Huaigu
Huaigu (). is one of the Classical Chinese poetry genres. The huaigu is a type or style of poem, in which the poet looks back at some bygone time(s), place(s), or person(s), and the poem may be written in any of the Classical Chinese poetry forms. This is "one of the perennial themes of Chinese poetry," according to Burton Watson, in which "the poet contemplates the ruins of past glory." History Wu Hung argues that, while no comprehensive history of the huaigu has been written, the development of the genre can be divided into at least four periods: (1) the emergence of its sensibility during the Han dynasty, (2) the formation of the poetic genre during the Cao Wei and Jin dynasties, (3) its popularity during the Tang dynasty, and (4) continuing imitation or proliferation in later periods. Examples A good example of the many poets who wrote poems in this genre is Li Bo who was especially fond of this genre. A good example of a particular poem is the one translated by Witter Bynner as "I Pass Through the Lu Dukedom with a Sigh and a Sacrifice for Confucius", found in the famous poetry anthology Three Hundred Tang