San Hang

["Dylan Sung" <dylanwhs@ukgateway.net>]

Hi Clem, Freddie and S.L. Lee,

The question really, is now how we want the poem to have been written, but
how the poet of the Tang Dynasty, Tu4 Muk6 (803-851), originally composed
it. Since he wrote man1 and not ya4, there isn't much to argue really.

S.L. Lee is right, for this case, the last syllable on the third line does
not rhyme with the syllables at the end of the first, second and fourth
lines. Here's some examples. The translations are by Yuan-Zhong XU and
taken from a book called "300 Tang Poems - A New TRanslation" from the
Commercial Press, ISBN 962-07-1203-X.

================
王維 ( 盛唐 ) Vong2 Vui2 ( Sin4 tong2 ) Wang Wei (701-761)

送元二使安西 "A Farewell Song" ( 七言絕句 )
Sung4 Ngien2 Ngi4 Si3 On1 Xi1  (seven character rigid verse)

渭城朝雨浥輕塵
客舍青青柳色新
勸君更盡一杯酒
西出陽關無古人

Vui4 sang2 zao1 yi3 yip5 kiang1 qin2
Hak5 sa4 qiang1 qiang1 liu3 set5 sin1
Ken4 giun1 gang2 qin4 yit5 bui1 jiu3
Si1 tut5 yong2 gan1 mao2 gu3 ngin2

No dust is raised on pathways wet with morning rain,
  The willows by the tavern look so fresg and green.
I invit you to drink a cup of wine again
  West of the Southern Pass no more friends will be seen.

================

王昌齡 (盛唐 698-757 AD) Wang Changling

山塞 On The Frontier  ( 七言絕句 )
San1 Sai4 (seven character rigid verse)

秦時明月漢時關
萬里長征人未還
但使龍城飛將在
不教胡馬度陰山

qin2 si2 min2 ngiet6 hon4 si2 guan1
van4 li1 cong2 cin1 ngin2 vui4 van2
dan1 su3 liung2 sang2 fui1 jiong1 coi1
put5 kau4 fu2 ma1 t'u4 yim1 san1

The age-old moon still shines o'er the anciebt Great Wall,
But our frontier guardsmen have not come back at all.
Were the winged general of Dragon City here,
The Tartar steeds would not dare to cross the frontier.

================

Of course there are other different combinations of rhymes. For that,
you'll need a book on Chinese poetry, rhyme and prosody. It also introduces
the importance of knowing the tones, and the quality of tones which frame
rules of rigid verse composition. This comes mainly in the form of level
tones (Mandarin Ping2, Hakka Pin2) and oblique tones (M. ze4, H. zet5 -
comprised of the Shang (song1, rising) Qu (ki4 or hi4 - departing) and Ru
(ngip6 - entering) tones). In Hakka tones numbered 1 (Yin Ping)  and 2
(Yang Ping) are level tones. Tonese 3 (Shang), 4 (Qu), 5 (Yin Ru) and 6
(Yang Ru). Here Yin and Yang refer to Hakka yim1 and yong2, refering to
division of these tone classes into two groups. Anyway, I've only scratched
the tip of the iceberg on this subject. Suffice it to say that rigid verse
can give rather compact and picturesque poetry and its rhyming depends on
the tone types ping2 and ze4 together with actual rhyming sounds
themselves.

If you have a look at the first stanza you'll notice

1.
zppzzpp
zzppzzp
zppzzpz
pzpppzp

2.
pppzzpp
zppppzp
pzppppp
zzppzpp

Notice the patterns on the alternate lines? Clever ain't it?

Cheers,
Dylan.