Uneven-Line Lyrics of the Sui Dynasty

The Sui dynasty was a remarkable period in the history of Chinese musical literature. Zhang Yan 張炎 (1248–ca. 1317), in his “Preface to the Origin of Lyrics ” (“ Ciyuan xu” 詞源序), stated: “Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, musicalized poetry has occasionally taken the form of long and short lines” (粵自隋唐以來，聲詩間爲長短句). 1 Wang Zhuo, in the Boundless Records of the Emerald Hen Quarter , remarked: “From the Sui dynasty onward, what is now called tunes gradually emerged and became prominent during the Tang dynasty” (蓋隋以來，今之 所謂曲子者漸興，至唐稍盛). 2 These observations collectively regard the Sui dynasty as a significant milestone in the history of musical literature, marking the beginning of a flourishing era for tune lyrics. Ren Bantang, in the Tang shengshi , encapsulated the musical culture of this era with the phrase “an unprecedented abundance of melodies.” 3