MING DYNASTY 'MOUNTAIN SONGS'
105
number of syllables used to fill up this eight beat line. (Note that from this point on I am referring specifically to the Ming Dynasty collection of Mountain Songs and not to the genre as a whole.) The line may consist of as few as six characters, divided into two groups of three each with a pause on the fourth and eighth count; or it may number as many as 12 or 13 characters in various combinations of one, two, or three characters per beat. In these latter cases there are usually a number of grammatical markers and functor words which were apparently unstressed and run together rapidly without breaking the rhythmic beat. It is important to make proper identification of the unstressed syllables in order to maintain the eight count line in all these poems.
Longer Mountain Songs are found in the collection which are either multiples of the four line basic verse or the basic verse with rhythmic phrases inserted, usually between lines two and three.
The rhyme scheme is typically ABCB or AABA. There is no hesitation about using the same character to rhyme with itself, and in one case I found the same character used in all three rhyming positions in one song. This may not sound so elegant as the classical poem, but at least in the particular song it was a very effective emphasis of a special point.
It is in subject matter that the Mountain Songs make the biggest break with the tradition of classical poetry. The predominant topic is that of boy-girl situations and the treatment is invariably humorous and often even bawdy. Only rarely since the Classic of Poetry 2000 years earlier is there such preoccupation with romantic love, and with the possible exception of the Tzu Yeh Ko of the Nan Pei Ch'ao Period, seldom does one find such humor in dealing with the subject. Here we get a picture of a hearty people who do not take themselves too seriously. They seem to find fun in many things and they have a gift for putting their fun into words.
In the Mountain Songs the humor is subtle more often than coarse. Although the verses may be risqué or even highly suggestive, there is none of the heavy-handed attention to pornographic detail as in Chin P'ing Mei or Jou P'u T'uan. The entire effect is carried by double entendre and pun, but the intent is obviously to make the listener laugh. The spirit is similar to