Yuan poetry

Although the poetic forms of past literature were continued, the Yuan period is particularly known for the development of the poetic aspects included in the complex mix of different art forms which characterize Chinese opera, namely the qu or fixed-tone pattern type of verses that were delivered by the actors of these shows.

Founded in 960, the Song dynasty reunified most of the traditional Chinese heartland from the North Central Plain to the area of the Yangzi River.

Nevertheless, this "Southern" period of the Song dynasty was one associated with economic robustness and population growth, together with continued Chinese artistic achievements.

Despite the sometimes disastrous nature of this process, there was a certain continuity of Chinese culture, including poetry; although, due to the loss of records and so on, the historical details are not always clear.

An example of this cultural legacy can be seen in the case of Yuan Haowen (1190–1257), a northern writer and poet who served under the Jin administration, but went into retirement at the advent of its fall to the Mongols.

However, the political and social disruptions associated with the founding of the Yuan dynasty have resulted in a relative lack in terms of surviving material to provide detailed information in this regard.

The Jurchens were a Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria (present-day Northeast China) until the 17th century, when they adopted the name Manchu.

The origins of cí (simplified Chinese: 词; traditional Chinese: 詞; pinyin: qǔ; Wade–Giles: chü)type of lyric poetry are obscure, but seem to begin to appear in literature beginning in the poetry of the Liang dynasty, with minor subsequent development in the Tang dynasty.

The cí form were lyrics which developed from anonymous popular songs into a sophisticated literary genre, which actually followed the tradition encountered in the Shi Jing and the yuefu.

This type of verse has to do with the death and destruction of war, especially that which lead up to and was involved in the initial establishment of the Yuan dynasty and the consolidation of its power.

Compared to the traditional Chinese shì, or scholar-officials or emperors, the newcomers were not so literarily erudite or oriented, much less were they appreciative of the ancient forms, expressions, and allusions, legacy of more than a millennia.

The Zaju theater took much of its characteristics from both this emphasis on the vernacular speech, as well as the lowered prestige of traditional scholarly literature.