Shen Yue (; 441–1 May 513),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China China, officially the People's R ...

Xiuwen (休文), was a Chinese historian, music theorist, poet, and politician born in

Huzhou Huzhou (, ; Huzhounese: ''ghou² cieu¹'') is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province (Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou Plain, China). Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzhou to the south, and the provi ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...

. He served emperors under the

Liu Song Dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period ...

, the

Southern Qi Dynasty Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succeede ...

(see Yongming poetry), and the

Liang Dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

. He was a prominent scholar of the

and the author of the '' Book of Song'', an historical work covering the history of the previous

. He is probably best known as the originator of the first deliberately applied rules of tonal

euphony Phonaesthetics (also spelled phonesthetics in North America) is the study of beauty and pleasantness associated with the sounds of certain words or parts of words. The term was first used in this sense, perhaps by during the mid-20th century an ...

(so called " four tones and eight defects" 四聲八病) in the history of Chinese prosody. He was also the leading scholar on the musical practices of his time and author of the essays on

qilin The qilin (; ) is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. Qilin are a specific type of the mythological family of o ...

and omenology.

Poetry

Shen Yue was known for his love of poetry. For example, he wrote a set of poems, called by

Burton Watson Burton Dewitt Watson (June 13, 1925April 1, 2017) was an American sinologist, translator, and writer known for his English translations of Chinese and Japanese literature.Stirling 2006, pg. 92 Watson's translations received many awards, includi ...

the ''Six Poems on Remembering'', describing his beloved during six times of the day. The ''Six Poems on Remembering'' get fairly close to being specifically erotic, which is rather unusual for Classical Chinese verse (at least as it has been handed down). The verse on remembering her when she sleeps includes the lines: ::::::... ::::::undoing her sheer gown without waiting to be urged, ::::::resting on the pillow till caresses find her. ::::::Fearful that the one by her side is watching, ::::::she blushes under the candle's glow.

Contributions to literary theory

Shen Yue was one of the most import writers in terms of contributing to the ideas behind much of later

Classical Chinese poetry Classical Chinese poetry is traditional Chinese poetry written in Classical Chinese and typified by certain traditional forms, or modes; traditional genres; and connections with particular historical periods, such as the poetry of the Tang dyn ...

Contributions to Regular Verse tonality theory

Shen Yue apparently was the initial developer of the theoretical basis for the development of tonality in relationship to regulated verse. This would become crucial to certain forms especially associated with poetry of the Tang Dynasty, such as the lüshi (poetry).

''Yuefu''

Shen Yue is also credited with being the first to apply the term ''

Yuefu ''Yuefu'' are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style. The term originally literally meant "Music Bureau", a reference to the imperial Chinese governmental organization(s) originally charged with collecting or writing the lyrics, later the ...

'' in a generic sense to the Han Dynasty ballad style poetry, as opposed to the earlier meaning of referring to the Yuefu, or the Han imperial

Music Bureau The Music Bureau (Traditional Chinese: 樂府; Simplified Chinese: 乐府; Hanyu Pinyin: ''yuèfǔ'', and sometimes known as the "Imperial Music Bureau") served in the capacity of an organ of various imperial government bureaucracies of China: di ...

''Book of Song''

Shen Yue was largely responsible for writing and compiling the '' Book of Song'', a history of the

. One of the most important sections of the ''Book'' is his '' Treatise on Music'' (volumes 19 to 22). However, historian Pei Ziye managed to distill the work into a more succinct version, ''Summary of Song'' (《宋略》); after reading ''Summary of Song'', Shen was recorded to have said, "This is a standard which I cannot reach."

Role in Xiao Baorong's death

After Xiao Yan ascended the throne as

Emperor Wu of Liang Emperor Wu of Liang () (464 – 12 June 549), personal name Xiao Yan (蕭衍), courtesy name Shuda (叔達), childhood name Lian'er (練兒), was the founding emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty, during the Northern and Southern dynasties peri ...

on 30 April 502, he initially wanted to treat Xiao Baorong (the deposed Emperor He of Qi) well, by making Xiao Baorong Prince of Baling and then assigning him

Nanhai Commandery Nanhai Commandery ( zh, 南海郡) was a Chinese commandery that existed from Qin dynasty to Tang dynasty. At the greatest extent, Nanhai's territories covered present-day Guangdong, Hainan, southeastern Guangxi and the southern tip of Fujian. The ...

as his fiefdom. However, Shen Yue advised, "

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

once said: 'Do not endure genuine disaster in the pursuit of ethereal reputation.'" Upon hearing this, Emperor Wu ordered Xiao Baorong to be killed. Just before his death, Shen Yue fell gravely ill, and dreamt that Xiao Baorong used a sword to cut off his tongue. Shen consulted a shaman on the dream, and the shaman affirmed his dream. Shen then summoned priests to do rituals to inform Xiao Baorong's spirit that it was not his idea to persuade Xiao to relinquish the throne.(因病，梦齐和帝以剑断其舌。召巫视之，巫言如梦。乃呼道士奏赤章于天，称禅代之事，不由己出。) ''Liang Shu'', vol.13

References

Citations

Sources

* Birrell, Anne (1988). ''Popular Songs and Ballads of Han China''. (London: Unwin Hyman). . * Davis, A. R. (Albert Richard), Editor and Introduction,(1970), ''The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse''. (Baltimore: Penguin Books). * * * Shen, Yucheng
"Shen Yue"
''

Encyclopedia of China The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, begi ...

'', 1st ed. * Watson, Burton (1971). ''CHINESE LYRICISM: Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century''. New York: Columbia University Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Yue 441 births 513 deaths 5th-century Chinese historians 5th-century Chinese poets 6th-century Chinese historians 6th-century Chinese poets Chinese music theorists Historians from Zhejiang Liang dynasty historians Liang dynasty politicians Liu Song writers People from Deqing County, Zhejiang Poets from Zhejiang Southern Qi historians Southern Qi politicians Writers from Huzhou