music. The songs from the operas and popular songs were a poetic style called Qu that was also popular in later eras. The poetic style is freer of form. 5. FuA fifth part major style of poetry is called Fu. These are descriptive poems that contain both prose and couplets. These were popular about 1,500 years to 2,000 years ago. Often poets included rare or unusual written characters from preceding eras in their poems.