Lüshi (traditional Chinese: 律詩; simplified Chinese: 律诗; pinyin: lǜshī; Wade–Giles: lü-shih) is a type of Classical Chinese poetry with strict rules. It is one of the most important forms in classical Chinese poetry. A lüshi poem has eight lines, and each line contains five, six, or seven characters.

All lüshi poems rhyme on the even-numbered lines (second, fourth, sixth, and eighth lines), and the same rhyme is used throughout the poem. Additionally, the pattern of tones in the poem follows specific rules, which is why it is called "regulated."

Historical development

The idea of controlling the sound patterns in poetry started with Shen Yue. However, the lüshi form didn't have official rules until the 7th century.

Well-known examples

Examples of this type of poetry include the Tang poet Li Bai's poem called "Seeing Off a Friend" (送友人) and another poem called "On Climbing in Nanjing to the Terrace of Phoenixes" (登金陵鳳凰臺).