Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was a period of literary consciousness, and the appearance of Cao Pi's Dian Lun Thesis marked the beginning of pure literary theoretical works in the history of China's literary criticism. Dian Lun Wen discusses the value of literature, the writer's personality, the style of his works, the style of his works and the critical attitude of literature. It summed up the new characteristics and experiences of Jian 'an literature, clearly put forward its own literary ideas, and created a precedent for literary criticism in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Before Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, China's ancient literary theory was in the stage of unconscious development. Most of the literary theories of the pre-Qin philosophers are only a few words, and the literary concepts are not yet independent. The literary theory of Han dynasty was not completely divorced from scholarship. Even some influential prefaces, such as Preface to Mao Shi and Preface to Chapters and Sentences of Chu Ci, are mostly aimed at a specific work, such as The Book of Songs and Li Sao. On the other hand, Dian Lun Wen studies literature as an independent phenomenon, and its research field of vision involves many basic principles in literary criticism. This is a new phenomenon in the study of Wei-Jin literary theory, and it is a very convincing sign that Wei-Jin literary theory has entered the era of literary consciousness.
Of course, to explain the position of Cao Pi's Dian Lun Zawen in the history of China's literary criticism, we can't help but mention its content and its literary problems. First, about the value of literature. The so-called literary value, in Cao Pi's view, is the practical function of the article. Cao Pi consciously stood on the position of the ruling class in his paper and improved the status of literature. He said: "Writing articles is a great cause of the country and an immortal event." Unlike the emperors of the Han Dynasty, who regarded writers as "worshipping sages" and compared Ci and Fu to "games", he regarded articles as "works of statecraft and immortal events", encouraging writers to create more actively, hoping that they would not "do what they are doing now and leave behind thousands of years' achievements", which was far-sighted. His exposition embodies the creative consciousness of writers in Jian 'an era and promotes the development of literature to some extent.
Secondly, about the literary spirit. Cao Pi's "Qi" has two meanings, one is the style of literary works, and the other is the temperament of a writer. As for the author, "Qi" refers to his temperament and talent; Expressed in the works is the style of writing. Cao Pi said: "Prose is dominated by qi, which is clear and muddy, and can't be forced. For example, all kinds of music have the same curvature and the same rhythm. As for bleeding, it is skillful and well developed, although it is impossible to transfer children to fathers and brothers. " The literary style mentioned here is an inaccurate word of the ancients and it is difficult to define it accurately. However, from his description of turbidity and metaphor of music, "qi" roughly refers to the embodiment of the author's talent in the article. In the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, people's personality was divided into clear and turbid, so the paper was "clear and turbid". Only when they are clever and clumsy, their nature is clear and muddy. The so-called "Kong Rong has both form and spirit" and "when swimming in public, there is a sense of escape" (with Wu Tongshu's Quality), which means that their articles show lofty and elegant talents. He said that literature and art emphasize sublimity and elegance, which is exactly the same as the concept of "Jian 'an style" that critics later said. Although the concept of "Qi" is not exact, the problems he discussed are close to what we call the writer's personality and style. The view of literary spirit reflects the trend of individualized development of Jian 'an literature.
The third is the division of literary genres. Cao Pi said, "Fu Wen is the same but different at the end. The cover is elegant, the book is reasonable, the inscription is realistic, and the poetry is beautiful. " These four subjects are different, and what they can do is partial. Only through communication can we get ready. Here, Cao Pi put forward the viewpoints of "the same is the same at the end" and "the same", which means that all articles are of the same nature. End: refers to the particularity of different styles. Cao Pi also divided the popular style into "four subjects and eight categories" and put forward "elegance", "reason", "reality" and "beauty" as its most prominent characteristics, which found a preliminary objective standard for the creation and criticism of various genres. It is particularly important to put forward the view that poetry and fu should be beautiful. "Beauty" is an aesthetic concept, and Cao Pi realized that literature in the pure sense must be beautiful, which is an extremely important change to the traditional Confucianism that poetry is a tool for ethical education. It also shows the new trend that Jian 'an literature gradually develops into gorgeous ci style.
In the history of literary criticism in China, Cao Pi first put forward the idea of combining the present and the end, paying special attention to the characteristics of different styles and promoting the development of stylistic research. The deepening of stylistic research shows that literary creation has entered a conscious state of pure literature.
Fourthly, the attitude of literary critics. Cao Pi believed that there were two typical wrong attitudes in the literary world at that time: one was that "scholars despise each other, which is natural since ancient times" and the other was that "each has its own strengths and weaknesses". Only see your own strengths, "that becomes a saint"; The second one is: "Be lofty and loyal." This is a wrong tendency of advocating false reputation and blindly praising the past.
Cao Pi opposed the ancient habit of "belittling scholars". With the attitude of "judging yourself and others", this paper points out the advantages and disadvantages of the seven sons of Jian 'an in the creation of various genres of articles. Why do these writers have advantages and disadvantages? Cao Pi also made further exploration. He believes that on the one hand, it is because the styles are different, on the other hand, the talents of writers are uneven.
Cao Pi's Dian Lun Thesis marks a new stage of China's ancient literary criticism. He did not simply comment on the article according to his personal subjective likes and dislikes, but consciously explored and tried to solve some problems in the development of literature. Although his answers to these questions are relatively simple, his pioneering achievements in inspiring later writers and critics to continue to explore and answer these questions should be affirmed. Later, Lu Ji, Liu Xie and Zhong Rong continued to follow the path he started.