Classical Chinese poetry genres

The term "genres" refers to various aspects, such as to topic, theme, and subject matter, what similes or metaphors were considered appropriate or how they would be interpreted, and other considerations such as vocabulary and style.

The Rivers and Mountains or shanshui style or genre of poetry involves or depicts naturalistic images or settings.

They are set especially in the arid regions to the North and West, which were remote, subject to temperature extremes and to sand and dust storms, and populated with sometimes exotic and often hostile people.

Important poets who wrote in this genre include Gao Shi and Cen Shen, both of the Tang dynasty.

This is "one of the perennial themes of Chinese poetry," according to Burton Watson, in which "the poet contemplates the ruins of past glory.

it could be said, however, that a vital forerunner in this genre was Du Fu, in respect of those poems he wrote in the midst of the An Lushan rebellion.