We should rehabilitate Cao Cao-from Battle of Red Cliffs to Cao Cao.
Author: Jane Bozan
After reading the newly edited Battle of Red Cliffs, I want to put in a good word for Cao Cao.
It is dangerous to put in a good word for Cao Cao because he is a known traitor.
Before liberation, Lu Xun had put in a good word for Cao Cao. He said: "When we talk about Cao Cao, it is easy to think of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and it is easier to think of the traitor on the stage, but this is not the real way to observe Cao Cao. ..... In fact, Cao Cao is a very capable person, at least a hero. " However, Lu Xun also felt it necessary to make a statement. He said that although he "worships Cao Cao", he "is not a client of Cao Cao".
Recently, Lao Guo also put in a lot of good words for Cao Cao. He said: "Cao Cao's contribution to the nation should be highly praised. He should be called a national hero. " Of course, Lao Guo was "not on Cao Cao's side", but he admired Cao Cao very much. I am also a "non-Cao Cao Party", but I admire Cao Cao very much. In my opinion, Cao Cao is not only a first-rate politician, strategist and poet in the Three Kingdoms, but also an outstanding figure in the feudal ruling class in China.
Cao Cao was a first-rate politician in the Three Kingdoms period, not because he was good at taking advantage of opportunities to promote himself to a prominent political position, but because he always regarded the reunification of China as his political mission. Although he failed to complete the task of unification, he ended the long-term scuffle between aristocratic families since the end of Han Dynasty, relieved the threat of nomadic people in the northwest frontier of China, defended the cities and villages in the Yellow River Plain, restored the feudal order in the north and south of the Yellow River, and paved the way for the later unification of the Western Jin Dynasty. Of course, the unification of the Western Jin Dynasty was mainly due to the social and economic recovery and development of the Yellow River Basin, but Cao Cao's efforts also played a certain role.
To say that he is a first-rate strategist in the Three Kingdoms does not mean that he once wrote hundreds of thousands of words on the art of war and was good at talking on paper, but that he was able to take advantage of the contradictions between the major families at that time and choose the right time to attack his enemies, so that the major families, large and small, fell in front of him one by one.
Cao Cao is not a professional poet, but he is a first-class poet in the Three Kingdoms period, and I think he deserves it. Historical records record that he "climbs high and must be endowed", and his poems "are mainly composed of strings, all of which are movements". From the few poems of Cao Cao that have been preserved now, we can see that his poems are desolate, vigorous and brilliant, even his gifted scholar Cao Zhi is far behind.
Cao Cao is not only a talented poet, but also a poet's best friend. Around him, some famous contemporary poets and writers gathered, including Chen Lin who abused his ancestors. Because of Cao Cao's advocacy, literature flourished during the Jian 'an period of great turmoil.
It is unfair that such an outstanding figure in the history of China has long been regarded as a traitor. We should take off the traitor's hat for Cao Cao and restore his reputation.
In the process of denying Cao Cao, the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms can be said to have achieved the ultimate in literature. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is simply a slanderer of Cao Cao. The author of The Romance of The Three Kingdoms has not read the History of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou and the Notes on the History of the Three Kingdoms by Pei Songzhi, but he has read it carefully. He knew that Cao Cao was not as bad and stupid as he said, but in order to publicize the feudal orthodox view of history, he distorted history and belittled Cao Cao. He not only wrote a farce about the Three Kingdoms, but also made later people regard his farce as the Three Kingdoms. It should be said that the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms played a strong political role in dealing with Cao Cao.
While denying Cao Cao's works, dramatists of past dynasties also fulfilled their responsibilities. In order to express the requirements of the times, the dramatists of past dynasties not only put the viewpoint of Romance of the Three Kingdoms on the stage, but also let the characters speak the words of the Three Kingdoms period, took up the weapons of the Three Kingdoms period to guard their majesty, defeated Cao Cao, who may appear in the contemporary era, for their majesty, and also played their artistic genius in image building. Cao Cao's facial makeup is an outstanding artistic creation. Seeing Cao Cao's face makes people think of walls painted with lime. The dramatist used such an abominable pale color to show Cao Cao's coldness, and then drew a few black lines on his face with an ink pen to show his treachery. Through such facial makeup, dramatists of past dynasties distinguished Cao from ordinary powder figures, indicating that Cao Cao was not only a traitor, but also a super traitor.
People used to regard Cao Cao as a traitor, even a super traitor, because they looked at him with orthodox colored glasses, in which Cao Cao could only be a traitor.
The so-called orthodox view of history is the view of history centered on the emperor. Anyone who is disloyal to the emperor or even impolite may be accused of being a traitor. Besides, Cao swore that he never forgot to covet the throne that he thought was always a "fire". Although he himself said that even if God gave him this world, he would only be, but his son Cao Pi has always been a man. In addition, during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhou Wenwang claimed to be the Prime Minister and Wang Wei, and allowed himself to use the guard of honor second only to the emperor. He was even rude to Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty, and sometimes he simply forgot the meaning of "monarch and minister". All this exposed Cao Cao's "ambitious arrogance", unlike what he said.
No feudal emperor would like such an ambitious man with "disloyalty". As long as Cao Cao is mentioned, the emperor will feel that his crown is in danger of rolling underground. In order to defend his crown, we must mobilize literature and art and destroy Cao in our own time. Writers and playwrights in feudal times also accomplished their tasks well. They awarded the title of hero to the young Zhou Lang at the celebration in Battle of Red Cliffs, and gave Cao Cao, who was not burned to death, to an ideal prophet Zhuge Liang to take care of him.
But now, we have destroyed not only the feudal emperor, but also the feudal society on which the feudal emperor built. We should no longer keep the orthodox view of history centered on the emperor, but should establish a view of history centered on the people. From the standpoint of the people, it doesn't matter whether Cao Cao has "disloyalty", not to mention that Cao Cao is a traitor.
Recently, we are very happy to see that Cao Cao's face has changed a little since the newly edited Battle of Red Cliffs. His pale face is a little red. Although red is very light, the dramatist dares to paint a little red on Cao Cao's face, which shows that Cao Cao still has a glimmer of hope to turn over on the stage.
It should be said that Cao Cao's revision of Facebook is not a trivial matter, but a major event. This matter not only concerns Cao Cao's personal reputation, but also removes the orthodox historical view from the stage. Because the white powder on Cao Cao's face is not only used to express his personal character and quality, but also the brand of feudal orthodoxy laid by dramatists in past dynasties on Cao Cao's face.
I don't think anyone will ask to paint Cao Cao's face the color of a rose, because Cao Cao also has many shortcomings. The biggest drawback is that he wore a yellow scarf. Although he joined the Yellow Scarf Uprising, it was his attempt to use peasant armed forces to achieve his political goals. But Cao Cao was accused of being a traitor, not because he knocked over the yellow turban insurrectionary, but because he "usurped the Han Dynasty". So we overturned his conviction. If Cao Cao wants to make a comeback on the stage, it is not enough to paint his face a little red. Can you be bolder and wipe the white powder off his face? It is clear that as long as there is white powder on Cao Cao's face, as long as white powder is the mark of traitor or bad guy, it is impossible to remove the traitor's hat for Cao Cao and restore his reputation. Of course, wiping off white powder does not mean that Cao Cao's face cannot be painted with other colors. As long as it is not to show that he is a traitor, I think any color can be painted.
The newly edited "Battle of Red Cliffs" not only makes some modifications to Cao Cao's face, but also has a scene of "Poetry on the Cross", which seems to be a close-up of Cao Cao. Judging from the plot of this scene, the author wants to introduce to the audience that Cao Cao is not only the commander-in-chief of hundreds of thousands of armies, but also a talented poet. Of course, it is more important to expose Cao Cao's arrogance after winning Jingzhou without fighting, and prepare reasons for his later failure.
This scene is not only vivid, but also shows Cao Cao's ideological activities at that time, but I think the scene is too serious and the air is too tense, which seems to be not the environment for poetry. For poets in the past, it took a small bridge and an affair to write poetry. Of course, for Cao Cao, at least at that time, his main interest was not bridges and affairs, but the land in the north and south of the river. But it was the stars, the moon and a crow that aroused his interest in poetry.
Of course, no one has attended Cao Cao's poetry meeting. It is very likely that Cao Cao likes to be lively. It is more likely that he was carried away by victory and wrote his poem at a grand banquet. But at least killing people while writing poetry is a very disappointing thing.
There is also a scene of "Jiang Gan stealing books" in this play, which is a profile description of Cao Cao. In this scene, the author doesn't seem to pay attention to restoring the historical authenticity of Jiang Gan. According to historical records, Jiang Gan is the doyen of Zhou Yu's hometown, and he is also "well-dressed, judging by talents, and being alone between Jianghuai is the right way". It is impossible for such a celebrity who "walks alone between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River" to show his panic in front of young fellow villagers, as written in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Jiang Gan was so embarrassed, not for other reasons, but because he shouldn't be a lobbyist for Cao Cao.
On the other hand, the newly edited "Battle of Red Cliffs" has made some good modifications to the stage images of people who stand on the opposite side of Cao Cao, such as Lu Su and Zhuge Liang. For example, Lu Su, who appeared in this play, is no longer a bad guy but the leader of Sun Quan's hawks. Zhuge Liang, who appeared in this play, has some Taoist flavor, but he has taken off the gossip clothes he often wears on stage and is only allowed to wear them once when he sacrifices to the east wind. And the emphasis on the yellow cover and so on. All this brings these historical figures closer to the truth of history and shows how confident they are to meet the enemy.
Judging from the structure of the whole drama, the author did not simply describe Battle of Red Cliffs as a break of the hostile contradiction between Cao Cao and Sun Quan and Liu Bei, but wrote the contradiction between Sun Quan Group and Liu Bei Group through the intrigue between Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, and also wrote the contradiction within Sun Quan Group through the struggle between the welcome faction headed by Zhang Zhao and the hawks headed by Lu Su. Therefore, it can be seen from this drama that there are small contradictions and small contradictions among the big contradictions. No matter big contradiction, small contradiction and small contradiction, there is a climax of development. For example, the contradiction between the welcoming faction and the main war faction within Sun Quan Group reached its climax when Sun Quan drew his sword to solve the case, and the contradiction between Sun Quan and Liu Bei reached its climax when Zhou Yu sent someone to assassinate Zhuge Liang. The contradiction between Sun Quan, Liu Bei and Cao Cao reached its climax by burning Chibi.
The author exposed these contradictions in the development of drama and solved them. However, there is still room for discussion on the handling of contradictions. For example, the contradiction between the welcome faction and the main war faction within Sun Quan Group is manifested in the newly compiled Battle of Red Cliffs, where the military attache gives priority to the war and the civilian gives priority to the decline. It is easy for people to regard the difference between peace and war as a contradiction between civil and military affairs. "Biography of Zhou Yu" records: "When Cao Gong entered Jingzhou, Liu Congju surrendered, and Cao Gong got his navy and hundreds of thousands of infantry. When the soldiers heard about it, they were all scared. After reading the group, I asked for a plan. The discussant said, ... if you refuse today, things will be worse ... if you are stupid, you might as well meet. " The so-called "negotiators" here are not all civil servants, but the "soldiers" they are afraid of are all officers. On the matter of welcoming surrender, Sun Quan only said that "silence means that everyone loves his wife and has private concerns" and advocated welcoming surrender. The "people" mentioned here are not necessarily civil servants. In fact, at that time, except for a few people such as Lu Su, Zhou Yu and Huang Gai, most of Sun Quan's subordinates were stunned by Cao Cao and advocated surrender.
There are contradictions between Sun Quan and Liu Bei, but before Battle of Red Cliffs, the contradiction between them was not sharp. After Battle of Red Cliffs, the contradiction between Sun Quan and Liu Bei intensified, and Battle of Red Cliffs's victory was the fuse. As Battle of Red Cliffs seized Jingzhou, both Sun Quan and Liu Bei wanted to take Jingzhou as their own, and the contradiction intensified. The new Battle of Red Cliffs seems to overemphasize the contradiction between Sun Quan and Liu Bei, so that Zhou Yu will kill Zhuge Liang as soon as the east wind arrives, which will make people feel that Zhuge Liang is more terrible in Zhou Yu's eyes than Cao Cao's hundreds or hundreds of thousands of troops. Zhuge Liang was originally used to suppress Cao Cao, and he should not be allowed to see Cao Cao's commander in chief. And the commander in chief also don't be too impatient. Before the decisive battle with Cao Cao, he tried to kill Cao Cao's most terrible enemy, the representative of his allies. Fortunately, Zhuge Liang knows divination. He ran away as soon as the east wind arrived. Otherwise, how can the fighting continue?
As for the contradiction between Cao Cao and Sun Quan and Liu Bei, it is the main contradiction of Battle of Red Cliffs. In order to belittle Cao Cao, previous dramatists always described Cao Cao as a very stupid person, as if he was sitting in a boat with a large number of troops, waiting to be burned and beaten. According to historical records, Cao Cao was alert and had the right to count. By the time he arrived in Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao was already a time-tested figure in political and military activities. He is not stupid enough to lose the minimum vigilance against the enemy. In fact, for Cao Cao, war is his poem, and he will not lose his rhythm in the sound of the horn crossing the river.
According to historical records, the fire attack that Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang and Huang Gai could think of was not unexpected to Cao Cao. Wei Zhi and the Biography of Cao Cao quoted Cao Cao's words in The Story of Yang Shan's Son, saying, "Liu Bei and Wu are a little anxious, but he has to plan late and set fire to it early, so I am nothing. Look for it, set a fire, and it will be beyond the reach. " In the annotation of Biography of Wu Yu, Cao Cao wrote a letter to Sun Quan after Battle of Red Cliffs, in which he said, "Battle of Red Cliffs, who is ill, burned his boat and left alone, making Zhou Yu vain." These records may be that later generations defended Cao Cao, or that Cao Cao defended himself afterwards, but it cannot be said that Cao Cao did not think of the danger of fire attack at all. If it doesn't interfere with the spirit of the whole drama, can the newly edited Battle of Red Cliffs improve Cao Cao's vigilance?
The newly edited Battle of Red Cliffs raised the question of Cao Cao, which also brought many characters in the Three Kingdoms closer to the historical truth, and put these characters in various contradictions and struggles, showing the complexity of Battle of Red Cliffs. These are all successful places. However, if the task of historical drama is to endow these historical figures and events with new political significance, and let Battle of Red Cliffs, a historical event, better serve our own times, then it is better to hint at the nature of this war and its historical consequences.
We know that people are always happy to see every failure of Cao Cao, and the information provided by Cao Cao is really too little. Battle of Red Cliffs Cao Cao lost. Therefore, when performing Battle of Red Cliffs, people always cheer for the victory of Sun Quan and Liu Bei. This psychology is mainly a reflection of Cao Cao's hatred. In fact, in essence, Sun Quan, Liu Bei and Cao Cao are no different. They are also the leaders of the landlord class armed groups. Battle of Red Cliffs is a war between the three armed groups of the landlord class for hegemony. Whoever wins is the victory of the landlord class. However, the formation of Battle of Red Cliffs and the tripartite confrontation among the three countries were a decisive war, and only this was crucial to the fate of the people at that time. People don't like organizations. If Cao Cao wins in Battle of Red Cliffs, the result may be the reunification of China. But this war ended in Cao Cao's failure.