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Ci (Lyric)
起源于唐五代、发展成熟于宋代的一种新的文学体式，也称“曲子词”、“乐府”、“长短句”等。由诗发展演变而来，其主要特点是配乐歌唱。每首词都有一个调名，称“词牌”。不同的词牌在句数及每句的字数、平仄、押韵上都有严格的规定。从篇幅看，词可分为小令、中调、长调；从音乐体制看，词一般分上下两段（古人称为“阕”或“片”），也有分成三四段或仅有一段的，因之音乐也有演奏一遍和多遍的区别；从风格看，词基本分为婉约和豪放两大派，婉约派风格婉转含蓄，多写儿女情长；豪放派则摄取人生情怀及家国大事入词，境界宏大。宋代许多文人学者喜好填词作曲，对推动词的发展起了重要作用。后世的词一般不再配乐歌唱，基本成为按谱填词的一种文学形式。
Ci (词) originated in the Tang and the Five Dynasties, and developed to maturity as a new literary form in the Song Dynasty. Also known as “lyric with a melody,” “yuefu (乐府) poetry” or “long and short verses,” ci developed from poetry. Its main feature is that it is set to music and sung. Each piece of ci has a name for its tune. There are strict requirements for the number of lines and the number of characters as well as tone pattern and rhyming in different tunes. In terms of length, ci is divided into short lyrics, medium lyrics, and long lyrics. In terms of musical system, a piece of ci is usually divided into two stanzas of que (阕) or pian (片), as ancient Chinese called them. Occasionally, it consists of three or four stanzas, or just one. Thus, the music can be played once or many times. In terms of style, ci falls into the graceful and restrained school and the bold and unconstrained school. The former is delicate and sentimental, often describing family life and love, while the latter is bold and free, often expressing one’s vision about major social issues like the fate of the nation. Many literati and scholars of the Song Dynasty composed ci lyrics, which played a significant part in promoting its development. Today, ci is generally not set to music and sung. Rather, it is a literary form composed in accordance with the requirements of a music tune.
引例 Citations：
◎词即曲之词，曲即词之曲。（刘熙载《艺概·词曲概》）
（词，是乐曲的歌词；曲，是与歌词相配的乐曲。）
Ci means lyrics written for music, whereas qu is musical tunes set to accompany lyrics. (Liu Xizai: Overview of Literary Theories)
◎宋元之间，词与曲一也。以文写之则为词，以声度之则为曲。（宋翔凤《乐府馀论》）
（宋元之时，词和曲是同一个东西，用文句写出来就是词，给它谱上音乐就是曲。）
During the Song and Yuan dynasties, ci and qu were one and the same thing. When written with words, they were ci; when composed with music, they were qu. (Song Xiangfeng: Epilogue to Yuefu Poetry)
