Cao Cao's poetry style is vigorous, simple and heroic, and his choice of lyric images is consistent with the poet's style.
Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei, loved poetry. His "thirty years of imperial army, never putting down books, talking about martial arts during the day, thinking about classics at night, writing new poems and orchestral instruments, have all become articles."
According to Fu's Notes on Three Poems by Cao Cao, there are 30 poems by Cao Cao, including 5 lost poems, 5 surviving poems and 25 complete poems. Cao Cao's poems are lyrical, and more than 20 poems are lyrical, generous and heroic, creating a poetic style of Jian 'an. Throughout Cao Cao's poems, lyric images are similar to the style pursued by the creative subject.
The simplicity of lyric images in Cao Cao's poems is also reflected in its expression. His poems are simple in language, rough in lines and rarely carved. Moreover, most of Cao Cao's poems are Yuefu poems, which are deeply influenced by the realistic creative spirit of "feeling worried and happy, starting from things" in Han Yuefu. His four words are "300 articles are self-opened". Coupled with the unique deep charm of Cao Cao, his poetry presents a simple and old-fashioned style.