Imagine opening your music app only to find classic poets like Li Bai and Bai Juyi from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and Su Shi from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) listed right alongside today's playlist-topping singers. Lately, this phenomenon has captured the internet's attention: Ancient Chinese poets are now appearing on major music platforms as officially certified "lyricists." For example, Su has acquired thousands of followers as a "lyricist" on music platform QQ Music with his 147 lyrical works.
Some modern musicians in China have chosen to set classical poetry to music, covering and adapting centuries-old poems into new songs. Because of the way music platforms register songwriting credits, the original poets are automatically credited as lyricists. As a result, these ancient works are preserved on the internet as a unique blend of historical literature and modern music.
Traditionally, people thought of these historical figures as distant and serious - names to memorize for school exams, symbols of solemnity kept on a high pedestal, far from daily life or vibrant pop culture. This gap created distance between young people and their cultural heritage, Zhang Peng, a cultural researcher and associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Now, these classical poets are stepping onto the same stage as pop stars, entering the digital spaces most loved by today's youth. At first glance, this looks like a playful mix-up - a temporal glitch - but behind the amusement is something far more meaningful: proof of the enduring vitality of classic Chinese literature. These ancient voices have crossed the ages, staying fresh and full of life, ready to connect with new generations.
Zhang noted that timeless themes - longing for the moon, joy and sorrow in partings, the ups and downs of life - are baked into China's poetic tradition. Their emotions and images are universal, able to move people deeply even after a thousand years. Modern musicians recreate and reinterpret these poems for today's listeners, making them popular again and proving that the classics can meet the emotional and aesthetic needs of contemporary youth.
Young people can turn the language of ancient poetry - once seen as difficult or obscure - into something relatable, alive and part of their everyday emotional language. This is a fresh, personal way to understand and engage with the classics. This relaxed and immersive participation lets today's youth become active learners and interpreters of tradition. Understanding culture is no longer stiff or formulaic; it has become personalized, lively, and free.
Classical poetry is present in many modern art forms, not just in popular music. In Chinese film, elements of poetry often appear. For example, some movie titles are taken directly from poetic lines, while there are film plots inspired by the stories told in poems. The tradition of poetry has lasted for thousands of years, and it has deeply influenced film art and creativity in China's cultural DNA, Shi Wenxue, a veteran Beijing-based film and cultural critic, told the Global Times.
The blending of old and new media is washing away the old labels of tradition as boring, rigid, or out-of-reach. Thousand-year-old literature is finding new vitality and meaning alongside the spirit of today's youth by being interpreted, used and loved in everyday life.