Describes literary works, especially poetry or prose, that are grand in style, heroic in spirit, and powerful in tone, evoking a sense of majesty and vigor, much like the robust accompaniment of a copper pipa and iron clappers.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Synonym:
Story:
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the renowned poet Su Shi went on an excursion with his entourage. As he admired the golden cockscomb chrysanthemums on a cliff, his attendants spontaneously began to sing Su Shi's own lyrics.
Su Shi then asked them about the difference between his ci poems and those of another famous poet, Liu Yong.
An attendant thoughtfully replied, 'Master Liu Yong's ci poems are delicate and nuanced, best sung by a seventeen-year-old girl, gently tapping a small ivory clapper, to verses like 'The willows outside, a waning moon in the dawn breeze.' However, your ci poems, Sir, with their expansive scope and powerful sentiments, truly demand a burly man from Guanzhong, vigorously striking an iron clapper, to belt out lines such as 'The great river flows eastward!'