The form of new poetry born in the Yuan Dynasty is

Sanqu is a new form of poetry created by literati in Yuan Dynasty.

Yuanqu originated from the so-called "Fanqu" and "Le Hu" and was first circulated among the people, and was called "Street Tune" or "Village Square Minor". With the destruction of Song Dynasty in Yuan Dynasty, it spread in the vast areas of north and south, centering on Dadu (now Beijing) and Lin 'an (now Hangzhou). Yuanqu has strict metrical formula, and each qupai has fixed format requirements in sentence pattern, word number, level tone and so on.

Yuanqu is a wonderful flower in the splendid cultural treasure house of the Chinese nation, which embodies its unique characteristics in ideological content and artistic achievements and has become three important milestones in the history of China literature.

The Yuan Dynasty was the heyday of Yuanqu. Generally speaking, Yuan Zaju and Sanqu are collectively called Yuanqu, and both of them use Beiqu as the singing form. Sanqu is the main body of literature in Yuan Dynasty. However, the achievements and influence of Yuan Zaju far exceeded that of Sanqu, so some people called Yuan Zaju "Yuan Qu" or "Yuan Qu".

Although there is a fixed framework, it is not rigid. Interlaced characters are allowed in the fixed frame, and sentences can be added to some qupai. In terms of rhyme, it is allowed to be flat and even, which is more flexible than quatrains and Song poems in metrical poems. Therefore, readers can find that two songs with the same "Qupai" sometimes have different words, which is the reason (the one with the least words in the same Qupai is the standard frame). Yuanqu is also called Yu Jihe Yuefu.