Zhu Dongrun's Selected Works of China Literature in Past Dynasties tells the social reality that Cao Pi's works rarely encounter social unrest, but I think this one is an exception.
The title of Yuefu poetry is named after the place name, which shows the local characteristics of Yuefu, so the poem Ge Yanxing naturally reflects the local characteristics of Yan State. Yan's territory is roughly today's Beijing, Tianjin, Northeast China and the Korean Peninsula. It is the place where the Han nationality borders the northern minorities. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the situation was turbulent, and Yan Di was inevitably traumatized by the war. The famous battle of Cao Cao's northern expedition to Wuhuan in the twelfth year of Jian 'an took place here. Cao Pi, who was only five years old, witnessed Dong Zhuo's rebellion and the change of the yellow turban. "People are skinny when they die." Such a chaotic era forced Cao Pi to "shoot arrows at the age of six, ride and shoot at the age of eight and take off at the age of ten." And often follow Cao Cao's expedition to the north, so I have to say that this poem is also a profound reflection of the times. Therefore, Guo Maoqian said: "Wei Wendi's two songs" Autumn Wind "and" Another Day "have been changed successively, and they have not returned to work. What do women have to complain about?" (Poems of Yuefu are quoted from Yuefu Solving Problems) It is pointed out that this poem is about women's yearning for the expeditionary force, which sets off the sufferings of the expedition and expresses their concern and sympathy for the sufferings of the lower class to some extent.
In fact, the first thing that attracted me about this poem was his temperament. There are no ancient words in Ge Yanxing, and this song probably started from Cao Pi. Wang Fuzhi praised him for "feeling, color and sound, and there is no difference between ancient and modern times." This sad poem, which imitates the rhyme of Bailiang style, makes Cao Pi's poetic style different from Cao Cao's impassioned passion and Cao Zhi's ambition to serve the country or his later indulgence, but sentimental and long. This style may not only be a unique way among many styles in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, but also a wise self-protection in the fierce political struggle.
"Autumn has been sad and lonely since ancient times", and the author takes the bleak and lonely autumn as the background, combining the traditional Qiu Si implication with the image of a homesick woman, creating a kind of "desire to stop, lust naturally flows, and lust seeks each other" (Chen Ruoming). And the last sentence, "How can I limit the river beam?" , sublimated the meaning of the whole poem, full of romanticism, and brought the protagonist's emotional experience to the extreme.
After this poem, I am talking about the image of Cao Pi.
The record of Shi Shuo Xin Yu and the description of many literary works in later generations make Cao Pi always exist in people's minds as a dissolute, despicable, power-grabbing, sinister and vicious image. What I want to say is that we should abandon this prejudice.
Let's start with Shi Shuo Xin Yu. Shi Shuo Xin Yu has made great achievements in literature, but its general definition is "novels of people in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties". The first person to annotate this book silently criticized: "Shi Yu Shuo loves strangeness but doesn't know it", but Shi Shuo Xin Yu has only been published for 50 years. Liu xiaobiao's annotations handed down from ancient times have also questioned the fiction of Shi Shuo many times and made a big fuss about it. Since Sui Shu, Shi Shuo Xin Yu has been listed as a novel department in almost all previous dynasties. We can't deny the historical value of Shi Shuo Xin Yu, but we should realize that its historical value is limited, and many examples are isolated, which can only be regarded as unofficial history at most. Mr. Lu Xun once regarded the novels Shi Shuo Xin Yu and You Ming Road as the same genre.
Specifically, there are ten stories in Shi Shuo Xin Yu involving Cao Pi. But there are many fictional elements in romance, which are worthy of scrutiny.
Not to mention the authenticity of the seven-step poem is still in dispute, but the purpose of Cao Cao's attack on Yecheng is to get Zhen Fei, which makes people feel incredible. It is not credible that Cao Cao's concubine was possessed by Cao Pi after his death, because Cao Pi was still in Yecheng when Cao Cao died in Luoyang, and he didn't know Cao Cao's death at first. As for Xelloss poisoning Ren with dates, Mr. Ye Jiaying once pointed out that in the fourth lunar month, the kings came to the court. At this time, the dates are not ripe, so Cao Zhang cannot be poisoned with dates. There are also some historical records that Cao Zhang died of anger and fear. (Author of Wei and Jin demeanor, Wu Ren. "When Zhang Wen printed, there will be different ambitions, so I failed to see him. I am too scared and too violent. " )
There is no denying that Cao Pi has his stain. Killing Zhen Ji, framing Cao Hong and satirizing the ban are unavoidable problems, but we should also see that Xelloss is not as heartless as we thought. The relationship between Cao Zhi and Cao Pi is not always so incompatible. In the 16th year of Jian 'an, Cao Zhi wrote "Li Si Fu" when he went out with the army to express his thoughts on his elder brother, and Cao Pi, who stayed in Yecheng, also wrote "Gan Li Fu" accordingly. Even after Cao Pi was made a prince, Cao Zhi praised Cao Pi for being "a clever and careless son." (Sitting with the Prince). In addition, Cao Pi also wrote a mourning book "My Brother's Thunder" for Cao Chong who died young, considered a suitable marriage for his sister, and took good care of his younger brother Cao Gan whose young parents died.
On the other hand, Cao Pi is also a sensitive scholar. When I was a teenager, I was full of the pleasure of "making me a good horse and being treated lightly by me" ("good deeds"). He enjoys the leisure of "clear spring floating melon, cold water sinking into Zhu Li" ("Singing the Book of Military Knowledge"), and the cruelty of war has triggered his leisure. Martial arts, fighting with Deng Zhan with sugarcane as a sword, hitting his shoulder; He loves food and talks about the fun of tasting grapes in his letter to the doctor.
From the standpoint of literature, it is even more necessary to "revenge" for Cao Pi. In history, people's evaluation of his literature has also been influenced by the mentality of "praising Liu and restraining Cao" or "praising factory and restraining Pi" or the historical fact that he really abdicated and seized power. Therefore, I think Liu Xie's evaluation, "Wendy respects talents and benefits from the situation" ("Cai lue") is more objective. Cao Zhi is witty about literary talent, while Cao Pi is too careful about writing a detailed composition, but writing an article is not a race, so why take time as the final conclusion? I'm not saying that Cao Pi's literary level is higher than Cao Zhi's, but that it's unreasonable for him to "plant thousands of miles". In addition, regarding Cao Pi's literary status, Wang Fuzhi once praised "Huan Zi's genius is flourishing, how can Zi Jian overshadow it?" Some scholars even suggested that Cao Pi was the actual leader of Ye's people during the Jian 'an period, especially after Cao Cao established the official position of "a corps commander with five senses". He played a key role in the spiritual structure of Jian 'an literature (Hu's "Medieval Literature Group" and Pan Xiaolong's "Love under the Leaves"), and the resulting "Jian 'an Style" had a far-reaching impact on later literature. Ge Yanxing by Cao Pi is the earliest and most mature seven-character poem of China literati, and Dian Lun by Cao Pi is the earliest monograph of literary theory criticism in China, which also expresses the author's political ideal and career pursuit. He wrote the immortal poem Artemisia on the Wall, which became the originator of countless Long song in later generations.
Wang Fuzhi's comment on Artemisia Sativa: "The long sentence is long, Si is the ancestor of the mountain, and Bao Zhao and Li Bailing are the lions of Yuefu."
In addition, Cao Pi also ordered people to compile Huang Lan, a first-class book in China. His prose represented by The Book with Wu and his critical inheritance of Han Yuefu's poems all reflected his literary level.
Looking back, think about it carefully, Cao Zihuan is actually a very contradictory figure. As a scholar in Jian 'an and a romantic genius, he dares to love and hate and express himself freely. As the eldest son of Cao Cao and the candidate of Chu Jun, he must be patient and "pretentious". He is eager to be a prince and an emperor, and he is eager to "make contributions and make a fortune" in the Wei and Jin Dynasties when life and death changed suddenly. So he kept a low profile and fought in secret, and became emperor, leaving a lifelong reputation. As a result, Cao Pi, who was born "thirsty for knowledge", entered layers of traps. The literati's character makes him enterprising, but in the end he is just a king who keeps his promise. After II, Jiangshan was handed over to Sima Dynasty. The ideal of youth has become a foreign land that can never really be reached. Therefore, I don't want to excuse Cao Pi's black history. I want to restore a real Cao Zihuan from an objective perspective.
Postscript:
Later, I felt that this article also had many problems. The emotion behind it is too heavy to overwhelm rationality, and the whole article is too historical and subjective. Perhaps when writing this article, the mood itself is depressed, and a sensitive and fragile person may find that Cao Zihuan's contradictions and pains may also be "closely related to his heart".
This paper is based on previous research results. To tell the truth, I don't have much time and energy to make textual research one by one, so I'd better make a list and respect it.
References:
On the Aesthetic Form of Cao Pi's Ge Yanxing
On the image of Cao Pi in Shi Shuo Xin Yu and its causes _ Wang
Ye Jiaying's Poems of Han, Wei and Six Dynasties
Love+Color+Sound —— Interpretation of Cao Pi's Mao Sen in Xinglin, Yan Ge