Singing while drinking, what is life! Like morning dew, it will be more painful every day. Generosity should be shown as generosity, and worries will be unforgettable. How to relieve worries? Only Du Kang. Qingqing Zijin, my heart is leisurely. But for your sake, I still ponder it. Yo yo deer roar, eat wild apples. I have guests who play the harp and sheng. It's as bright as the moon, when can I shake it off? The sorrow comes from it and cannot be cut off. The more unfamiliar you are, the more you cross the border, the more useless you are. Qi Kuo talks about Yan, thinking about old kindness. The moon and stars are sparse, and magpies fly south. Three twists and turns around the tree, what branch can I rely on? The mountains never get too high, and the sea never gets too deep. The Duke of Zhou vomits food, and the world returns to its heart.
——Cao Cao·"Dan Ge Xing" Part 1
Zhong Rong said in "Preface to Poems": "When they came to Jian'an, Cao Gong and his son were very polite and polite." Jian'an The success of the literary style of the period is inseparable from the hobbies and advocacy of the Cao family and his son. They tried hard to get rid of the influence of Confucian poetics of "conducting husband and wife, cultivating filial piety, respecting human relations, aesthetic education, and changing customs", and consciously gradually downplayed the relationship between poetry, politics and education since the pre-Qin Dynasty. Their poetry creations directly hit reality and expressed their thoughts directly. Their writing style was strong and clear while being sincere and sincere. Their conscious reflection, full affirmation and joint construction of the independent value of poetry became an important milestone in the evolution of Chinese poetry.
There is a scene in the movie "Red Cliff" where Cao Cao was drinking in the wind and reciting poems in front of the battle before the war. What he recited was his famous poem, "Dan Ge Xing" by Ancient Yuefu. one. The details of the movie scenes are borrowed from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". They are full of artistic imagination and exaggeration. They are certainly not completely consistent with historical reality. However, they are a true interpretation of the Cao Cao in my imagination: a man who looks down on the world, is both civil and military, and is always ready to face danger. Chaos, as soon as it comes up, it takes the lead: "Drinking wine and singing, what is life?"
Ancient Yuefu does not pay attention to confrontation, and the two words "dui" and "dang" can be understood as synonymous here. It can also be a transitive verb and a voluntary verb, and you should sing when you are faced with good wine. No matter how you explain it, it is a rare occurrence in life, and you should not let down the good times and beautiful scenery. After all,
"Just like the morning dew, there will be more hardship in the past." Time flies!
At the time of the Battle of Chibi, Cao Mengde was already over fifty, and he inevitably felt that time was running out. Those who abandon me will not be able to stay yesterday, and those who mess up my heart will be troubled today. It is one thing to not be an emperor, but the great cause of unifying the world will eventually be completed. His ambition for a thousand miles was particularly intense during the war and was out of control. "Be generous with generosity, and worry with unforgettable thoughts." "generous" actually means "generous". In order to meet the needs of the sentence structure, Cao Cao expanded the two words into four words. The meaning did not change, and he described his emotions as very exciting. Although worries are "unforgettable", they cannot be indulged in them; only when they are "unforgettable" do they need to be "forgotten". If the outside world is always full of violence and makes people nervous, then borrow a bottle of wine to change your perspective and change your mentality. "How can only Du Kang relieve his worries?" Cao Cao's posture of singing while drinking was so free and easy, optimistic and heroic.
This posture is completely different from Li Taibai. The glass of wine in Li Shixian's hand seemed to have never been put down for a moment. No matter how high the wild passion was, he could never escape the shadow of drinking to drown his sorrows. "If you are proud in life, you must have all the joy, don't let the golden cup empty to the moon." Behind it is that you are not "satisfied", and drinking three hundred cups cannot clear the injustice, dissatisfaction, and resentment in your chest. That is the indulgence of a talented man and the willfulness of a poet. Cao Cao was not only a poet, he was first and foremost an outstanding politician. No matter how dazzled his eyes and ears are, the alcohol cannot blur the rationality of his logical thinking and the inertia of his behavior. It is impossible for him to be as dissolute as Li Bai. Even the ray of "worry" that he wanted to put aside temporarily was not private, the little emotion of his children, but the thoughts about his family, country and the world: "Young Qing Zijin, you are in my heart. But for the sake of you, I have been thinking about it to this day."
"Sinking" means not forgetting someone or something, thinking about it day and night, and mumbling it out involuntarily. It is easy to think of the love between children and heroes but the shortness of breath. In the movie "Red Cliff", the "jun" described by Cao Cao is pointed firmly at the little beauty of the Qiao family, and the plot to capture Xiao Qiao is one of Cao Cao's purposes for seizing Jiangdong. well. It's really sloppy, and it really offends the hero. These lines of poetry were not written by Cao Cao himself. He just recited the ready-made sentences in "The Book of Songs? Zheng Feng? Zijin". "The Biography of Mao's Poems" explains the meaning of the chapter "Zi Jin", saying that this poem is a satire that the world is too chaotic, schools are abandoned, and students do not come to study. "Qing Jin means Qing Ling. It is what the students are convinced of.
"It is Sun Quan and Liu Biao's son Liu Qi who have made Cao Cao ponder so far. Cao Mengde said naggingly, I value you two so much, why don't you come and join me?
Cao Mengde seeks talents. If you are thirsty, what you care about is the talented man, not the beautiful woman. But he was really drunk, and the next paragraph is another sentence from the Book of Songs: "Hey, the deer roars, eating the apples of the wild." I have a guest who plays the drum, harp, and sheng. "Anyway, there was no such thing as copyright at that time. He took whatever ready-made sentences he thought could express his mood and used them. He said that if you are willing to come and join me, I will have a lot of good food, drink, and music for you. . Cao Mengde said that he was not an emperor, and indeed he was not an emperor, but the overlord spirit deep in his heart was deeply rooted, which was fully revealed by Gauguin, because the few lines he quoted were in the opening chapter of "The Book of Songs Xiaoya". In the chapter "Deer Ming", it was used by the king to entertain the ministers.
From Sun Quan and Liu Qi, he thought of Liu Bei again: "It's like the moon, when can I break it?" Worry comes from it and cannot be cut off. "Cao Cao said, you are as tall as the bright moon. I don't know when you can be used by me. The worries I have caused by this cannot be cut off. I always feel that this "worry" that Cao Cao cannot cut off at this time is not complete yet. It’s sadness or worry, but more of what we call depression today——
“It’s useless to cross the border and cross the border. Qi Kuo talks about Yan, thinking about old kindness. "The words "yue" and "du" in the first sentence are two synonymous verbs, both of which mean to pass or pass. Qianmo is the road from east to west, north and south. The words "Wu" and "Yong" in the second sentence are two verbs. The antonyms of "Qi Kuo" and "Tan Yan" are the superposition of two antonyms. The combined meaning of these four sentences is: You made so many twists and turns. He traveled all the way to see me. Even though we are not together now, we have been together before. We should cherish the old friendship. Liu Bei was defeated and came to surrender alone. Cao Cao sent troops to help him fight against Lu Bu and took back two more. Madam, it's not like she didn't help him. Now that the two armies are facing each other, how can Cao Cao not be depressed? >
The next four sentences are, “The moon and stars are sparse, and the black magpie flies south. Three twists and turns around the tree, where is the branch to lean on? "A circle is a circle. It was late at night, and it was time for the magpies to go to bed. Cao Cao took advantage of the scene and gave some pointers to the wise men and talents he had never forgotten: Even good birds know how to choose trees to roost in, don't you? Come back to me, what better place to go? Then follow the trend, and the conclusion of the last four sentences is sonorous and powerful:
“The mountains never get too high, and the sea never gets too deep. The Duke of Zhou vomits food, and the world returns to its heart. ”
The previous couplet is derived from the text of "Guanzi". The original text is called "The sea does not reject water, so it can become as big as it is; the mountain does not reject earth and rocks, so it can become as high as possible; the Lord of Ming does not hate people, so it can become as high as it is." Everyone; scholars are not tired of learning, so they can become saints. "The allusion "The Duke of Zhou spits out food" in the latter couplet refers to the story of the Duke of Zhou assisting his nephew, the Emperor Zhou Cheng, after the death of King Wu of Zhou. In order to recruit talents and achieve great governance in the world, all talented people were When someone comes to see him, even if he is eating, Duke Zhou will spit out the food in his mouth and rush to greet him. He often spits out food three times after one meal. Cao Cao compares himself to Duke Zhou here. The implication is that I am even more courteous to the virtuous and corporal, and sooner or later all the talented people in the world will belong to me!
Cao Cao’s twenty-one poems are all Yuefu poems, including four-character, five-character, and miscellaneous words. Most of them are long poems with more than 16 sentences or more than 20 sentences. "Dan Ge Xing" is originally a couplet. The content of "Bochang of Western Zhou Dynasty" is based on historical events in the late Shang Dynasty and King Wen of Zhou Dynasty. There are two out of three parts of the world, and the royal family of Yin is still respected. This is "the minister's festival is not prosperous"; during the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of Qi "ruled the world without using military chariots"; Duke Wen of Jin "served the king of heaven" and "subdued the princes". They are all traditional examples of devoted efforts to assist the central royal power. Cao Cao tailors their deeds and praises their merits and integrity. This is not only a further explanation of "the Duke of Zhou vomits support, the world returns to its heart", but also a direct confession that he has no intention of usurping the Han Dynasty and becoming self-reliant. The two "Dan Ge Xing", one expressing emotions based on scenery and the other chanting Shi Mingzhi, complement each other and fully demonstrate Cao Cao's literary talent, life ideals and political ambitions.
The wealthy gentry in the late Han Dynasty advocated "Qingyi", so what should they write? They have to use Confucian teachings to exaggerate, and they are always morally kidnapped, and the writing style is hypocritical, pretentious, and exaggerated. Cao Cao once explicitly ordered them to say what they wanted to say directly, and strive to express their feelings directly, concisely and strictly.
Cao Cao was the first to write about current affairs with old Yuefu inscriptions, making full use of the lyricism of poetry to promote his political opinions and strategies, embodying reason and emotions, and using emotions to inspire people. This creative technique was later greatly promoted by poets in the Tang Dynasty. And a truly good poem cannot be separated from true feelings, true meaning, and "momentum". The so-called "true feelings" may not be good or bad, but there is a difference in "momentum". Even when Cao Cao writes about desolation, he always contains a broad mind, a powerful spirit and a broad and strong will. These are the words of a great hero with great talents. The reason why "Songs over Wine" is more widely circulated than "Bochang of Western Zhou Dynasty" and has a greater impact on the poetry of later generations is also due to the statesman's feelings naturally revealed in the poems and the lyrical mood of the poem.
In terms of format, although "Singing Over Wine" is also a neat four-character poem, it is no longer the previous four-character poem. The four-character poems in "The Book of Songs" are basically two sentences per line. The meaning of a single sentence cannot be independent, and there are various repeated, stacked, and paired sentence sequences. In Cao Cao's poem, in addition to borrowing sentences from the Book of Songs and following the poem line structure of the Book of Songs, lines such as "generosity should be generosity and worry unforgettable" and "mountains never get too high, and the sea never gets too deep" every time. The four characters form a complete sentence, each of which is syntactically independent. The two sentences are connected mainly by poetic meaning. There is no dependence on the grammatical structure, and there is no pursuit of overlapping and pairing. This is Cao Cao's drastic transformation of the structure of "The Book of Songs" in form. The second song, "Zhou Xibo Chang" has new changes, adding five-character and six-character sentence patterns, as well as many prose sentence patterns. It can be seen that Cao Cao's poems only seek to express his thoughts and feelings to the fullest, and are not restricted by fixed formats.
Challenging tradition and reinventing the past is something not everyone dares to do, let alone courage alone. That's why Mr. Lu Xun said that Cao Cao was not only an outstanding politician and military strategist, "but also the founder of reforming articles."