Cao Zhi (192—232), Zi Zijian, the younger brother of Cao Pi. He was the most famous writer in Jian 'an period, and Poetry was called "the outstanding writer in Jian 'an". At present, there are also the most works handed down, with more than 8 poems, and more than 4 complete and incomplete poems and essays. Judging from these works, their achievements are indeed above those of ordinary writers in Jian 'an period.
Cao Zhi's life is marked by Cao Pi's claim to be emperor, which is obviously divided into two periods. In the early stage, he won the appreciation and favor of Cao Cao with his talent, and was almost made a prince, which made him satisfied. In the later period, Cao Pi and his son became emperors. Due to the experience of fighting for the crown prince in the early period, they were deeply suspicious of him and oppressed and persecuted him. Although he still lost his status as a prince, he was "depressed and frustrated" and finally died in anger and anguish. This kind of life experience has a profound influence on his creation.
Cao Zhi lived a noble son's life in a relatively stable environment in his early days, but he was quite ambitious in fame and career. What he enthusiastically pursued in his life was "to devote himself to the country, to benefit the people, to build an eternal career, and to make the best of the stone" (Book with Yang Dezu). When Cao Cao established a three-point situation in the world, his political ambition was to destroy the "disobedient Shu" in the west, the "disobedient Wu" in the east, and "mix with the space, resulting in harmony" ("Seeking Self-Test Table"). One of the main contents of his poems is to express this ambition. "Qiu Lu pian" said: "I am willing to show my diligence and lose my strength to Mingjun. With this Wang Zuocai, he is generous and unique. " In "Fake Dan Pian", the poet compares himself to a swan, and compares the villain who is snobbish but seeks "to a fake Dan who doesn't know the rivers and seas" and a sparrow who swims with a swan. All these show his pursuit of ideals and outstanding personality. However, due to the different life circumstances of the poet in the early and late period, the works that express this content also have significant differences in mood and style. In the early stage, "White Horse Piece" was the representative, which shaped the image of a patriotic brave man with high martial arts, eager to make meritorious service to the country and even willing to sacrifice heroically, and was full of heroic optimism: "Feathers came from the north, and horses climbed the embankment. Long drive to the Huns, Zuo Gu Ling Xianbei. ..... died in the national disaster and died suddenly. " In the later period, Zashi, as the representative, showed more anger and injustice that ambition could not be displayed. For example, the fifth part of Miscellaneous Poems:
My servant drives hard early, and we will travel far away. What do you want to travel far away? Wu avenged me. Will Wan Li be the best way, and the East Road will be safe? There are many rivers and rivers in hentai, and the rivers and rivers are rushing. I wish for a light economy, but I don't have an ark! Living in seclusion is not my ambition, and I am willing to worry about my country.
Cao Zhi was persecuted and suppressed in his later period. "Shi Shuo Xin Yu" contains a story that Cao Pi once ordered him to be a poem in seven steps, and if he failed, he would practice Dafa. He wrote a poem: "Boiled beans are used as a soup, fermented beans are used as juice, soaked in the kettle, and beans cry in the kettle. They are born from the same root, so why bother to fry each other?" This legend can tell a lot about his situation at that time. His later poems mainly show this situation and mood.
Wang Biao for a White Horse, written in Huang Chu for four years, is an important work of the poet in his later period. At that time, the poet, Cao Biao, the white horse king, and Cao Zhang, the king of Rencheng, all went to the imperial court, and Rencheng king died inexplicably after arriving in Beijing. When the poet and the white horse king returned to the fief, they were blocked by the company and could not go with them, so the poet wrote this poem as a gift. The whole poem is divided into seven chapters, showing rich and complicated feelings. In the poem, for example, "the owl honks the yoke, the wolf is on the road, the flies are white and black, and the relatives and friends are clever", denouncing the company that forced them to branch; "How to read the same life, and never return. The lonely soul flies to the old domain, and the coffin is sent to the capital, which shows the deep mourning for the sudden death of Ren Chengwang. "The change is in the future, but who can hold it for a hundred years" also reveals the poet's nervous mood in a precarious situation. Although this poem only expresses the poet's subjective feelings, it objectively reveals the cruelty of the ruling class, which is of profound ideological significance. The lyrical artistic level of this poem is also very high. The poet expresses his complex feelings step by step in the form of a reel linked by chapters, which is very hierarchical. In addition, although the poet's feelings are very sad and angry, they are not directly poured out, but often written through narration, scenery writing, or mourning and encouragement, which makes the feelings calm and rich.
in addition, his "Xu Jie pian" vividly describes his life situation and painful mood of "three disciples in eleven years" with the metaphor of turning to a tent. On the other hand, The Oriole of Noda shows his anger and resistance to persecution:
There are many trees in hentai, but the sea is full of waves. If you don't have a sword in your hand, why make more friends? You didn't see the poor oriole on the fence, and ran into the net to avoid the fierce harrier. Luo Jia is happy with birds, and teenagers are sad with birds; Draw a sword and take the net, and the yellowbird will fly; Ringing wing flies to the high altitude, rescued Eurasian Siskin to express gratitude to the juvenile.
The poet used the Luo family as a metaphor for the persecutor and the sparrow as a metaphor for the victim, and created the image of a chivalrous teenager who rescued the victims, which embodies the author's ideals and rebellious feelings. When Cao Pi ascended the throne, he actively removed Cao Zhi's wings and killed his good friends Ding Yi and Ding Yi, which shows that such poems have a realistic background.
Cao Zhi's early poems mainly expressed his ambition, but rarely reflected the social reality. Only the first poem "Seeing off a friend" was associated with the ruin of Luoyang where his friend lived. Later, due to the misfortune of my own life, I gradually realized the suffering of some lower-class people, and then I wrote individual poems reflecting the suffering of the people. For example, Liang Fu Xing on Mount Tai gives us a picture of the poor life of the people in the coastal areas at that time:
Different people in all directions have different atmospheres and thousands of miles of storms. The drama is for the people on the border, and they are sent to the grass. A wife is like an animal, and her behavior is blocked by the forest. When Chai Men is depressed, foxes and rabbits are flying in my room.
The second poem of Miscellaneous Poems shows sympathy for the "guests" who joined the army.
Cao Zhi also wrote many love poems, such as "Seven Sorrow" and "Beautiful Women". These poems are obviously different from those expressing ambition, and their feelings are sad and touching, which are very similar to the lyric poems in ancient poems at the end of Han Dynasty. "Seven Sorrow" is an emotional appeal, especially "Nineteen Ancient Poems". Some of these poems may have entrusted the poet's feelings of incompatibility between monarch and minister and his lack of talent.
The Book of Poetry says that Cao Zhi's poems are "extremely high in spirit, and his words are taken from Hua Mao", which can well summarize the artistic style of Cao Zhi's poems. Cao Zhi devoted his whole life to fame and pursuit of ideals. After encountering setbacks, his ambition remained unchanged, and he became more angry. Therefore, his poems were full of pursuit and resistance, full of momentum and strength, which formed a side of "extremely high backbone".
among Jian' an poets, Cao Zhiyao is the most artistic expression. Although his poems were born out of Han Yuefu, they also absorbed the achievements of ancient poems by literati at the end of Han Dynasty and tried to create and develop them artistically. Jian 'an poetry came out of Yuefu and gradually became a literati, but it had obvious features of literati poetry in Cao Zhi's hands. For example, The Beauty Piece imitates Mo Shang Sang, a Chinese Yuefu, but its meticulous description and gorgeous rhetoric are quite different from Mo Shang Sang, which shows this tendency. Cao Zhi's efforts resulted in his side of "adopting Hua Mao's ci". His poems make good use of metaphors, not only many but also appropriate, and often compare them with the whole article, such as saving the victims with the metaphor of a teenager, living as a vagrant with a floating canopy, and having a woman who has no return to her talent. His poems also pay attention to duality, refinement and melody. Such as: "the bright moon clarifies the scenery, and the rows are uneven. Qiu Lan Wavelength Sakamoto, Zhu Hua Maolvchi. The diving fish jumps in the clear waves, and the birds sing high, which is a triple dual, especially the last two. The word "Bei" and "Mao" show the author's ingenuity in choosing words. Some of his poems have been in harmony with the level of metrical poems and are full of musicality. In addition, Cao Zhi's poems are also good at intonation, and are good for epigrams, such as "There are many hentai trees, and the sea raises its waves" and "The wind blows in the daytime, and the scenery flows westward", which all add color to the whole poem, either at the beginning or in the article. Cao Zhi's achievements in this respect have improved the artistry of poetry, but also opened the atmosphere of carving words.
Cao Zhi's ci-fu is also a lyric poem. Luo Shen Fu is a famous work in his Fu. This poem was influenced by Goddess Fu. It casts a mythical theme and describes the tragedy of a man's love with God through the dreamland. In the Fu, a great deal of space is used to describe the appearance, posture and costume of Fu Fei, the goddess of Luo, and then the poet's love and the emotion of Luo are written: "So Luo was inspired by nothing, and he was wandering around, and the gods and lights were on and off, and at first glance it was cloudy and sunny. Light body to stand out, if you will fly but not fly. The practice of pepper coating is fierce, and the steps are thin and fragrant. It' s long to admire forever, and the sound is sorrowful and long. " Through the description of these movements, Luo Shen's affectionate character is also portrayed very prominently. Finally, I wrote that because of "the way of man and god is different", Luo Shen gave it away with hatred, and he was frustrated with the poet and had a strong tragic atmosphere. This fu is rich in imagination, exquisite in description, beautiful in words, lyrical and mythical, and has great artistic charm.
In Cao Zhi's articles, A Letter to Wu Ji and a Letter to Yang Dezu are two famous prose books. The latter one expresses his arms directly, ridiculing people when playing, and his writing is sharp and concise, which can also show his high self-esteem character. In addition, his "Seeking Self-Test Table" and "Seeking Communication and Kissing Table" are two articles with extremely heavy elements. However, they all have certain contents, and in form, dual parallel sentences are often three, four, five and six words alternately, and they do not exclude scattered sentences, so they are patchy, neat and not weak, which is very different from many formalistic parallel prose later. Especially in the previous article, the poet's eagerness to use the world is permeated between the lines.
Jian 'an literature occupies an important position in the history of Chinese literature. It is rare for a period of literature to form a tradition and be accepted. When Zhong Rong opposed the formalistic poetic style after Jin Dynasty, he once lamented that "Jian 'an's wind was exhausted"! Chen Ziang, a poet in the early Tang Dynasty, also held high the banner of "the character of Han and Wei Dynasties" when carrying out poetry innovation, which shows that the tradition of "Jian 'an Character" has a far-reaching influence on later literature.