On Cao Cao's Walking Out of the Summer Gate

Viewing the Sea is the second of a series of poems by Cao Cao, which borrows the old name "Walking out of Xiamen" from Yuefu poems. Cao Cao likes to use the old Yuefu topic to express his political ambitions, but it can make the old Yuefu topic thoroughly remould itself and look brand-new. Walking out of Xiamen Line is an old topic in Yuefu, also called Longxi Line. Xiamen is the gate of Luoyang. Walking out of Xiamen is a set of poems written by Cao Cao when he was marching north to Wu Huan in the twelfth year of Jian 'an. The whole poem either describes the local scenery around Heshuo or expresses Cao Cao's ambition, which embodies his heroic spirit of lofty aspirations and omnipotent. Therefore, "Out of Xiamen" is a representative work of Cao Cao, even a typical "Jian 'an style" work. "Step out of Xiamen" was written by Cao Cao in the army, but it was ambitious and vigorous. At the beginning of Yan, a group poem with quite a prelude, Cao Cao expressed his lofty sentiments of being in the stone and caring for the world, which set the tone of generosity and agitation for the whole poem. Generally speaking, the keynote of this group of poems is impassioned, magnificent and tragic. Yuefu poems in Han Dynasty are generally untitled, and Cao Cao's poems are no exception. The title of his poem was added by later generations. The group poem "Out of Xiamen" is divided into five poems, beginning with the overture "Yan", followed by four chapters: watching the sea, winter in October, he, and returning to life.