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Gexing 歌行 is the designation of many songs and verses of the music-bureau style (yuefu 樂府). It became popular during the Han period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) and was used through the ages, also in single-character shapes like ge 歌 or xing 行.
Ge 歌 "song" and xing 行 "verses" were originally two slightly different types of song or poem. Typical examples of the early time, when the two types were still differentiated, are Sima Xiangru's 司馬相如 (179-117 BCE) Qinge 琴歌 "The zither song", Liang Hong's 梁鴻有 Wuyi ge 五噫歌 "Five sigh songs", Cao Cao's 曹操 (155-220) Duan gexing 短歌行 "Short verses", or the anonymous Dongmen xing 東門行 "Verses of the east gate".
The poetry critique Shanhugou shihua 珊瑚鉤詩話, written by Zhang Biaochen 張表臣 (mid-12th cent.), explains that ge songs experienced an intensive modulation in lengthy descriptions (yiqian yiyang yongyan 猗遷抑揚永言), whereas xing verses had a distinguished tension and velocity to achieve brilliant composition (buzhou chicheng feiran chengzhang 步驟馳騁斐然成章). Xu Shizeng 徐師曾 (1547-1580) explained in his poetic theory Shiti mingbian 詩體明辨 that ge songs were characterised by miscellaneous, but detailed description of feelings, as can be seen in the accompanying melodies of the zither. Xing verses, however, had a relatively fast tempo with a broad and unrestricted flow of words. It can thus be seen that the difference of ge and xing was seen in their musical character.
Yet in the late second century CE, the difference between ge and xing was already obsolete. The combined term gexing emerged, like in Cao Pi's 曹丕 (Emperor Wen 魏文帝, r. 220-226) Yan gexing 燕歌行 "Song from the region of Yan" or Bao Zhao's 鮑照 (416-466) Dai fang gexing 代放歌行 "A song according to the melody 'set free'".
From the Tang period 唐 (618-907) on, gexing was the title of many poems with seven-syllable verses that were not named after Han-period Music Bureau songs. Famous gexing writers of that time were Li Bai 李白 (701-762; with the songs Meng you Tianlao yin liubie 夢游天姥吟留別, Xiangyang ge 襄陽歌 or Jiangxia xing 江夏行), Du Fu 杜甫 (712-770; with the songs Bingche xing 兵車行, Xinhun bie 新婚別, or Maolu wei qiufeng suo po ge 茅廬為秋風所破歌), Cen Shen 岑參 (c. 718-c. 769) and Li He 李賀 (790-816), but also Bai Juyi 白居易 (772-846) with his famous Pipa xing 琵琶行 "Verses of the lute".
| [賤妾] | [Your poor wife] |
|---|---|
| 秋風蕭瑟天氣涼。 草木搖落露為霜。 群燕辭歸雁南翔。 念君客游多思腸。 慊慊思歸戀故鄉。 君何淹留寄他方。 賤妾煢煢守空房。 憂來思君不敢忘。 不覺悟淚下沾衣裳。 援琴鳴弦發清商。 短歌微吟不能長。 明月皎皎照我牀。 星漢西流夜未央。 牽牛織女遙相望。 爾獨何辜限河梁。 |
Autumn wind's plaintive lute, sky's air chill. Grass, trees tremble and shed, dew turns to frost. Flocking swallows take their leave, geese wheel south. Thinking of your travels, love breaks my heart. Painful homeward longing, desire for your old village. Why do you tarry, linger in other parts? your poor wife, forlorn, keeps an empty room. Despair comes pining for you, perhaps you've forgotten? Tears fall unawares, soaking my clothes. My cradled lute's singing strings release clear autumn notes. A snatch of song, soft humming, I cannot go on. The bright moon, white, white, shines upon my bed. Starry Han flows west before the midnight hour. Herdboy and Weaver stare from afar. What crime is yours, alone denied the River bridge? |
| [何易] | So easy! |
| 別日何易會日難。 山川悠遠漫漫。 鬱陶思君未敢言。 寄書浮雲往不還。 涕零兩（雨）面毀形顏。 誰能懷憂獨不嘆。 耿耿優枕不能眠。 披衣出戶步東西。 展詩清歌聊自寬。 樂往哀來摧心（摧）肝。 悲風清厲秋氣寒（耿耿優枕不能眠）。 羅帷徐動經秦軒（披衣出戶步東西）。 仰戴（看）星月觀雲間。 飛鳥（鶬）晨鳴聲〈氣〉可憐。 留連懷顧不自（能）存。 |
Day to part so easy! day to meet so hard! Mountains, rivers far away, the road vast, vast. My full cup of love for you I dare not confide. I send words to floating clouds, they stop, never look back. Tears fall, rain down my face, ruin my kohl. Who can nurse despair alone with never a sigh? I open poems, sing clear song, try to relax. Waves of joy, of grief, dash against my breast. Restless, I lean on my pillow, sleeplessly. Throw on my cloak, go out, pace east and west, Look up at stars and moon, gaze at rifts in clouds. Flying storks cry at dawn, pitiful sounds. Numb with remembrance I lose the will to live. |
These two songs were the first Chinese poems with verses of a length of seven syllables. Translation: Birrell 1982, 237. |
The topics of Tang-period gexing poems are manifold, but they were mainly used for the description of spectacular scenes, for moving stories, and to express warm feelings. Many gexing poems imitate the spirit of rhapsodies (fu 賦) that describe in great detail the life at the court and of the nobility. With that intention, gexing songs also make use of the intricate and complex language typically used in rhapsodies. Somewhat different from these purely descriptive rhapsodies are ballads like Bai Juyi's Changhen ge 長恨歌 "Lament everlasting" which relates the story of Emperor Xuanzong 唐玄宗 (r. 712-755) and his consort Yang Guifei 楊貴妃 (719-756).
Typical headlines of song-verses are xiao gexing 笑歌行 "joyful song", bei gexing 悲歌行 "sad song", yan gexing 豔歌行 "song of beauty", ju gexing 鞠歌行 "kickball song, duan gexing 短歌行 "short song", chang gexing 長歌行 "long song", yan gexing 燕歌行 "song from Yan", zhao gexing 櫂歌行 (棹歌行) "boat song", yuan gexing 怨歌行 "song of resentment" or fang gexing 放歌行 "song of freedom". All these designations refer to original melodies, and not to the content of the songs.
The length of gexing poems and that of their verses was not fixed, and the rhymes were relatively free, but most gexing poems had one rhyme in four verses. During the Tang period, five- and seven-syllable verses became the standard, as can be seen in Du Fu's poem Liren xing 麗人行 "Verses of a beautiful person".