歌诗合为事而作

歌詩合為事而作

gēshīhéwèishìérzuò

phrase

Meanings

1 songs and poems ought to be composed for real events
2 poetry should engage with contemporary affairs
3 Bai Juyi's slogan for socially-committed literature

Characters

events / affairs

and (classical)

Examples

白居易主张歌诗合为事而作。

Bái Jūyì zhǔzhāng gē shī hé wèi shì ér zuò.

Bai Juyi argued that poetry should be written in response to real events.

当代作家也应坚持歌诗合为事而作的精神。

Dāngdài zuòjiā yě yīng jiānchí gē shī hé wèi shì ér zuò de jīngshén.

Contemporary writers should also uphold the spirit of writing poetry engaged with real events.

Tips

history

From Bai Juyi's (白居易) Mid-Tang letter 《与元九书》 (Letter to Yuan Zhen): 文章合为时而著，歌诗合为事而作 — 'Essays should be written for the times, songs and poems should be composed for real events.' This manifesto underpinned his New Yuefu (新乐府) movement, which used poetry to expose social problems.

usage

Always cited with the preceding clause 文章合为时而著. Invoked whenever debates about socially engaged vs. art-for-art's-sake writing come up. 合 here = 'should / ought to.'

Stroke Order

歌 gē

诗 shī

合 hé

为 wèi

事 shì

而 ér

作 zuò