"Three Caos" refers to Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi and his son during the Three Kingdoms period.
Cao Cao (155-220), Emperor Wu of Wei. Politician, military strategist and poet during the Han and Wei dynasties. His courtesy name was Mengde, a native of Peiguo (now Bo County, Anhui Province). He was promoted to Xiaolian for the first time, appointed as the Northern Wei of Luoyang, and moved to Dunqiu Ling. Later, in the war to suppress the Yellow Turban Uprising and conquer Dongzhuo, the military power was gradually expanded. In the third year of Chuping (AD 192), he served as the herdsman of Gunzhou, divided and lured part of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army to surrender, and organized it into the "Qingzhou Soldiers". In the first year of Jian'an (196), the imperial capital Xu (now Xuchang, Henan) was welcomed. From then on, he used his name to issue orders, and successively defeated Lu Bu and other separatist forces. After the Battle of Guandu defeated the Hebei separatist force Yuan Shao, he gradually unified northern China. In the thirteenth year of Jian'an, he became prime minister and led his army southward, but was defeated by the coalition forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei in Chibi. Conferred the title of King of Wei. His son Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor and pursued the title of Emperor Wu. He has profound knowledge in literature, calligraphy and music. There are less than 20 of his poems in existence today, all of which are Yuefu poems, such as "A Walk in the Artemisia", "A Walk in the Bitter Cold", "A Walk out of Xiamen", "During Wine", "Dan Ge Xing", etc. In "Stepping out of Xiamen", there is such a poem: "The autumn wind is bleak, the waves are rising, the sun and the moon are as if they are out of it; the stars are brilliant as if they are out of it." The majestic momentum and majestic style express It shows the poet's broad mind that embraces the universe and swallows the sun and the moon. "Dan Ge Xing" uses poems such as "Mountains never get tired of being high, and waters never get tired of being deep; the Duke of Zhou spits out food, and the world returns to its heart." It expresses the desire to seek talents and recruit talents in the hope of achieving great achievements. His poems are simple and unpretentious, without any decoration, and are distinguished by their deep emotions and majestic charm. The generous and sad characteristics of poetry in this period are most typical in his poetry.
Cao Pi (187-226), courtesy name Ziheng, the second son of Cao Cao, was a leader in Jian'an literary circles. In the 25th year of Jian'an, the Han emperor ascended the throne, namely Emperor Wen of Wei, and he was also a Wei writer. His "Yan Ge Xing" is the earliest extant and artistically complete seven-character poem. There is "Collection of Emperor Wen of Wei". He is a rare scholar and has read extensively ancient and modern classics and biographies, as well as books by various schools of thought. There are about 40 of his poems in existence today, such as "Composed by Furong Pond", "Composed at Xuanwu Pi", "Summer Poems", "Composed by Li Yang", "Yan Ge Xing", "Seeing the Boatman on the Qinghe River on the New Marriage and Farewell to His Wife" ”, “Miscellaneous Poems”, etc. His poetry is characterized by delicate writing, especially some works with themes of missing and abandoned wives, which are generally sad and moving; secondly, the language is fluent, the flavor of folk songs is quite strong, and the style is fresh. His "Yan Ge Xing" is a complete and mature seven-character poem that appeared earlier in the history of Chinese poetry.
Cao Zhi (192-232), named Zijian. The third son born to Cao Cao's wife Bian. He was smart since childhood. When he was about 10 years old, he had recited hundreds of thousands of poems, essays and poems, and won the favor of Cao Cao. Cao Cao believed that Cao Zhi was "the most decisive" among the princes, and wanted to make him the prince several times. However, due to his laissez-faire behavior and repeated violations of the law, Cao Cao later changed his mind and made Cao Pi the prince. After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, Cao Zhi's life underwent fundamental changes. From a noble son who lived a leisurely and enjoyable life, he became the object of restrictions and attacks at every turn. He originally wanted to make a difference in politics, but he never had the chance to realize it.
Cao Zhi's early poems mainly express the noble prince's leisurely life, such as "Cockfight", "Public Banquet", "Liang Fu's Journey to Mount Tai", "Sending the Ying Family", "Famous Capital Pian", "White Horse" Chapter" and so on; later poems mainly express his sadness and indignation under suppression, expressing his unwillingness to be abandoned and his desire to make contributions to the country, such as "The Journey of the Yellow Bird in Noda", "Giving the White Horse to Wang Biao", "Seven Sorrows" Poems", "Miscellaneous Poems", etc. His poems attach great importance to drawing creative nourishment from Han Yuefu folk songs, such as "The oriole flies, flying across the sky" ("Noda Oriole's Journey") and other poems, which are clear, harmonious and fresh. He made a great contribution to the creation of five-character poems, adding lyric elements, organically combining lyricism and narrative, and greatly enriching the artistic functions of five-character poems. He is also good at using traditional pictorial techniques, and can often convey a strong emotion at the beginning of a poem, giving people a strong impression.
Generally speaking, Cao Zhi's literary achievements are higher than those of his father Cao Cao and brother Cao Pi.