Nine Changes

"Nine Changes" (traditional Chinese: 九辯; simplified Chinese: 九辩; pinyin: Jiǔ biàn; lit. 'Nine Changes') is one of the 17 major sections of the ancient Chinese poetry collection Chu ci, also known as The Songs of the South or The Songs of Chu.

Authorship

The "Nine Changes" poems are traditionally and generally attributed to Song Yu, with a few modern exceptions. (Hawkes, 2011 [1985]: 207-209) Song Yu seems to have flourished in the 3rd century BCE). He is commonly said to have been a nephew or student of Qu Yuan, but reliable biographical information is scant.

Text

The text of the "Nine Changes" as it exists today is somewhat problematic. It shares a number of lines with "Ai Ying".(Hawkes, 2011 [1985]: 163 and 208)

Content

The content of the "Nine Changes" varies, although nature forms a thematic motif. An overall summary might begin with the question of "And, why nine?" And, "What is the meaning of "changes"?"

Number 9

The "Nine Changes" verses are not individually named, or otherwise characterized by clear division into separate parts; and, rather than consisting of rhymed couplets, lines tend to be characterized by run-on rhyming: thus the number of individual pieces of the "Nine Changes" are uncertain. (Hawkes, 2011 [1985]: 208-209) Also, "nine" in antiquity was often used as a synonym for "many", and in the context of the Chu ci generally refers to a musical arrangement with "nine" modal changes. (Hawkes, 2011 [1985]: 36-37)

Changes

The title of this section uses the word biàn (辯), which may literally be translated as "arguments", or "disputations".

Nature poetry

The "Nine Changes" are an interesting early example of nature poetry. David Hawkes says that in terms of the development of poetry, the "Nine Changes" shows, "perhaps for the first time, a fully developed sense of what the Japanese call mono no aware, the pathos of natural objects, which was to be the theme of so much Chinese poetry through the ages."(Hawkes, 2011 [1985]: 208)

References

Hawkes, David, translator and introduction (2011 [1985]). Qu Yuan et al., The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-044375-2

v t e Chinese poetry
Major eras	Classical Chinese poetry Modern Chinese poetry
Poetry by dynasty	Han poetry Jian'an poetry Six Dynasties poetry Tang poetry Song poetry Yuan poetry Ming poetry Qing poetry
Poetry works and collections	Classic of Poetry Chu Ci New Songs from the Jade Terrace Nineteen Old Poems Poems of a Thousand Masters Complete Tang Poems Three Hundred Tang Poems Wangchuan ji Wen Xuan Zhuying ji
Major forms	Antithetical couplet ci fu shi qu yuefu
Individual poems list	Chinese poems (category list) List of poems (article)
Modern compilations	Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature
Regional styles	Cantonese poetry