Han Ancient-style Poetry: The “Nineteen Old Poems” - The Magic of One Additional Character and the Rise of Reflective Poetry

After nearly one millennium since its birth, Chinese poetry achieved an optimal convergence of sound and sense in its pentasyllabic poems developed during the Eastern Han (25-220 CE).  Taking full advantage of an explosive rise of two-character compounds, the anonymous Han pentasyllabic poets created a poetic rhythm far more flexible and expressive than all existing rhythms and adapted it for philosophical reflection and emotional brooding on human transience. Host: Zong-qi Cai, Lingnan University of Hong Kong; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign