Mourning poem (English: 'Touboshi')

Japanese: 悼亡詩 - とうぼうし（英語表記）dào wáng shī

A poem lamenting the death of one's wife. In China, openly expressing love for one's wife was avoided, but it was permitted only in mourning poems, as Mei Yaochen of the Song Dynasty wrote in one of his mourning poems: "I have looked at all the women in human history, but none as beautiful and wise." It began with Pan Yue of the Western Jin Dynasty and flourished during the Six Dynasties, but fell into a routine and was discontinued for a time. Wei Yingwu and Yuan Zhen of the mid-Tang Dynasty breathed new life into it, and it became established as a genre of poetry. [Iriya Sensuke]

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

妻の死を悲しむ詩。中国では妻に対する愛情を公然と表白することは避けられたが，宋の梅尭臣が，その悼亡詩で〈人間（じんかん）の婦を見尽くすも，かくも美にかつ賢なるなし〉と詠じたように，悼亡詩の中でのみは許された。西晋の潘岳に始まり，六朝時代に盛行したが，マンネリズムに陥って，一時中絶した。中唐の韋応物や元稹（げんしん）が新生命を吹きこみ，詩の一ジャンルとして定着した。【入谷仙介】

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