Small command - Shorei

Japanese: 小令 - しょうれい

This refers to short pieces of music and their lyrics in Chinese lyric literature, namely the ci popular in the Song dynasty and the sanqu popular in the Yuan dynasty. The prevailing theory is that ling means drinking decree (a game played at banquets), and the origin of the term "xiao ling" seems to be a competition to write short lyrics for drinking decree during the Tang dynasty. In the Song dynasty, ci came to be appreciated as verse literature, but long pieces were called manci and short pieces (up to about 60 characters) were called xiao ling. Later, there was a theory that up to 58 characters were called xiao ling, 59 to 90 characters were called medium key, and 91 characters or more were called major key, but this is not a strict rule, and the terms medium key and major key do not appear in the Song dynasty.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中国の歌辞文芸すなわち宋代に流行した詞および元代に流行した散曲において，短編の小曲およびその歌辞をいう。令は酒令(宴席のゲーム)の意とする説が有力で，唐代において酒令として短編の歌辞を競作したのが〈小令〉の源らしい。宋代になって詞は韻文文学としても鑑賞されるようになるが，長編を慢詞，短編(60字くらいまで)を小令と呼んだ。のちに58字までが小令，59字から90字までが中調，91字以上を長調とする説があるが，厳密にくぎれるものではないし，また中調，長調なる語は宋代にはみえない。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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