Cao Cao's poems are completely different from Tang poems, both of which are Yuefu poems. The following is a brief description of the two and their differences:
Yuefu was first established in the Qin Dynasty, and it was an institution under the jurisdiction of Shaofu at that time to manage the teaching and learning of music and dance aria. In the early Han Dynasty, Yuefu did not exist. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty arrived and rebuilt Yuefu when he held a ceremony in the suburbs. Its duty is to collect folk songs of the Han nationality or poems of literati for music, and to prepare for the court's performance at sacrifices or banquets. The poems it collected were later called "Yuefu Poetry" or "Yuefu Poetry" for short. It is a new poetic style after The Book of Songs and Songs of the South. Later, those who were unhappy were also called Yuefu or Quasi-Yuefu. The biggest and most basic artistic feature of Han Yuefu is narration, which expresses the characters' character through their language and actions. The language is simple, natural and full of emotion. Yuefu poetry belongs to ancient poetry, with free meter and antithesis, flat tone, broad rhyme and unlimited length. There are four words, five words, six words, seven words and miscellaneous words in sentences.
The forms and styles of Tang poetry are rich and colorful, following the Han and Wei folk songs and Yuefu traditions and developing the singing style; Inherited the five-character and seven-character ancient poems of the previous generation, it developed into a long and huge system of narrative romance, creating a particularly beautiful and neat modern poem. Modern poetry, also known as modern poetry or metrical poetry, is China's poetic style, which pays attention to levelness, antithesis and Ye Yun. In order to distinguish it from classical poetry, it has the name of modern style. Refers to the metrical poem style formed in the Tang Dynasty. Modern poetry has strict restrictions on the number, number of words, fluency and rhyme of sentences. Modern poetry was a new style of poetry at that time, and its emergence and maturity was an important event in the history of Tang poetry development. It pushed the artistic features of China's ancient poems with harmonious syllables and refined words to an unprecedented height, and found a typical form for ancient lyric poetry, which has been especially loved by people so far.
The difference between Han Yuefu and modern poetry lies in flexible and free sentence patterns, wide use of metaphors, various forms and lively language. Quatrains and metrical poems pay attention to strict meter, level tone and rhyme, concise language and artistic conception.
Here, let's focus on Cao Cao's poems and their source preservation:
Cao Cao's poems are good at expressing his political ambitions, reflecting the tragic life of the people in the late Han Dynasty, magnificent, generous and sad; Prose is also neat, which opens and prospers Jian 'an literature and leaves precious spiritual wealth to future generations. Historically, it was called Jian 'an Style, and Lu Xun rated it as "the founder of reforming articles". At the same time, Cao Cao is good at calligraphy, especially at carving grass. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Huaiguan named it a "wonderful flower" at the end of Shu.
Cao Cao has profound cultivation in literature, calligraphy and music. His literary achievements are mainly reflected in today's poems and essays.
There are more than 20 poems by Cao Cao, all of which are Yuefu poems, as mentioned above. The content can be roughly divided into three categories. One is related to current affairs, the other is mainly to express ideals, and the other is poetry about immortals.
His works related to current affairs include Lu Luxing, Good Li Xing, Bitter Cold Travel, Walking Out of Xiamen, etc. Two songs, Autumn Journey and Good, were written in the early years of Jian 'an. The foregoing reflects that He Jinmou murdered eunuchs, and Dong Zhuo went to Luoyang for insurrection. The second article is about the states and counties in Kanto, each with its own ambitions, fighting with each other, and keeping pace with each other in content. Poetry describes this historical process in concise language, so it is called "A Record of the Late Han Dynasty, an authentic work of poetry history" (Zhong Xing's Ancient Poems Return). What is particularly commendable is that in the poem "A Journey to Luxury", he wrote the profound sufferings of the broad masses of the people in the war in a sympathetic tone: "When a cockroach is born, everyone dies, and the bones are exposed in the wild, and there are no crows in a thousand miles. There are hundreds of people left behind, which makes people feel sad. " A Journey to Bitter Cold was written in the 11th year of Jian 'an. The poem describes the coldness, desolation and precipitousness of Taihang Mountain in winter, with vivid images, and also writes the poet's inner complex feelings. "Out of Xiamen" was written in the twelfth year of Jian 'an, and the five rings levied three counties. This poem includes "Yan" (prelude) and four explanations. Yan concentrated on the poet's complex mood when he went to war. Explain "Watching the Sea" and write the impressions when marching through Jieshi; Second, explain Winter in October. Third, write about what you saw and heard on your way home. Fourth, explain "although the tortoise lives long" and write about the ideological activities after winning this important battle. Among them, "Looking at the Sea" describes the seascape, "The autumn wind is bleak, the waves are rough, and the trip between the sun and the moon is unexpected; If the stars are brilliant, unexpected and magnificent, it embodies the poet's broad mind of embracing the universe and devouring the sun and the moon. "Although a turtle lives for a long time" expresses the poet's view on life and career with a series of vivid metaphors: "An old man riding on a horse, aiming at a thousand miles, a martyr died with great courage". This is the true confession of the poet's active and enterprising spirit all his life.
The poems that mainly express ideals are Du Guan Shan, Duijiu, and Short Song. The first two articles are about political ideals. His vision of peace and prosperity is the politics of virtuous monarch and good minister, which combines Confucianism and law with kindness and prestige. This is undoubtedly of progressive significance under the realistic background of social destruction in the late Han Dynasty. The theme of "Short Song" is to be thirsty for talents. With poems such as "the mountain is not too high, the sea is not too deep, the duke of Zhou vomits food, and the world returns to the heart", he expressed his desire to seek talents and recruit talents to achieve his great cause.
In artistic style, Cao Cao's poems are unpretentious and unpretentious. They won with deep affection and charm. Poetically, it is characterized by generosity and sadness. Generosity and sadness, originally the keynote of Jian 'an literature, are the most typical and prominent in Cao Cao's poems. In terms of poetic genre, Cao Cao's Yuefu poems did not copy the rules of Han Yuefu, but developed. For example, Lu Luxing and Good Li Xing are both elegies in the Han Yuefu, but he used old topics to express brand-new contents. Cao Cao initiated the tradition of writing current affairs with Yuefu, which had far-reaching influence. A large number of Yuefu poems created by Jian 'an writers and many poets from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty can be said to be the inheritance and development of this tradition.
The image of Cao Cao created by Bao Guoan
Cao Cao's achievements in literature are also reflected in his constructive role in Jian 'an literature (see Seven Children of Jian 'an). Jian 'an literature can flourish under the background of long-term war and broken society, which is inseparable from his attention and promotion. When discussing the reasons for the prosperity of Jian 'an literature, Liu Xie once pointed out that "respecting the monarch and loving poetry and elegance" (the literary mind carves dragons). In fact, the main writers in Jian 'an period were closely related to him. Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are his sons, and the "seven sons" and Cai Yan are also sheltered by him. It can be said that "Ye Group" was formed on the basis of the material conditions he provided; And their creation is also under the influence of his advocacy.
In addition, Cao Cao has many other articles handed down from generation to generation, such as Please Increase Guo Jia's knighthood list, Let the county magistrate know his own story, Repair the Book and the King, Wenxuan Commemorating Qiu's Old Bridge, etc. Simple words, vivid feelings, fluency and frankness.
According to the textual research of Yao Zhenzong's Records of the Three Kingdoms of Qing Dynasty, Cao Cao's works include 30 volumes of Wei Wudi Collection, Sun Tzu's Art of War 1 Volume, 13 Volume and so on. There are more than ten kinds of works, but most of them have been lost, only the Note to Sun Tzu is left. 145 poems collected by Zhang Yan in Ming Dynasty were included in Wei Wudi Collection and 103 in Records of Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. Ding's Collection of Celebrities in the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties also includes Wei Wudi's Collection, which has slightly more works than Zhang Pu's Collection. 1959, according to Ding Ben, Zhonghua Book Company added Annotation to Sun Tzu, and attached the Ji of Emperor Wu and Chronology of Cao Cao. , and reprinted as "Cao Cao Ji".