Among the literati of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Wei and Jin Dynasties: Cao Zhi and his Luoshen Endowment

The literati of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Wei and Jin Dynasties:

Cao Zhi and his "Roselle Endowment"

Xie Lingyun, the originator of the Shanshui poetry school in the history of ancient Chinese literature, once said: "There is only one stone in the world, Cao Zijian has eight buckets, I have to fight, and since ancient times and today, there is a total of one bucket." ”

This cao zijian, who was only eight buckets tall, was Cao Cao's once favorite son Cao Zhi.

According to historical records, Cao Cao had a total of twenty-five sons under his knees, of which two were the ones he liked the most: Cao Chong and Cao Zhi. Cao Chong was the prodigy who called the elephant. Cao Chong fell seriously ill when he was thirteen years old, and Cao Cao personally asked heaven for him to save his life, but in the end he was not saved. When Cao Chong died, Cao Cao was extremely sad.

Cao Zhi has been intelligent since childhood. When he was more than ten years old, he was able to recite the Book of Poetry, the Analects, and the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, and the hundreds of sons were also widely involved. He had a flexible mind, quick thinking, and a fountain of literary thoughts, and when he entered Cao Cao, he was often asked a question, and the exit was a chapter. In the fifteenth year of Jian'an (210), Cao Cao completed the TongqueTai built in Yecheng, and he let his children take the stage to celebrate, and Cao Zhi wrote "Dengtai Fu" in one go, which made Cao Cao very surprised by Cao Zhi's talent. At the same time, he also had a preference for him, and even meant to make him a prince.

However, the history books say: "Planting willfulness, not self-sculpting, drinking alcohol is not modest." Emperor Wen used his technique and was self-adorned. The palace people left and right, and said for it..." The gist is: Cao Zhi does things by his own nature, does not cultivate himself and encourages himself, and drinks alcohol without moderation. Cao Pi (later crowned Emperor Wen of Wei) secretly used power tactics against him, concealing his true feelings and beautifying himself. The palace maid and the people around Cao Cao all spoke well for Cao Pi. From this point of view, Cao Zhi is essentially a literati, not a politician.

In the twenty-second year of Jian'an, Cao Zhi drove privately on the ancient road used exclusively for Tianzi to drive, and illegally opened the Sima Gate of the Wei Palace. Cao Cao was furious and was executed for the bus order in charge of the royal family's carriages and horses. Cao Cao has since tightened his laws and regulations against the princes, and Cao Zhi has gradually lost Cao Cao's trust and favor because of this incident.

Twenty-four years after Jian'an, Cao Ren was surrounded by Guan Yu. Cao Cao appointed Cao Zhi as the general of Nanzhong Lang and the general of Zhengyu, and wanted to send him to lead troops to rescue Cao Ren, and warned him to his face about the matters he should pay attention to. This should have been a good time for Cao Zhi to make a meritorious contribution and save the situation, but he was so drunk that he could not accept the order, and Cao Cao completely dismissed the idea of establishing Cao Zhi as his heir.　

After Cao Pi ascended the throne, he was full of suspicion and wariness about this talented brother who had competed with him for the throne, and suppressed him at every turn. Soon Cao Pi killed Cao Zhi's close confidant Ding Yi's brother. Cao Zhi was sent to the domain at the same time as other princes. At this time, there was also an incident that made Cao Pi even more dissatisfied with Cao Zhi. In October of the first year of Yankang (220), many of Cao Pi's cronies jointly wrote a letter to persuade Emperor Xian of Han to cede the throne to Cao Pi the Prince of Wei. In order to save his life, Emperor Xian of Han had to give the emperor's jade seal to Cao Pi. On October 29, Cao Pi ascended the altar and was proclaimed emperor by Zen, and the founding name was Great Wei, and the history was called Cao Wei. Changed to Huang Chu. Cao Zhi and others heard that Cao Pi had deposed the Han dynasty and stood on his own, and they all put on mourning clothes and wept for the Han Dynasty. Cao Pi said angrily, "I became emperor in accordance with the Mandate of Heaven, but I heard that some people were crying, why?" In the second year of the Huang Dynasty (221 AD), the emissaries of the Jianguo State all catered to the above intentions and falsely accused Cao Zhi of "drunkenness and slowness, and robbing the messengers". Emperor Wen had some scruples because Empress Bian was protecting Cao Zhi, and it was not easy to deal with him severely, but he only demoted Cao Zhi to the title of Marquis of Anxiang, and in the same year changed his title to Marquis of Juancheng.

Because of the repression everywhere, Cao Zhi often complained to himself that Huai Jin held Yu (metaphorically speaking of his own pure and noble character, from Qu Yuan's "Chu Ci · Nine Chapters Huai Sha": "Huai Jin holds Yu Xi; poverty cannot be shown." "), empty talent but nowhere to show, sad and indignant. In the sixth year of Taihe (232), Cao Zhi changed his title to King Chen, and in November Cao Zhi died of depression at the age of 41. Later generations called it "King Chen" or "King Chen Si".

A careful analysis can be seen that Cao Zhi's literary creation, whether it is expressive content or form of expression, is bounded by the twenty-five years of Jian'an, and can be divided into two periods (the first month of the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an (220 years), Cao Cao died of illness in Luoyang, Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, and Cao Zhi was 29 years old at the time. In the same year, Cao Pi was proclaimed emperor), which was closely related to his life experiences.

His early poems are mainly expressing his ideals and ambitions, which are full of optimism and romantic mood, full of beautiful yearning and firm confidence in the future.

Cao Zhi's "White Horse" is a representative poem of his early period. The poem creates a vivid and touching image of a young patriotic hero with a distinct and touching personality, praises his noble spirit of dedication to the country and regards death as a homecoming, and pins on the poet's ambition to make contributions to the country. The two sentences in the poem, "Long drive the Xiongnu, Left Gu Ling Xianbei", both summarize and vividly write the heroism and fearlessness of the characters, go straight ahead, and show his heroism in defeating all enemies. "Abandon the blade and live in peace?" Parents do not care, what about children and wives? The names of heroes must not be taken into account for personal gain. It is difficult to sacrifice one's body to go to the country, and it is difficult to see death as a sudden return. These few sentences mean that when you plunge into the battlefield of the blade of the sword, you cannot but put life and death on the line, and do not care about the feelings of your parents, wives and children; since you have been included in the roster of heroes, you cannot have any private thoughts in your heart, and you must be ready to sacrifice your life for the country at any time, and you must regard death as a homecoming. Cao Zhi was an ambitious man, even if he was repeatedly subjected to suspicion and persecution, he still wanted to make a meritorious career, and in the second year of Taihe (228), Cao Zhi also presented to Emperor Ming the "Self-Examination Table", indicating his willingness to "aspire to serve himself in the Ming Dynasty and make meritorious contributions to the holy world", and wanted to break the "Shu of Disobedience" in the west, destroy the "Wu of the Unincorporated" in the east, "mix with The Universe, so that Taihe", and do some earth-shattering great deeds.

"Zhen Zhen Yin" is a unique travel poem. Through the changes in the feelings of the characters at the song and dance banquet, it vividly shows the unique social psychology of the Jian'an era: generosity and tragedy. The shortness of life and the desire to establish immortal deeds intertwine into the themes of the poem. From the "placed wine on the high hall, kiss the tour from me." The Chinese chef runs a rich meal, cooks sheep and slaughters fat cattle" the festive joy to "the wind drifts in the day, and the scenery flows westward." The heyday is no longer coming, and the hundred years are suddenly lost" the exclamation of life, which fully shows the spiritual world and the pursuit of ambitions of characters like Cao Zhi in that era. Poor joy and bliss cannot consume their pursuit of the value of life, and cannot change their thinking about the meaning of life. The desire to make meritorious achievements often makes them feel the brevity of time, as Cao Cao said: "When singing about wine, life is geometric!" For example, the morning dew, going to the day is more bitter. ”

Cao Zhi's later poems mainly start from their own situation, expressing the contradiction between their ideals and reality, as well as the bitterness and grief caused by them.

"Gift to the White Horse Wang Biao" was written in July of the fourth year of the Huang Dynasty (223). In that year, Cao Zhi, his brother Cao Zhang, and his half-brother Cao Biao came to Luoyang to participate in the "Festival" activity. During this period, Cao Zhang suddenly died violently. When Cao Zhi and Cao Biao returned to their fiefdoms, they had intended to travel together, but the imperial court sent emissaries to force them to part ways. Cao Zhi, in fear and anger, wrote this famous poem that has been recited throughout the ages, "Gift to the White Horse Wang Biao".

The poem is divided into seven chapters. It shows cao zhi's complex feelings of terror, sadness, hatred and anger intertwined, interspersed with narrative scenes in lyricism. The poem expresses deep condolences for the suspicious violent death of King Rencheng, while euphemistically showing the sharp contradictions within the Cao brothers. In the poem, "Iroh is wide and deep, and there is no beam in the river." Boating over the flood, complaining about the length of the East Road. A few sentences are said: Yishui and Luoshui are both wide and deep, and the road is already difficult, but there is no bridge across the river, which is even more difficult. The poet looks forward to the future, unable to move forward, and there is no end. And "What will be the ether, the Destiny is against me." Even if you think of the same life, you will never return to the form. A few words, it is even more sad and unbearable, not only mourning Cao Zhang's violent death for unknown reasons, but also lamenting the impermanence of life. The poet asks why the Mandate of Heaven is at odds with himself. Why did his brother never return? Why can't your ideals be realized? This poem organically combines narration, scenery and lyricism, blending water and milk, and vividly expressing the poet's sometimes high-pitched and indignant psychology and sometimes grief- and tortuous and complex psychology.

Cao Zhi once said in his "Xue Lu Chapter": "I wish to show merit and diligence, and lose strength to Ming Jun." With this king, he is generous and unique." This shows his persistent pursuit of fame and honor. Although he was suspected and watched by others, he still maintained his usual arrogant disposition, and when he felt that the hope of "fighting for the kingdom, benefiting the people, building the cause of eternity, and the merits of flowing stones" ("Book with Yang Dezu") was a little shattered, the depression and bitterness of his mood could be imagined. So he wrote: "Kong's deleted poetry book, Wang Yecang has been divided, I am a path inch, flowing algae weeping Huafang." This means that Confucius made great contributions to literature, and I will certainly be able to make a great achievement in literature and establish a name for future generations. The good news is that he did succeed in this regard. Is Cao Zhi's political failure to accomplish his literary career pathetic or gratifying? It may be that the benevolent see the wise and the wise see the wise.

Later generations praised Cao Zhi's achievements in the creation of wuyan poetry. He was the first literati to vigorously write five-character poems, pushing the level of expression of five-word poems to a very high level, making them gradually mature. This also made wuyan poetry the most important and well-developed form of poetry during the Wei and Jin dynasties. He has more than ninety extant poems, of which more than sixty are five-word poems. His five-character poems not only inherit the fresh and fluent characteristics of Lefu folk songs, but also have their own reform and innovation, and thus form their own unique artistic characteristics. Cao Zhi's poems are broad and rich in content, involving all aspects of political, military, and social life, and it can be said that Cao Zhi used his pen to depict the vast social life at that time, expressing his rich thoughts and feelings, and embodying the spiritual outlook of an era. Mr. Lin Geng wrote in "A Brief History of Chinese Literature" that "this is a cause of the times, but it was completed through Cao Zhi", which should be said to be a very high evaluation.

People have always praised Cao Zhi's literary achievements. Literary critic Zhong Rong praised Cao Zhi: "The backbone is extremely high, the words are colorful, the love and elegance are complaining, the body is literary, the cantonese are overflowing in the present and the ancient, and the outstanding." And in the "Poetry" he was listed as the highest poet of the pin. Wang Shizhen, a great scholar of the Ming Dynasty, once said: In the two thousand years since the Han and Wei Dynasties, poets can be called "immortals", and Cao Zhi, Li Bai, and Su Shi have three ears.

It is impossible to mention Cao Zhi without mentioning the Roselle Endowment. This endowment is the most representative work of Cao Zhi's cifu, with gorgeous words, delicate descriptions, rich imagination, deep affection and profound meaning. The author uses a romantic approach to describe the true love between man and god through the dream realm, but in the end he is sadly separated by the inability to combine the "special way of man and god".

Luoshen is the god of Luoshui, and is said to be the daughter of the ancient emperor Mi Xi. According to the preface, this should be done by Cao Zhi when passing through Luoshui on his way back to the fiefdom of Juancheng after Emperor Wen of Wei entered the imperial capital Luoyang in the third year (222) of the Huang Dynasty.

The lyrics show an emotional encounter between the poet and Roselle from encountering surprise, fascination and then touching, and after a short period of joy, they have to be separated. Cao Zhi depicts a situation that is both illusory and real, and expresses an emotion that is both romantic and real.

Since this work has always been of great interest to everyone, there are many different views on its contents. For example, the main theme of the creation of "Roselle Endowment" has always been controversial, and there are three main views.

The first point of view: sense of Zhen said. According to this view, the "Luoshen" in Cao Zhi's "Luoshen Endowment" refers to his sister-in-law, Cao Pi's wife Zhen. This view comes from Tang Lishan's annotated Anthology. Li Shan believes that Luoshen is Zhen, and there is a love affair between her and Cao Zhi, who wrote "Feeling Zhen Fu" because he missed her, which was later changed to "Luoshen Fu". However, this statement has long been refuted by many people. Cao Pi was 18 years old when Zhen was around, Zhen was 23 years old, and Cao Zhi was only 13 years old. For a married woman who is ten years older than himself and is his sister-in-law, Cao Zhi is unlikely to have any ideas. Coupled with the fact that there has been a constant struggle between Cao Zhi and Cao Pi, Cao Zhi has always been unable to protect himself, so it is impossible to write any "Sense of Zhen Endowment" for Zhen to provoke right and wrong.

The second point of view: the king's righteousness. It is "a pretext for Concubine Mi to send a heart to Emperor Wen", "it is also the Zhiye of Quzi", that is to say, Cao Zhi wrote "LuoshenFu" as a metaphor for the righteousness of the monarch. Like Qu Yuan's "Leaving sorrows" or "Chu Ci" in a broad sense, Yu Fangcao has some sustenance among the beauties and shows his ambitions. Combined with Cao Zhi's background at that time, it is easy to think that Luoshen was the embodiment of Cao Zhi's ideal pursuit, and it was concluded that "Luoshen Endowment" reflected the resentment and bitterness of Cao Zhi's monarchs and courtiers who could not meet and whose ambitions could not be exercised.

Third view: the deceased wife Cui Shi said. In addition to the above two views, another view appeared in the academic circles later, believing that Luo's "Luoshenfu" actually depicted Cao Zhi's deceased wife Cui Shi. Cui Shi was the daughter of the famous scholar Cui Yan's brother, married Cao Zhi as his wife, and was later killed by the frugal Cao Cao for dressing too gorgeously (Pei Songzhi's note in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms quotes the "World Language": Zhi wife's clothes are embroidered, and Taizu takes the stage to see it, in violation of the order, and returns the family to death). For many years after that, Cao Zhi did not continue the main room. "Roselle" is actually written by Cao Zhi nostalgically for the good time he spent with his wife Cui Shi.

In fact, we really don't need to bother with the above speculations, Roselle is a symbol of the author's beautiful yearning, no matter what the main purpose of Cao Zhi's creation at that time, "Roselle Endowment" vividly shows its vision and pursuit of beautiful things, whether it is a beautiful person or an ideal of beauty, or a good wish, this is enough, but also entangled in too specific things, is not it a violent object.

In "Roselle", the poet depicts a beautiful and amorous goddess image, taking her as a symbol of his beautiful ideals, pinning his admiration and love for beautiful ideals; he also writes about the dependence and love between himself and the goddess, and tells each other his heartfelt heart; and finally through the description of the tragic ending of the separation of man and god, he shows that his pursuit of ideals has been shattered. Even so, the bright and moving image of the goddess in his pen can still give people unlimited power to strive for ideals and not give up lightly.

The total endowment can be divided into six parts. In the first paragraph, when the writer returned to the fiefdom from Luoyang, he saw Luoshen standing on a cliff in a trance; the second paragraph wrote about the beauty of Luoshen's appearance and dress; the third paragraph wrote that the writer loved Luoshen for both etiquette and good words, and although he gave each other answers, he was worried that he would be hindered; the fourth paragraph wrote about Luoshen's feelings and actions that had not arrived in the future after the sincerity of the "king"; the fifth paragraph wrote about The number of Luoshen coming to obey, and finally left with a special sense of humanity; the sixth paragraph wrote about the author's deep affection for Gu Wangsimu after Luoshen left. The whole text is wonderful, undulating, and the meaning is long.

This novelty is rich in imagination, delicate in description, colorful in rhetoric, strong lyricism and mythology, and its artistic charm has been widely praised since its inception.

The ideological significance and artistic achievements of "Luoshenfu" have been highly evaluated by previous generations, and the most representative is that it is often compared with Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs" and Song Yu's "Goddess" endowments.　

Talking about Cao Zhi without mentioning the well-known "seven-step poem" seems to be a bit inappropriate, and it will make people feel that something is missing or missing. According to the Fourth Book of Literature in the New Language of the World: "Emperor Wen tried to compose poems in the seven steps of king Dong'a, and those who did not succeed in practicing Dafa were called poems: 'Boiled beans are held to make soup, and wet is thought to be juice.'" The stalk burns under the kettle, and the beans cry in the kettle; it is the same root, and it is too anxious to fry! 'The emperor is deep and has a xin color. This account is the first version of the "Seven Steps Poem." Later widely circulated version of "boiled beans burning beans, beans crying in the kettle, originally born of the same root, fried He Taiji!" It is luo guanzhong wrote in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which can be said to be the three kingdoms version. The latter is more refined and catchy, so it is more enjoyable. I have always refused to believe the story of Cao Pi forcing Cao Zhi to take seven steps into poetry, and if he does not succeed, he will kill him, because I know that Cao Pi is a mature politician, and this kind of childlike trick will not come from his hand. The tension between their brothers and the sharp and prominent contradictions are all historical truths, and it is also true that Cao Zhi was persecuted, but the legend of the "Seven-Step Poem" is difficult to recognize, and although this story is wonderful, it seriously degrades Cao Pi's IQ and entertains history.