Shi (è©©) is the Chinese word for "poetry" or "poem". It can be used as an umbrella term to mean Chinese poetry in any form, including ci and qu, but it is most commonly used to refer to the classical form of poetry which reached its zenith in the Tang Dynasty. To distinguish the classical form from the vers libre developed in the 20th century, the former is known as jiushi (舊詩 "old poetry", not to be confused with gushi å¤è©©) and the latter xinshi (æ–°è©© "new poetry", not to be confused with jintishi 近體詩).