Cao Cao's birth has certain particularity. His experience is also full of mystery and contradiction. The History of the Three Kingdoms says: "Emperor Heng, Cao Teng is a descendant of the Middle Ages and an official. It is impossible to judge his origin. " His grandfather is a eunuch and his father is an adopted son. Such a family does not depend on aristocratic blood. But at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the autocratic power of eunuchs made him rich. He has become an aristocratic family in power and money, but it is impossible to have the Han concept of an aristocratic family. He didn't have the concept of the Han Dynasty, but he became the "Duke of Zhou" of the Han Dynasty. This background and contradiction determine that Cao is neither a destroyer nor a defender of the system. In this way, there are two embarrassing situations: for the lower class, he is the ruler of the "Heaven Constitution"; For the upper class, he is also an intruder from the grassroots. For the old world, he was the second minister in the same country as the son of heaven; For the new world, he has become an indecisive eater. In fact, in the former case, Cao Cao, as an old minister of the Han Dynasty, didn't want to go home, because he didn't owe the country, and he didn't have the stale and lifeless eunuch class, because he rarely entered the Yellow Gate and knew the law, so he didn't belong to any class. As far as the latter is concerned, he did set up the Han Dynasty. However, it is not unreasonable to "make the country not lonely, and I don't know when it will be emperor and when it will be king." At the same time, he carried out many fruitful reforms drastically, and he did not belong to any era. It is precisely because he cannot be simply classified into a certain type that such contradictions become more and more obvious. As you can imagine, Cao Cao in troubled times is an unparalleled loner. Because he is lonely, he should pay attention to his old friends. "I'm a white rabbit, and I have everything." Clothes are not as good as new ones, and people are not as good as old ones. "Because of loneliness, he is eager for talent and hopes to have more people around him who can be close. It is because of his loneliness that he pretends to be a man of the world. It seems that this is the reason to be alone. All these make his poems exude a sad, generous, deep and magnificent spirit.
In fact, after reading Cao Cao's poems carefully and savoring his life experience, it is not difficult to find that his life is in line with the ideal state of China literati: "A young ranger, an official in middle age, becomes immortal in old age". And Cao Cao himself is not unfathomable. According to historical records, Cao Cao was "alert by nature and a man who knew everything". His articles are not limited to classics and righteousness, and he is not just talking. In Ode to Autumn, he actually narrated the joke he played with him before his death, which should not have appeared at the solemn memorial service, but revealed the author's true feelings and broadmindedness. Just being in troubled times, whether you are a ranger, an official, a fairy or a true heart, you can't do without war and death. When the hero in Good was a teenager, he fought with Dong Zhuo's heroes all the way to Kanto. Bole, who is eager to seek wisdom in short songs, is also a meditator who fears death. And the old horse in "Although the tortoise lives a long life", it can't escape the helplessness of "Although the tortoise lives a long life, it will eventually die". Imagine, a person who is determined to be in the world is brave and arrogant, but he is getting old day by day in the identity embarrassment that cannot be avoided in his life. How desolate and tragic this old heart is. At the same time, the broadmindedness and freedom in Cao Cao's character are more suppressed by a sense of social responsibility and his own loneliness. In this way, a friend next door who rewards his bosom friend with a sword has become more of a hero who makes wine. Even so, however, there is no condescending power and arrogance of rulers in Cao Cao's poems. I think Cao Mengde really realized the realm of poetry, just as he really realized the loneliness of the emperor.
For Jian 'an style, Cao Cao's influence goes far beyond this. He played a decisive role in the formation of Jian 'an Literature Group. On the surface, he was eclectic and recruited a large number of talents before joining the army. Cao Zhi made a comprehensive statement in his book With Yang Dezu. "However, the author of this world can briefly say. Once upon a time, I walked alone in Hannan, Kong was raised in Heshuo, the paddock was famous for its green soil, and the corner of the sea was busy. Delian made his fortune in the Northern Wei Dynasty and was highly respected in Beijing. At this time, everyone claimed to hold the snake beads, and everyone claimed to hold the jade of Jingshan. My king built a skynet to cover it up. Now I know that I am gathered in our country. " In front of Wei Wu's door, it was indeed a prosperous moment, and it was a ceremony without talent. From a deeper level, as a ruler, especially as a lonely ruler, Cao Cao's performance and his attitude towards scholars will inevitably affect their living environment and creative psychology. Cao Cao has an enlightened nature, but he must have means to help the people that ordinary people can't. Therefore, he still respects crimes to rectify the atmosphere, while scholars, especially Gao Shi, are often unwilling, unwilling, and unwilling to stop there, which is bound to infringe on Cao Cao's authority as a ruler, resulting in contradictions and the danger of scholars, which is another kind of pain for Cao Cao himself. He had to imprison his thoughts with his own orders. It seems that he had planned to build an ideal country with his own hands, but he had to tear down its pillars to keep warm in order to survive. Watching his dreams and wishes burn in the raging fire warmed his body but cooled his mind. It is not difficult to understand why Cao Cao hesitated when he killed a celebrity, but he regretted it. This is by no means a cover to buy people's hearts. For a lean man who "would rather I lose the world than let the world lose me", he doesn't need to experience these false appearances. He really loves and cherishes talents. Besides, Cao Cao is not jealous of talented students who don't want to live, nor is he a tyrant who kills talents. One of the seven sons of Jian 'an was named Chen Lin, who was an official with Yuan Shao. He not only insulted Cao Cao in "Ba Cao Shu | For Yuan Yuzhou", but also exposed the identity of three generations of eunuchs and lashed his bones. According to common sense, "evil stops the body", and if it is "up to the father and ancestors", it is a great shame. But Cao still let bygones be bygones, and Chen Lin is his overseer. It can be seen that Cao Cao did not defend his ruling authority by killing nobles and celebrities as we imagined. The contradiction between him and the scholars is more the externalization of Cao Cao's inner contradiction. If he was not in the interweaving of two embarrassing situations, there would be no such relationship between him and the scholars, and the scholars would not have ups and downs in this relationship. Rationality will not form the unique style of Jian' an scholars. Of course, it is not without Cao Cao, nor is it that Cao Cao is in an ambivalent state of mind. There will be no scholars and talents in the Jian 'an era, and there will be no literature belonging to the times. It's just that there is no spirit that is intertwined with grandeur and desolation under the suppression of contradictions. I wonder if we will use "personality" to describe that uneasy era.
A thousand years later, an equally lonely poet came to Mende's hometown and wrote a lament:
The heavy rain falls on you Yan, the white waves are sky-high, and the fishing boat is outside Qinhuangdao. There is nothing in Wang Yang. I don't know who to ask. Over the past 1000 years, Wei Wu's whip has left a legacy in the East. The bleak autumn wind is changing the world again today.
The dialogue of the lonely may be the best interpretation of "the character of the wind".