Two Poems on Listening to Songs

张祜Nanhai Publication Company · ChinaJun 2024

3.9

Word count: 2.6K words
Chapters: 48

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Summary

"Two Songs of Listening to Music" is a poetic work by the Tang dynasty poet Zhang Hu.

Editor's review

Zhang Hu is known for his palace poems and for writing on the theme of listening to music; in these two songs he turns musical experience into lines that can be recited and felt, brief yet clearly layered. This edition preserves the original poems, making it a light entry point for reading Tang poetry on a specific theme. Readers can use it to sense how Tang poets wrote about sound, banquets, and fleeting shifts of mood, and can read it alongside Zhang Hu's other palace poems to observe how he handles auditory imagery. The Nanhai Publishing House edition is easy to carry, suited to dipping into on a commute or before sleep; there is no need to finish it in one sitting, and repeated recitation brings out the rhythm between the lines. For readers new to Zhang Hu, these two short poems are not demanding, yet they open a window onto the poetic style of the mid-to-late Tang.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who want an easy introduction to Tang quatrains
Literature lovers interested in musical themes in Tang poetry
Middle-school students and Chinese teachers needing short texts for recitation
People who like carrying a small booklet to read anywhere

Not a good fit for

Researchers expecting detailed annotations and scholarly textual criticism
Readers hoping for long narrative poems or a complete poetry collection
Those who prefer modern vernacular interpretation and do not want to engage with the original text

Reading tips

First read aloud twice to feel the pauses and rhymes, then look at the literal meaning line by line.
After reading, try describing the listening scene in your own words to check whether you have grasped the imagery.
Read alongside Zhang Hu's other short poems and compare his different approaches to writing sound and palace sorrow.

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

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FAQ

Does this book contain only two poems?

Judging from the title and the material, "Two Songs of Listening to Music" consists of Zhang Hu's two works on the theme of listening to music, and is very short. It is best treated as a small volume for close reading of a single piece rather than an anthology of many poems.

Can I read it without any background in classical poetry?

Yes. The two poems are short with concentrated imagery; reading the original through once and looking up a few words is enough to get started. Reading aloud is recommended, and there is no need to aim for word-by-word accuracy at first.

Is it suitable for classroom teaching?

It works well as short supplementary material. Teachers can guide students to notice the sound descriptions and emotional shifts in the poems and have them try rewriting or imitating them; the brevity makes it easy to complete within a class.

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About the author

张祜 Author

Zhang Hu was a poet of the Tang dynasty. Reliable public sources on his life, official career, and dates of birth and death are limited, so they cannot be described in detail. Eight works are held in the collection, mostly classical poetry on subjects such as listening to songs, inscribing temples, hearing bugles, mourning friends, writing about gardens, and yuefu pieces under the Hengchui qu titles. Poems such as "Two Songs on Listening to Singing" and "Hearing the Dawn Bugle at Guazhou" draw poetic meaning from everyday sights and travel scenes, with plain, lucid language and restrained feeling, bearing the melancholy tone of late Tang literati. His inscriptions on temples and gardens often sketch scenery in fine detail while conveying a sense of personal circumstance. The Hengchui qu pieces follow old yuefu titles and have a simple, sorrowful style. Though less renowned than the major poets of his day, Zhang Hu is noted for clear elegance and emotional resonance, and is occasionally cited in Tang and Song poetry talks and anthologies, exercising some influence on the lyrical and scenic art of later regulated quatrains. Given limited sources, his chronology and acquaintances still await further study.