Speechless - Zekku

A style of poetry in classical Chinese poetry. It is the smallest style of poetry, consisting of four lines. There are two types: "five-character jejuku" with five characters per line, and "seven-character jejuku" with seven characters. There are also six-character jejuku, but they have not become common. There are various theories about the name jejuku, such as that it is a semi-completed version of a regulated poem (poem of eight lines), or that it means one line and one complete jeju. The origin of the five-character jejuku is folk songs such as "Ziye Ge" and "Xiqu Ge" that were popular in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River during the Jin and Song dynasties of the Six Dynasties.

[Koyoka]
At dusk, I go out to the gate and look for my son to come. His figure is charming and seductive. A pleasant fragrance fills the road. [Xiqu Ge, Xiangyang Music]
Leaving Xiangyang in the morning, I stay at Dayai in the evening. The girls of Dayai are amazed by their beautiful eyes.

Many of these songs, like the above, use light-hearted expressions to sing about love between men and women, and have a similar feel to Japanese hauta and dodoitsu. These eventually caught the attention of literati, and they became popular after the Qi and Liang dynasties. They gradually grew from folk songs to more weight and depth, and in the Tang dynasty, standards for rhythm were established and they took on a form as a form of modern poetry.

As with all seven-character styles, seven-character quatrains arose rapidly from the end of the Six Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, piggybacking on the development of five-character quatrains, and the style was established by the end of the early Tang Dynasty. Both five-character and seven-character quatrains reached their peak during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but seven-character quatrains in particular flourished as the most universal style. As the smallest poetic style, quatrains require sharp ideas, senses, and expressions, and also place importance on the lingering feeling that lingers outside the words, which is the unspoken emotion.

[Wang Weiluchai (Rokusai)]
In the empty mountains no one sees anyone Only hearing the sounds of human speech Returning to the scenery into the deep forest Once again the light shines on the green moss A mysterious world is captured in just 20 characters, and the poet's leisurely state of mind lingers in the air. Every single character in a quatrain is carefully considered, and each line is tightly constructed. The construction method of the introduction, development, twist, and conclusion is also naturally determined as the most effective method. A collection of quatrains from the Tang Dynasty is the 101 volumes of Ten Thousand Tang Queku by Hong Mai of the Song Dynasty (75 of which are seven-character quatrains).

[Tadahisa Ishikawa]

“Shin Taishi Poetry” by Shoichi Takagi (included in “Chinese Culture Series 4: Introduction to Literature”, 1967, Taishukan Shoten)”

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国古典詩の詩体の一つ。四句からなるもので、最小の詩体である。一句の字数が五字の「五言(ごごん)絶句」、七字の「七言(しちごん)絶句」の2種がある。六言のものもあるが、一般的にならなかった。絶句の名称は、律詩(りっし)（八句の詩）に半絶したもの、一句一絶の意など、諸説があって定まらない。五言絶句の源は、六朝(りくちょう)の晋(しん)・宋(そう)のころ、揚子江(ようすこう)の下流・中流地域に流行した「子夜歌(しやか)」「西曲歌」などの民歌である。

【子夜歌】
　落日出前門　日暮れに門先に出て
　瞻矚見子度　子(きみ)の来るのを望み見る
　冶容多姿鬢　あで姿なまめかしく
　芳香已盈路　良い匂い、路に満ちる
【西曲歌・襄陽楽】
　朝発襄陽城　朝襄陽のまちを出て
　暮至大隄宿　暮れに大隄で泊まる
　大隄諸女児　大隄の娘たちは
　花艶驚郎目　あでやかで郎(きみ)を驚かす

　上のように男女の愛情を軽妙な表現で歌ったものが多く、日本の端唄(はうた)、都々逸(どどいつ)のような趣(おもむき)をもつものである。これがやがて文人の注意をひき、斉(せい)・梁(りょう)以後盛んにつくられるようになった。民歌風のものからしだいに重み、深みを増したものとなり、唐に入って韻律の規格も整い、近体詩の一つとして形を定めた。

　また七言絶句は、七言の体のすべてがそうであるように、五言の発展に便乗した形で、六朝末から唐にかけて急激におこり、初唐の末には体が定まった。そして五言、七言ともに盛唐に至って最高潮に達したが、とりわけ七言絶句はもっとも普遍的な体として盛行した。絶句は最小の詩体であるだけに、着想、感覚、表現に研ぎ澄まされた鋭さが要求され、また言外の情という、文字の外に漂う余韻を重んずる。

【王維鹿柴(ろくさい)】
　空山不見人　空山人を見ず
　但聞人語響　但(た)だ人語の響きを聞く
　返景入深林　返景深林に入り
　復照青苔上　復(ま)た照らす青苔の上
わずか20字のなかに幽玄の世界がとらえられ、詩人の悠々たる心境が余韻となって漂う。絶句は一字一字が吟味され、一句一句が緊密に構成される。起承転結の構成法も、もっとも効果を発揮する方法として、自然に定まったものである。唐代の絶句の集成に、宋の洪邁(こうまい)の『万首唐人絶句』101巻（うち75巻が七言絶句）がある。

［石川忠久］

『高木正一著『近体詩』（『中国文化叢書4　文学概論』所収・1967・大修館書店）』

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