Five-character rhythmic poetry is one of the most important forms of ancient Chinese rhyming poetry. The basic form is eight lines with four pairs of rhymes and each line has five characters. Long rhyming poems with six, eight or even more rhymes are also part of five-character rhythmic poetry. Five-character rhythmic poetry must meet both metrical rules and rhetorical requirements.The metrical rules refer to level and oblique tones and the rhyme scheme. In five-character rhythmic poetry, there are four basic types of lines, alternating between level and oblique tones; level and oblique tones must match between different pairs of lines and within the same pair of lines; and rhymes are in even numbered lines, usually with the level tone. The rhetoric is embodied in the antithesis and the arrangement of introduction, elucidation, transition and summing up. The eight lines are divided into the first, second, third, and fourth pairs, and the second and third pairs in the middle are antithetical. Five-character rhythmic poetry is the most sophisticated form of Chinese five-character poetry, combining the beauty of temperament and rhetoric. The overall rhythm is smooth, and impromptu inspirations and material objects are integrated, producing the artistic aesthetic effect of tranquility and stateliness. The Tang Dynasty attained the greatest achievement in five-character rhythmic poetry, with a large number of famous poets and poems. In addition, from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, five-character rhythmic poetry with six or eight rhymes, known as shitie poetry (试帖诗), was always a compulsory item in the imperial examination. This fully illustrates the importance of this type of poetry in classical Chinese culture.

Five-character rhythmic poetry reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. To summarize its main features, there were two styles. The poems of Chen Zi’ang, Du Shenyan, Shen Quanqi, and Song Zhiwen were elegant, sumptuous, refined, and pertinent; the poems of Wang Wei, Meng Haoran, Chu Guangxi, and Wei Yingwu were fresh, graceful, relaxed, and lofty. Such is the general situation of the five-character rhythmic poetry of the Tang Dynasty. (Hu Yinglin: An In-depth Exploration of Poetry)

The poets Yin Keng, He Xun, Yu Xin, and Xu Ling already created the style of five-character rhythmic poetry. Poets in the early Tang Dynasty studied temperament to arrange the structure and momentum rationally, thus completing the style of five-character rhythmic poetry. During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and later Emperor Zhongzong, the poems of Chen Zi’ang, Du Shenyan, Shen Quanqi, and Song Zhiwen were looked upon as rough gold or unprocessed jade already of great value. In the years of Emperor Xuanzong, Li Bai’s poems stood out for their clarity and beauty, while those of Wang Wei and Meng Haoran felt natural and comfortable. Though developed in different directions, they all reached the ultimate level of perfection. As for Du Fu’s poems, they were unique in that they were neat and meticulous while at the same time robust and spirited, ranging across all styles. Throughout the Tang Dynasty, although there were many variations of five-character rhythmic poetry, none surpassed these poets. (Shen Deqian: Idle Words on Poetry)