A collection of Cao Zhi's writings carved by the famous bibliophile Jiang Ruzao of the Republic of China.
Different ages often have different ideas, and the differences are too great, forming a gap - "generation gap".
In the past, it was often said that thirty years was a generation, and there was the so-called "thirty years of Hedong, thirty years of Hexi"; now the changes in society come quickly, and it takes only about ten years to form a "generation gap".
The operation of ancient society was relatively slow, and the "generation gap" in the literary world was about thirty years or so.
For example, among the seven sons of Jian'an, in addition to Kong Rong, who was the oldest and was not under Cao Cao, Chen Lin (Zi Kong Zhang, 156-217) of Guangling was the oldest and became famous very early, so his literary style was also relatively old-school, and there was a big gap between him and Cao Pi (187-226), Cao Zhi (192-232), Wang Cang (177-217) and other rising stars, and there was obviously a "generation gap" between the two generations of writers.
At that time, the preferred style of writing in the literary world was lexicon, and Chen Linzuofu still took the path of the scattered body since the earlier Sima Xiangru (Changqing), paving the way, pursuing the beauty of "juli", the feelings were relatively thin, the algae decoration was very complicated, and it was gorgeous and dull to read; and the young writers at that time capitalized their lyrical gifts, paying attention to freshness and clarity, and the path was completely different.
Later, Cao Pi's "Treatise on Classics" vigorously commended Wang Cang and Xu Gan in terms of rhetoric, and did not mention Chen Lin at all, in fact, they were silently killed. Cao Zhi directly criticized Chen Lin, saying: "With Kong Zhang's talent, he is not idle in words, but mostly claims to be able to share the wind with Sima Changqing, for example, painting a tiger is not successful, but a dog." The previous book ridiculed it, and the anti-composition theory praised its text. Cao Zhi's letter to Chen Lin that hit the door is now invisible, but Chen Lin's reply can be seen. He shelved the criticism of himself by the noble prince of his superior, and the wording was very humorous: "Lin is guilty of capital crimes." Yesterday, Garn insulted his life and showed "Turtle Endowment", cloaked in Cangran. The prince's body is highly talented, the instrument of the green lotus, the bell is silent, and the opportunity is immediate, which is a natural alien, not a driller. The sound is far away, the words are clear, the words are brilliant, the Yan is absolutely brilliant, for example, the flying rabbit meteor, the super mountains and the sea, the dragon Ji does not dare to chase, the situation is in the horse, can you get enough? Fu listened to the sound of "White Snow", watched the section of "Green Water", and then "Higashino" and "Ba Ren" were written by Xuan Yi. Filled with joy and laughter, I can't stop wanting. I would like to play with it and think it is a chant. Lynn was capitalized. At that time, Cao Zhi and Cao Pi were experimenting with the new style of writing, and wrote a lot of lyrical gifts, and the "Turtle Fu" specially sent to Chen Lin to read adopted a typical new style of writing, laying out a lot of narratives and mainly lyricism. The naïve and enthusiastic Cao Zhi showed Chen Lin his new works, about a little bit to show the old-school writers and hope that the other party would change their ways. Chen Lin is old and sophisticated, and in her reply to the letter, she praised Cao Zhi's masterpiece, and said that his "Turtle Endowment" and so on were too high for others to learn at all--this was nothing more than politely returning the criticism of the other party.
It is not easy for older writers to abandon the set they have long been accustomed to; there is no need for such a thing. Chen Lin was very effective in writing the Great Endowment of Scattered Styles, and in the fourth year of Jian'an (199), he wrote a "Wujun Fu", which praised Yuan Shao's victory in defeating Gongsun Zhan and occupying Yicheng, which was widely recited and highly praised. After Chen Lin returned to Cao Cao, the rhetoric she composed remained the same, such as "Shen Wu Fu" written in the twelfth year of Jian'an (207) to celebrate Cao Cao's great victory in Wuhuan, although the part that can be seen now is quite broken, and the grand structure and exaggerated laying out of the original work are still very eye-catching.
The most interesting is his "Goddess Endowment", which has clouds:
Han Sanqi Jian'an, Jingye foolish and vengeful.
South of the Emperor's Division, the clear stream of the Jihan River.
Feeling the sigh of the poet, I want to swim with the goddess.
Yi Ying's soul is as if, Toga dreams of tongjing...
Feel the harmony of mid-spring festival, sigh the chick of the geese.
Shen holds the pepper to give it to you, please feast with the Okufang.
The joy of good fortune is eternal and unique.
It is both admirable and pleasing to me for a long time.
Shun Qiankun to become a character, the husband and wife have words.
This assignment was made in the fourteenth year of Jian'an (209), and in July of the previous year Cao Cao was defeated at Chibi and took Huarong Road to Jiangling in Nan County, and then north to Xiangyang. This round trip all passed through Hanshui; Hanshui had a famous goddess, and the "Han Shi Wai Biography" once recorded that "Zheng Jiaofu will be suitable for Nanchu, obey the pi Han Gao platform, and meet the second daughter", so he relieved pei of yunyun. Later, the "Han girl" became a typical example of an amorous woman in myths and legends. Chen Lin's endowment is based on the ancient legend, not only writing about her beauty and sentimentality, but also saying that once she is "jiahe", she can live a long life, "forever and alone". Chen Lin used the popular Taoist ideas of the immortals at that time to transform the two wandering girls, and the idea was extremely romantic and bold. In the Late Zhou Dynasty Xiandao, there was a school of Fangzhong in the Middle School, and the Fangzhong Technique of the Han Dynasty was publicly circulated, and it is generally believed that "if there is music and festival, then peace and shou examination" (Hanshu Yiwenzhi). There were a large number of alchemists around Cao Cao, among whom "Gan Shi, Zuo Yuanfang, and DongGuo Yannian performed the Imperial Woman's Law and recorded them for the Chancellor" ("Naturalist"), which had a great impact; Chen Lin, who was already some years old, seemed to believe in this set.
Chen Lin also wrote a "Stop Desire Endowment", which has a sentence "Xu Mai of the Sun and Moon, The Birth of Shu Ku Yang", using the allusion of "Yi" "greater than" Jiu Er, hoping to get a young woman when he is old, which is also related to the operation in the room, and is related to the age of his old man.
At the same time as Chen Lin, "Divine Woman Endowment" were Wang Yue and Ying Zhen. The part that can be seen today is entirely a description of the beautiful appearance of the goddess; the same is true of most of Wang Fu's content, and finally says: "The rare encounter of the beautiful person is really a long goodbye." The obscenity of Gu Da's punishment will not be extinguished for life. The heart fights and wins, but the intention is returned and the self is cut off. "Morality triumphs over lust and expresses a stronger Confucian thought. Wang Yue was born noble, his moral concept was more orthodox, he was quite young, and he did not care about longevity, so he also wrote about goddesses, and the focus was very different from Chen Lin. Later, Cao Zhi's "Roselle Endowment" was described more delicately and movingly, and the protagonist in it also maintained himself with etiquette, and there was no such nonsense as "Jiahe".
The previous generation of Cao Cao and Chen Lin did not have much nobility, and they were much older, so they had the courage to accept immortal Taoism; while the young people at that time did not believe in this set--this kind of "generation gap" in ideology and belief was deeply related to Jian'an literature. As for the coexistence of the old-school scattered large endowment and the emerging lyrical small endowment in the Jian'an era, it just shows the rare richness and prosperity.
The two generations of writers do not have to compete with each other to win, but do their best. The beauty of diversity coexists at the same time, and it is the beauty of a hundred flowers.
Gu Nong