Question 12. What is the boundary between the two periods of Cao Zhi's poetry creation, and what are the differences in content? What are the representative works?

Cao Zhi's poetry creation can be divided into two periods: before and after Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor (AD 220). Due to the change of living environment, the content of his works has been significantly different.

In the early stage, Cao Zhi started his business with his father and explored the East and the West. Influenced by Cao Cao and inspired by the times, his poems express his ambition to make contributions. The creation of this period is represented by White Horse.

Cao Zhi's later works are full of anger because of the unfulfilled ambition, and often express the repressed sense of injustice in the form of sustenance. The poems of this period are represented by Wang Biao's White Horse, Beauty and Miscellaneous Poems.