Cao Zhi (192—232), Zi Zijian, brother of Cao Pi. He was the most famous writer in Jian 'an period, and his poems were called "outstanding writers in Jian 'an". There are also the most novels, poems and literary works handed down now, with more than 80 poems and more than 40 complete and incomplete poems and essays. Judging from these novels, poems and literary works, their achievements are indeed above those of ordinary writers in Jian 'an period.
Cao Zhi's life is bounded by Cao Pi's claim to be emperor, which is obviously divided into two periods. In the early stage, he won the appreciation and favor of Cao Cao by virtue of his talent, and was almost made a prince, which made him satisfied. Later, Cao Pi and his son became emperors. Because of their previous experience of fighting for the crown prince, they expressed deep suspicion on him and oppressed and persecuted him. Although he still lost his status as a prince, he was "depressed" and finally died in anger and anguish. This life experience has a profound influence on his creation.
Cao Zhi also lived a noble life in a relatively stable environment in his early days, but he was quite ambitious in fame and career. His lifelong passion is "serving the country faithfully, benefiting the people, making contributions through the ages, and opening the door with stones" (with Yang Dezu). Cao Cao's political ambition was to destroy the disobedient Shu in the west, the disobedient Wu in the east, and to "mix space and create harmony" (Seeking Self-test Table). One of the main contents of his poems is to express this ambition. "Autumn Record" said: "I am willing to show people with diligence and lose to Mingjun with weakness. With this Wang Zuocai, he is generous and unique. " In "False Dan Pian", the poet compares himself to a swan, and compares a snobbish villain who seeks "false Dan" to a sparrow who swims with the swan. All these show his pursuit of ideals and outstanding personality. However, due to the different life circumstances of poets in the early and late periods, novels, poems and literary works that show this aspect also have significant differences in artistic conception and style. In the early stage, represented by White Horse, he created an image of a patriotic brave with superb martial arts, eager to make contributions to the country and even willing to die heroically, full of heroic optimism: "Feathers come from the north, and horses climb the embankment. The dragon drove to the Huns, and the left looked around and led Xianbei. ..... died of national disaster and sudden death. " Later, represented by miscellaneous stones, it shows more anger and injustice that ambitions are not displayed. Such as "Miscellaneous Poems" the fifth song:
Servants and servants drive hard early, and we will travel far. Do you want to travel far away? Wu avenged me. Will Wan Li be the best way, and East Road will be safe? There are many rivers in Hengtai, and the rivers are swift. I hope to have a light economy, but I don't have an ark! Seclusion is not my ambition, I am willing to worry about my country.
Cao Zhi was persecuted and suppressed in his later period. There is a story in Shi Shuo Xin Yu, in which Cao Pi once ordered him to write a poem in seven steps. If he failed, he would press Dafa. He wrote a poem: "Boil beans as soup, ferment beans as juice, soak them in a pot, and the beans cry in the pot. They were born from the same root, so why should they speculate with each other? " This legend can tell a lot about him at that time. This kind of situation and mood are mainly expressed in his later poems.
To a White Horse, Wang Biao, written in Huang Chu for four years, is an important novel, poem and literary work in the poet's later period. At that time, the poet, Cao Biao, the white horse king, and Cao Zhang, the king of Rencheng, all went to the imperial court, and Rencheng died inexplicably when he arrived in Beijing. The poet and the white horse king returned to the fief and were stopped by their companions, so the poet wrote this poem as a gift. The whole poem is divided into seven chapters, showing rich and complicated feelings. In the poem, such as "the owl honks its yoke, the wolf is on the road, the fly is black and white, and the relatives and friends are smart", denouncing the company that forced it to branch; "How to read the same life, gone forever. The lonely soul flew to the old domain, and the coffin was sent to the capital to show deep condolences for the sudden death of Ren. " Change is in the future, but who can keep it for a hundred years "also reveals the poet's precarious tension." Although this poem only expresses the poet's subjective feelings, it objectively reveals the cruelty of the ruling class and has profound ideological significance. The lyrical artistic level of this poem is also very high. The poet expresses his complex feelings step by step in the form of a scroll of text links, which is very hierarchical. In addition, although the poet's feelings are very sad and angry, they are not directly poured out, and they are often written by narrative, scenery writing, or mourning and encouragement, so that the feelings are calm and rich.
In addition, his "Continued Interpretation" vividly describes his life situation and painful mood of "three disciples in eleven years" by using the metaphor of turning tents. Noda's oriole shows his anger and resistance to persecution:
Tall trees are often hit by the wind, and the calm sea is also hit by the waves. If you don't have a sword in your hand, why make more friends? Didn't you see the poor oriole on the fence, running into the net to avoid the fierce harrier? The Luo family takes birds as their joy, while teenagers take birds as their sorrow; Draw the sword and close the net, and the yellowbird flies; Wings fly high into the sky, expressing gratitude to the rescued Eurasian Siskin.
The poet takes Luo Jia as the metaphor of the persecutor and sparrow as the metaphor of the victim, creating an image of a chivalrous teenager who helps the victims, which embodies the author's ideal and resistance. When Cao Pi ascended the throne, he took the initiative to remove Cao Zhi's wings and killed his friends Ding Yi and Ding Yi, which shows that this kind of poetry has a realistic background.
Cao Zhi's early poems mainly expressed his lofty aspirations, but rarely reflected social reality. Only the first poem "Farewell to a Friend" is related to the ruins of Luoyang where his friend lives. Later, due to the misfortune of my own life, I gradually realized the suffering of some lower-class people and wrote individual poems reflecting the sufferings of the people. For example, Fu Liangxing on Mount Tai depicts the poor life of people in coastal areas at that time:
Different in all directions, thousands of miles of wind and rain. The play is for people at the border, and grass is given. A wife is like an animal, whose behavior is blocked by the forest. When Chai Men is depressed, foxes and rabbits fly around my room.
The second poem of Miscellaneous Poems expresses sympathy for the "guests" who joined the army.
Cao Zhi also wrote many love poems, such as Seven Sorrow and Beauty. These poems are obviously different from those expressing feelings, and their feelings are sad and touching, much like lyric poems in ancient Chinese poetry at the end of Han Dynasty. "Seven Sorrow" is a kind of emotional appeal, especially Nineteen Ancient Poems. Some of these poems may have entrusted the poet's feelings of disharmony and lack of talent.
"Shi Pin" said that Cao Zhi's poems "have a high backbone and adopt Hua Mao's words", which can well summarize the artistic style of Cao Zhi's poems. Cao Zhi devoted his life to the pursuit of fame and ideals. After the setback, his ambition remained unchanged, but he became more angry. Therefore, his poems are full of pursuit and resistance, full of momentum and strength, forming a "very high backbone" side.
Among Jian 'an poets, Cao Zhi pays the most attention to artistic expression. Although his poems were born out of Han Yuefu, they also absorbed the achievements of ancient poems by literati at the end of Han Dynasty and created and developed them in art.. Jian 'an poetry came out of Yuefu and gradually became a literati, but it had obvious characteristics of literati poetry in Cao Zhi's hands. For example, "Beauty Map" imitates China's Yuefu Sang, but its meticulous description and gorgeous rhetoric are quite different from Sang's, which reflects this tendency. Cao Zhi's efforts led to his "adopting Hua Mao Ci". His poems make good use of metaphors, which are not only numerous but also appropriate, and are often compared with the whole article, such as saving victims with teenagers' metaphors, leading a vagabond life in a floating tent, and talented women never returning. His poems also pay attention to duality, exquisiteness and melody. Such as: "the moon is clear and the wind is clear, and the line is uneven. Qiu Lan Wavelength Osaka, Zhu Hua Donkey Pool. The diving fish jumps in the clear waves, and the birds sing loudly, which is a trio, especially the latter two. The words "Bei" and "Mao" show the author's ingenuity in choosing words. Some of his poems have been integrated with the level of metrical poems and are full of musicality. In addition, Cao Zhi's poems are also good at cadence and epigrams, such as "I hate too many Taiwanese trees, but the sea makes waves" and "The wind blows in the daytime and the scenery flows west", which add color to the whole poem, whether at the beginning or in the article. Cao Zhi's achievements in this respect have improved the artistry of poetry and opened up the atmosphere of engraving words.
Cao Zhi's Ci and Fu are also lyric poems. Luo Shen Fu is a famous piece in his Fu. This poem was influenced by the goddess Fu. It casts a mythical theme and describes the tragedy of a person falling in love with God through a dreamland. In Fu, a lot of space is used to describe the appearance, posture and clothing of the goddess Luo, and then the poet's love and emotion for Luo is written: "So Luo is out of thin air, wandering around, the magic lamp is flickering, and it is cloudy and sunny. To stand out, it is not enough to have a body. The practice of pepper coating is very fierce, and the steps are fine and fragrant. Forever is admirable, and the voice is sad. "Through the description of these actions, Luo Shen's affectionate character is also very prominent. Finally, I wrote that because "the way of man and god is different", Luo Shen gave away with hatred and was frustrated with the poet, with a strong tragic atmosphere. This poem is rich in imagination, exquisite in description, beautiful in words, lyrical and mythical, and extremely artistic.
Among Cao Zhi's articles, The Book with Wu Ji and The Book with Yang Dezu are two famous prose works. The latter shows his arms directly, taunts people when playing, and his writing is sharp and concise, which can also show his high self-esteem character. In addition, his "Seeking Self-Test Table" and "Seeking Communication Kiss Table" are two articles with extremely heavy elements. However, they all have certain contents, and in form, antithetical parallel prose is often three-character, four-character, five-character and six-character alternating, and it does not exclude scattered sentences, so it is patchy, neat and not weak, which is very different from many formalistic parallel prose later. Especially in the previous article, the poet's desire to use the world is permeated between the lines.
Jian 'an literature occupies an important position in the history of China literature. It is very rare for a period of literature to form a tradition and be accepted. When Zhong Rong opposed the poetic style of formalism after Jin Dynasty, he once lamented that "the wind of Jian 'an is exhausted"! Chen Ziang, a poet in the early Tang Dynasty, also held high the banner of "the character of Han and Wei dynasties" when he carried out poetry innovation, which shows that the tradition of "Jian 'an character" has a far-reaching influence on later literature!