水调歌头

A 词牌 fixes a poem's line lengths, tones and rhymes but not its subject, so many poets wrote to this pattern. A particular poem is cited by pattern plus title or first line: 《水调歌头·明月几时有》.

苏轼 wrote the famous one on Mid-Autumn night in 1076 while missing his younger brother. It opens 明月几时有？把酒问青天 'When did the bright moon first appear? Cup in hand, I ask the blue sky', and ends 但愿人长久，千里共婵娟 'May we all live long and share the moon's beauty, a thousand li apart.' Teresa Teng's 1983 song 《但愿人长久》 set it to music, and Faye Wong's 1995 cover made it a Mid-Autumn standard.