Chinese Lyricism

In the thousand years covered by this volume the shih reached its highest level of development. A lyric form which, using a predominantly four-character line, had earlier been employed in the Confucian Book of Odes , it rose to prominence once more in the period under discussion. The new shih , which differed from the original form only in its use of a five- or seven-character line, became the best known and most characteristic of Chinese poetic forms.