Cao Zhi is a tragic figure. His tragic experience is closely related to his struggle with Cao Pi for the crown prince. When he was young, he was favored by Cao Cao because of his quick thinking. He was once made a prince, but because of his indulgence and lack of maturity and sophistication of politicians, he finally failed in the infighting with Cao Pi. Because of this experience, after Cao Cao died, life was very difficult. Cao Pi became a vassal after he succeeded to the throne, but Cao Pi was suspicious of him and changed his fief several times. In addition, Cao Pi's subordinates slandered him in many ways, and he was severely persecuted. He is called the Marquis, but he can't move freely. He is always accused of walking with prisoners. After Wei Mingdi ascended the throne, he hoped to change his position, wrote many times, tried to get the appointment, but he still couldn't get the trust, and finally died of depression. He died at the age of 4 1.
Cao Zhi has more than 80 poems and 40 poems and essays. Judging from his creative experience, Cao Pi ascended the throne in twenty-five years after Jian 'an, which can be roughly divided into two periods. Cao Zhi, who was favored by Cao Cao in the early stage, looks very satisfied, optimistic, confident and romantic. "White Horse" can be said to be the representative of previous works, and the chivalrous teenager who generously went to the national disaster in the poem is actually the author's self-expression. Other works, such as Zhi Pian, are also full of heroism and young people's confidence and conceit. Later, due to the suspicion and persecution of Cao Pi and his son, they endured humiliation and survived, and their mood was extremely sad and depressed, and their content and style changed greatly. The heroic self-confidence and high-spirited optimism in the works are gone, replaced by deep indignation and sadness. The works focus on the disappointment of personal destiny and future, resentment of Cao Pi Group, sorrow of wasting one's life in mediocrity and yearning for free life.
Prince Charming Wang Biao is the masterpiece of his later works.
The value of Cao Zhi's poems, besides the rich content, has the greatest influence on later generations. His poems achieved the perfect combination of vitality and Cai Dan, so Zhong Rong said that he was "full of vitality, lyrical and elegant, and his body was covered with literary temperament". The creative value of his poems is mainly manifested in the following aspects.
First of all, his poetry is lyrical and his personality is more distinct. As far as poetry genre is concerned, there are many Yuefu poems in Cao Zhi's poems, but he uses.
Yuefu genre is not a simple imitation, but more personal feelings are injected into the poetry, which makes Yuefu poetry change from narrative to lyric. So Mr. Yao Yao said, "There are more lyrical elements in his poems, and he has a distinctive personality, so he is unique." . For example, his "beautiful woman" is an imitation of Han Yuefu's "Shang Mo Sang". Han Yuefu tells the story of Caisang girl's clever refusal to flirt with the satrap, which is mainly narrative. The beauty story mainly shows the anguish of unmarried beauty in the prime of life. He used this kind of beauty's anguish to express his feelings about his talent, thus injecting poetic feelings and having the poet's own personality. In this regard, he is better than Cao Pi's simple imitation of folk songs, because Cao Pi's poems always seem to tell others about his grief and can't see his own personality.
Secondly, his poems are more exquisite in structure, especially in the beginning. Most Yuefu poems in the Han Dynasty take Qi as the theme, which comes naturally and has no intention of being unique. Cao Zhi's poems pay more attention to the arrangement of structure. He often begins with a description of the scenery with strong subjective feelings, exaggerating the atmosphere and covering the whole article. For example, in To Xu Gan, he said, "When the wind blows in the daytime, I suddenly return to the Western Hills. The scenery is not full and there are countless stars. " Write about the passing speed of time when the day goes west and the stars and the moon suddenly arrive; "Noda Yellowbird Tour": "There are many trees that hate Taiwan, and the sea constitutes its waves." Accompanied by violent scenes, it implies the author's uneven mood and sinister situation, and so on. Therefore, Shen Deqian said that he was "extremely skilled in intonation" ("On Poetry").
Thirdly, he pays more attention to the artistic skills of poetry, especially in duality and tempering words. There are many antithetical sentences in Cao Zhi's poems, which is the beginning of the trend of parallel prose in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Cao Zhi is a poet who applies this technique to poetry creation. For example, "Qiu Lan was occupied by Nagano, and Zhu Hua occupied the pool." (Public Banquet), Glory in Peace (Five Tours), and some other refined sentences, such as the breeze blowing in the pavilion (for rockett), the bright moon and the clear shadow (public banquet) and the excitement of a long stream (public banquet). This set a precedent for later literati poems in the Southern and Northern Dynasties to pay attention to rhetorical skills.
Fourthly, there are many descriptions of natural scenery in his poems, which also changed the face of Yuefu poems. It has a great influence on later literati.
The above points are the artistic characteristics of Cao Zhi's poems, and they are also his most creative places.