A Brief Introduction of Ci in Song Dynasty
2 min readThe Song Dynasty is the golden age of Ci in Chinese literature.Ci in-stead of regulated poetry could express more refined and delicate feelings with irregular line-length.Eminent Ci poets include Liu Yong（1004—1054），Su Shi，and Li Qingzhao（1084-1151），and so on.
The Development of Ci
Like many other literary genres，ci originated among the people but matured in the hands of the literati.Some extant early ci works were attrib-uted to the authorship of the famous Tang poets Li Bai and Bai Juyi.By the time of the Song Dynasty，almost all famous writers composed ci poetry and thus pushed this genre to its culmination toward perfection.Ci is thus the most representative literary form of the Song Dynasty.However，for a long period of time，the literati retained the concept of“solemn shi and charming ci.”Shi is regarded as the classical and elegant literary form ex-pressing serious and sober themes，while ci is a“trivial”vehicle for people to express their personal feelings.
For example，Ouyang Xiu，litterateur of the early Northern Song，wrote about the solemn themes of politics and personal aspirations by way of shi，while in his ci poems，he mainly sangof the love between man and woman in a soft，circumlocutory and detailed way.Therefore，ci poetry has another name，“shi the junior.”
However，some great ci poets of the Song Dynasty，like Su Shi and Xin Qiji，broke through its limitations and extended the range of themes and artistic con-ception.
