The historical Cao Cao was a great man with great talent and strategy. Later, his son Cao Pi established power, and Cao Cao was posthumously honored as Emperor Wu of Wei. The historical situation of the coexistence of the three kingdoms eventually disappeared, and the descendants of the Cao clan occupied the entire world. Today I want to talk to you about Cao Cao's two sons, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, I believe that friends who know a little about classical Chinese culture should know that these two people have relatively special talents and have left an important reputation in Chinese history. Among them, Cao Zhi is a famous literati, his articles are very well written, whether it is language or style has a sense of elegance, leaving a deep impression, Cao Zhi's literary achievements are unique in the Wei and Jin literary circles, or second to none, his talent has been revealed as early as his youth.
How good is Cao Zhi's literary skills? He can compose poems on the spot, he only takes 7 steps to recite a verse that has been recited through the ages, so do you know what the well-known 7-step poem is, what is the source and content of its production? The so-called 7-step poem, since ancient times, refers to the Wei and Jin Dynasties when Cao Zhi was under the command of his brother Cao Pi. In a short period of 7 steps, you can make a real poem. If Cao Pi's demands on his younger brother Cao Zhi could not be reached, then he would kill his brother Cao Zhi, why would Cao Pi be so cruel?
After all, Cao Zhi was his own brother. It turned out that Cao Pi had always been jealous of Cao Zhi, and in people's minds, Cao Zhi was a literary artist with a worldwide reputation, and although Cao Pi was also quite literary, he was inferior in the comparison of the two. Cao Pi always tried to put his brother to death, Cao Zhi often lived in such an atmosphere of family affection and fighting, and he had deep feelings for his brother in his heart, and always tried to resolve it.
However, this hatred was not dissolved by his own tolerance, and Cao Pi was forced to die step by step, wanting to put Cao Zhi to death.
Just this time, Cao Pi ordered the King of Dong'a to make a poem in a short period of time, the verses of ancient times are very difficult to do, unlike our modern poetry, there is no need to pay attention to the rhythm, there is no need to rhyme, but the ancient poetry of that period needs to be carefully studied for each word and word, and many people need to change the text again after writing a poem to achieve the unity of rhythm and rhythm.
However, Cao Zhi did not need to make any changes, he took two steps and blurted out a whole poem, such a level is also stunned by everyone, even his brother, Cao Pi did not expect that his brother was originally such a genius, and in Cao Zhi's famous 7-step poem, a poem widely praised by people is that it is the same root, and it is too anxious to fry each other, this poem literally means that since the two are born of the same root, why bother with each other? This was originally a kind of plant, but in fact it secretly refers to the relationship between the two brothers, Cao Zhi told Cao Pi euphemistically through the 7-step poem, since we are brothers, why can't we live in peace? What is the purpose of the bitter persecution?
After reading Cao Zhi's 7-step poem, Cao Pi also felt very regretful. Moreover, he also gave a high degree of affirmation to his brother's talent, although his jealousy still existed, but in the face of this outstanding genius whose talent was higher than that of a poet, Cao Pi could only be dumbfounded. In fact, Cao Zhi's brother Cao Pi was no worse than Cao Pi at all, and his literary ability was also higher. The children of the Cao clan have relatively high literary attainments, which may be inherited from their father Cao Cao, in the Three Kingdoms period, the Cao clan not only had a lot of power, but also paid special attention to literary education, and under the environment of literary influence, one outstanding literary scholar after another was produced, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were two of them quite famous.
Cao Zhi, as a generation of kings, actually has many personal advantages, and his literary cultivation is by no means under Cao Zhi, but when it comes to Cao Cao's son, the most famous writer recognized by people is Cao Zhi. Simply put, the fields in which the two men display their talents in literature are quite different. Cao Zhi's main focus is to create poetry, and Cao Pi, in addition to poetry creation, has focused on the collation of poetry criticism, so he completed the first collection of literary criticism history in Chinese history, which is very remarkable.
However, literary criticism works are relatively niche after all, people love to see those poetry works that directly express personal feelings, in such a situation, people's recognition of Cao Pi is of course not as high as Cao Zhi, but Cao Pi this person is still quite commendable, in addition to literary accomplishment, Cao Pi also has a king's vision and kingly temperament, which his younger brother Cao Zhi does not have, which is a major personal style characteristic that Cao Pi inherited from his father Cao Cao. Cao Pi and Cao Zhi both radiated light and heat in their respective fields, and as Cao Cao's sons, they are always worthy of praise.