After the downfall of the T'ang dynasty in 907, five short-lived dynasties were successively founded and overthrown from 907 to 960, and the unified empire was dismembered into ten independent sovereign states, of which the State of Shu in the west and that of Southern T'ang in the east were well-known for their literary achievement.

When the regulated T'ang poetry could no longer adequately express man's more refined and delicate feelings, the tuned lyric of irregular line-length began to take its place and evolved into a major literary form during the Five Dynasties (907-960). The literary aspect of the tuned lyric was derived from the five-word and seven-word lines of the 113 regulated verse, but the musical aspect came from the popular songs and tunes introduced from Central Asia, India or Burma.

In the former, the first anthology of song-lyrics entitled Collection Amid the Flowers appeared in 940. Most of the lyrics in it can be called boudoir poetry. They depict a beautiful woman, heart-broken in elegant chambers, keeping a cold, lonely bed beside a dim candle or solitary screen in the waning spring or at the dead of night, their lovers having gone far, far away. The most important lyricists in the collection were Wen Tingyun of the late T'ang, and Wei Zhuang and Li Yu during the Five Dynasties period.

Wen Tingyun (812-870) was the most important lyricist of the late T'ang. He composed verse to a certain tune - that is the reason why the "lyric" may also be called "tuned poetry." In Wen's lyrics two main styles predominate: a richly embellished depiction of the abandoned woman as exemplified by "Song of Water Clock.

This lyric depicts the parting sorrow of a lonely woman; it has almost nothing to do with the title, "Water Clock." Wen's lyrics are admired for their profound refinement. As a Chinese critic points out, Wen "often takes several harmonious images, and randomly places them together, letting them blend naturally." In the first three lines of this lyric, for example, we see the images of censer and candle juxtaposed, the one spreading smoke and the other dim light, which combine to create a gloomy autumnal atmosphere in the painted chamber where the sleepless woman is yearning for her love. The next three lines describe the appearance of the woman with disheveled hair and penciled eyebrows smeared, which shows that she has tossed from side to side all night long without falling asleep. That is the reason why she feels her quilt all the colder, and the night all the longer.

In the second stanza, the gloomy scenery outside-withered trees in bleak wind and dreary rain-make her sorrow all the more bitter. What is more, both the leaves and the rain continue falling without stopping, suggesting her sorrow lasts as long as the tree sheds leaves and the never-ending rain. Thus we see the scenes within and without the chamber in perfect harmony with the inner world of the lonely woman. We might feel regret and sympathy for the lonely woman with tearful eyes and disheveled hair.

There is a simple narration in the folk-song manner as represented by "Dreaming of the South."

In short, these two lyrics represent two different styles of the late Tang lyricist.

Wei Zhuang (839-910), whose name was often linked with Wen Tingyun, survived the downfall of the dynasty and was appointed to high office in the State of Shu. His lyrics are straightforward, narrative and colloquial, including direct expression of personal feelings and autobiographical details as opposed to Wen's indirect depiction of feminine feelings. What he adds to the lyric reveals a reaction against the ornate style of Wen, who excels in writing poems with implicit meaning, while Wei is famed for explicit poetry

In 881, Huang Cao led an army of 60,000 peasant rebels into the Tang capital and proclaimed himself emperor. Wei's ambition was reflected in his poems in The Chrysanthemum:

It is true that Huang Cao, clad in golden armor plates and steeped in blood, came in power with his voice rising sky-high over the capital. But the end of the T'ang Dynasty was drawing near.

Li Yu the last ruler of the Southern Tang, represents a high achievement of the lyric poets. Most of his works are direct lyrical expression, revealing the depth of his private feelings. His unusual accomplishment was closely related to his personal experiences. Very few poets have gone through such a drastic change in the circumstance of their personal lives as he did. In his early years, as monarch, he indulged in a luxurious life at court. After losing his kingdom to the Song emperor in 976 and becoming a political prisoner in the Song capital, he began to live a life of suffering until his death. His tragedy may be summed up in the following lyric of his, written to the tune of Dance of the Cavalry:

This lyric moves from distant past to the present, and then to the more recent past. To the poet himself, the sweeping expanse of his lost kingdom symbolizes the limitless extent of the universe itself, and the short history of his dynasty becomes a universal symbol of the time past.

Here we see the significant difference between his poetic style and that of Wen and Wei. The dominant theme in his lyrics is no longer confined to the experiences of the inner chamber, but extended to embrace the historical dimension of a kingdom and the vast expanse of an empire. The poet's individual experiences seem to gain a certain universal importance.

When compared with Wen and Wei, we may say Wen's lyric is descriptive and static and Wei's narrative and active while Li Yu who has followed the style of Wei rather than that of Wen, seems able to view his own personal suffering in the light of the destiny of all mankind on the other. If we compare Wen's lyric to a richly adorned lady and Wei's to a plainly dressed beauty, then Li's may be likened to a woman who is beautiful, whether richly adorned or plainly dressed.

We may conclude that Wen's lyric is written with colored ink; Wei's with bitter tears, and Li's with the blood pouring out of his own heart.