Take Autumn Dew Trip as an example. The beginning of this article is really a history: "Only the 22nd emperor of the Han Dynasty was unfaithful", which translates into modern Chinese as "the 22nd emperor of the Han Dynasty used bad guys." The next step is still to describe history: "wash the monkey and crown it, know the small and seek the edge." Hesitant, afraid to break through, because the inaugural king. Bai Hong has been in pain for a long time. "It means that Mrs Blades was appointed as a general, but she was poor in ability and improper in handling things. She sat back and watched the young emperor being hijacked by eunuchs and eventually killed herself. Then I wrote history: "Thieves and ministers hold the national handle, kill the Lord and destroy Yujing." Swing through the emperor's inheritance, the ancestral temple was burned. Spread westward and cry. "This means that Dong Zhuo's insurrection killed the young emperor, induced Xian Di and the imperial court to move westward to Chang 'an, and the situation got out of control. At the end of the Han Dynasty, after the death of Emperor Ling, the political situation declined rapidly, which he wrote in very concise sentences. Hao's writing is similar. "The kanto have just, part of the fierce. In the early days, I joined Jin Meng, but my heart was in Xianyang. " It's about Dong Zhuo's insurrection, and powerful people from all walks of life in Kanto set about discussing Dong's affairs. This is the next period of history. Both articles are based on historical facts. Not only these two poems, but also many other poems written by Cao Cao today have the characteristics of writing history with poems. Such as "A Bitter and Cold Journey" and "Going North to Taihang Mountain". It is written that in the eleventh year of Jian 'an (AD 206), Bing Gao Qian was conquered; Poems such as Out of Xiamen, Jieshi Looking at the Sea in the East, etc. , written in the twelfth year of Jian' an (AD 207), the northern expedition of Wuwan in three counties; Set foot on a trip to autumn and face the mountain, why is it difficult? And so on, he wrote about his expedition to Zhang Lu in Hanzhong in the 20th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 15), and the Biography of Wei Zhi recorded that "in summer and April, the public went from Chencang to Hechi". It can be seen that writing history with poetry is a common writing style of Cao Cao and an important feature of his poems.
China has a long tradition of writing poems. There are many works in The Book of Songs, such as Sheng Min, Wang Wen, Daming and Mian, which all describe the origin and development of the Zhou family. They have long been regarded as ancient "epic" works by scholars in The Book of Songs. As for the literati writing history with poems, Ban Gu's epic poems already existed in the Han Dynasty, and Ti Ying's saving his father when he wrote Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty was recognized as the origin of China's epic poems. However, compared with Ban Gu, Cao Cao's history writing has its own characteristics. The most important thing is that Cao Cao wrote about historical events. From a historical point of view, "only the twenty-two emperors of Han Dynasty were unfaithful" is certainly bigger and more important than "if Taicang is guilty, Chang 'an will be arrested". Secondly, what he wrote was basically my own personal experience. He wrote about the chaos in the imperial court caused by consorts and eunuchs at the end of the Han Dynasty. The Kwantung Army jointly crusaded against Dong Zhuo and northern expedition against Wuwan in three counties, demanding money and land. He personally participated in these events and was the protagonist of them. Therefore, his History of Poetry has more realistic weight and historical connotation.
Why does Cao Cao like to write History of Poetry? This must have something to do with his identity and personality. Cao Cao is a clever man with a clear mind. He is a thorough realist, because he "doesn't believe in destiny", so he knows that the purpose of his life is to be a "political Cao Cao" and a "military Cao Cao", and then there will be a "literary Cao Cao". His literary activities, including the connotation of writing, are inseparable from politics and military affairs. The "history" he wrote is actually about major real social events. Therefore, although his poems are full of entertainment, they are also imaginative, even writing about immortals and the like. , he still can't fundamentally forget the real situation. He won't put the cart before the horse.
But Cao Cao wrote history with poetry, and he never forgot to express his feelings. In the last two rhymes of "Autumn Dew Trip", it says, "Spread to the west and migrate, but do it sadly. Looking at Belo City, I am sad. " Who is crying here? It is the officials and trapped people who were forced to move westward by Dong Zhuo. Who is "sad"? It is Cao Cao himself. At the end of the poem, he stood up and claimed to be the son of Shang dynasty, mourning for the suffering of the people and the decline of the country. This is the finishing touch, and "sadness" is very strong. Lyricism is of course the true nature of poetry, so this paper begins with writing history and ends with lyricism. He finally jumped out of the framework of historical narrative and entered the field of literature.
The same is true of Hao. In the second half of the poem, it says, "A flea kills ten thousand people. The bones were bare in the field, and there was no one among them, and there was no crowing. There are hundreds of people left behind, and their thoughts are broken. " Poets appeared, lamenting that "Wanxing" and "Sheng Min" suffered from the war disaster, resulting in a large number of deaths. Bai Gujing is not fabricated out of thin air, but a profound summary of reality, so these four sentences have become famous throughout the ages. What is most worthy of our attention is the poet's statement that "reading breaks people's intestines", which shows a profound humanitarian stance.
Having said that, a question that needs to be discussed is: Is the "sadness" feeling of sympathy for the people shown in Cao Cao's poems an expression of his true feelings? This question is raised because Cao Cao is a famous "adulterer in troubled times", and he is "treacherous" or "arrogant" on many occasions. Then, what he called "sadness", "sadness" and "reading cuts people's intestines" in his poems may also be "derailment"? In this regard, we say that Cao Cao's character does have two sides, but it is impossible to "cheat" everything and "cheat" all the time. If a person has no integrity in doing anything, then no one wants to work for him, and he will never become a climate. The truth of Cao Cao's feelings can only be judged by objective analysis. Taking the two articles "Journey to the Autumn House" and "Hao" as examples, Cao Cao's writing at that time stood on the standpoint of opposing consorts, eunuchs and warlord Dong Zhuo to disrupt state affairs. At that time, he claimed that "we are the masses and soldiers of Xingyi" (Wei Zhi quoted Wang Shen's Shu Wei), which was reasonable, so we should admit that he had some justice, at least in his own mind. In the military action against Dong Zhuo by the powerful people in Kanto, Yuan Shao and others were afraid of Dong Zhuo's Kansai Army and wanted to preserve their strength, so they stood by and stood still. But Cao Cao knew that he was weak, so he stood up and said to Yuan Shao, "All the troops are from the north, and I am from the west" (ibid.) and fought alone. Although he was defeated, he won respect, although he was defeated. At this time, Cao Cao's performance was in sharp contrast with other Kanto warlords, and he really showed his righteous spirit. In this context, poems describing the cruelty of war and expressing sympathy for the suffering and unfortunate fate of ordinary people should not be regarded as the product of "deception". It is not a compliment to say that they show humanitarianism.
Another feature of Cao Cao's poetry is that it is full of generous and sad mood. In his poems, he wrote a strong and sad emotional atmosphere with words such as "sadness", "sadness" and "injury". Zhong Rong's "Poetry" has long pointed out: "Cao Gong is ancient and straight, and there are extremely sad sentences." In addition to the above-mentioned "Lu Luxing" and "Hao", Cao Cao's "short" is "generous and unforgettable" and "worry comes from it, and it is endless"; "Autumn Hu Xing" wrote, "What do you want?" And so on. "Generous but unforgettable" is actually Cao Cao's self-summary of his poetic style. His Sorrow in Cold is a masterpiece expressing anxiety and sadness;
The northern army boarded the Taihang Mountain. How difficult it is to climb this high mountain! Sakamoto Road is a bumpy road with bumpy wheels. The wind whistling in the trees and the north wind howling in sorrow. When the bear was on the sidewalk, tigers and leopards stood on both sides of the street howling. There are few people in the valley and heavy snow is falling. Looking up, the long voice sighed, and the long journey was continuous. How sad I am and I really want to go back to my hometown. The bridge is too deep to enter, and the army is on the road. Lost in marching, there is no place to stay at night. Walking, walking, a long day, the tired horse is hungry and hungry. He walked along the side of the wolves, chopping wood and cutting ice to fill his stomach. Thinking of the poem Dongshan deeply touched my grief.
This was written when he personally signed Gao Qian, nephew of Yuan Shaozhi. Gao Qian occupied Bingzhou (now Shaanxi), and Cao Cao set out from Yecheng and marched in the direction of "going north to Taihang Mountain". The actual situation at that time was very favorable to him. The enemy is weak and we are strong. The contrast is obvious. But in this poem, we see that he wrote a lot about the disadvantages in marching. The climate, terrain, roads and natural environment are so steep and harsh that even animals such as bears, tigers and leopards seem to show serious hostility to me. Faced with the shortage of military food, the loss of roads and the fatigue and hunger of the people, he openly wrote his own sad mood: "The sound of the north wind is sad" and "It has made me sad for a long time". He even said "I want to go back to the East", and I have the idea of going back. Cao Cao wrote not the desire to defeat the enemy, nor the belief to win, but a lot of difficulties and hardships, so he was not afraid to surrender? In fact, these will of course be considered by Cao Cao. He has no doubt that he will win the war. He clearly knew that Gao Qian was at the end of his rope and was no match for him. It is precisely because he is sure of winning that he dares to write "I want to return to the east" and "I feel sorry for the commander". He is not worried about the morale of the army. What's more, the poem "Tragedy of Dongshan" he wrote was written by Duke Zhou himself, and "The Book of Songs, Wind and Dongshan" was written by Duke Zhou, and Cao Cao's idea of writing this article was to follow Dongshan. The idea is: "A gentleman cares about people's feelings, so saying (Yue) is also to make people forget their death, and it is just Dongshan!" (Preface to Mao Shi) It turns out that Cao Cao tried his best to describe the hardships and hardships of military life, which was an understanding and comfort to the feelings (difficulties) of soldiers. The purpose is to make soldiers happy ("say"), and then they can be used by him to encourage them to "forget death" and be brave. Cao Cao's attitude here is to respect reality and be considerate of soldiers, which is probably more effective than the so-called "inspiring" high-profile, and can motivate subordinates to work for him and improve the combat effectiveness of the army. I think this is also the genius of Cao Cao.
I think the generous and sad mood in Cao Cao's poems mainly comes from two aspects. The first is the source of real life. He was born in the period of war at the end of Han Dynasty, when the society was devastated and devastated, the people's livelihood was depressed and the social environment was full of sadness. If he wants to express his feelings truly, he can only focus on sadness. The second is the traditional source. Since the Han dynasty, there has been an orientation of "taking sadness as beauty" in the field of literature and art. Wang Chong said: "Beauty in different aspects is better than eyes; Sad sounds are faster than ears. " (On Heng Ji Zi) Sadness has become synonymous with beautiful mood. We look at 19 ancient poems at the end of the Han Dynasty, and most of them are based on sadness, such as "If you are born less than a hundred years, you will always be worried about the eternal", "If you are too worried, you will know the column", "You will be too worried to sleep, and your clothes will wander", etc., all of which show the author's deep aesthetic consciousness that sadness is the beauty. The sadness in Cao Cao's poems is also the expression of traditional aesthetic consciousness in his creation, which makes Cao Cao's poems form a unique style: generosity and sadness. Generosity is full of * * *, and sadness is deep sadness. The generous and sad style adds a profound charm to Cao Cao's poems, which is particularly touching.
Generally speaking, Cao Cao's poetic achievements are not under Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. In Qing Dynasty, Wu Qiao thought: "Wei Wu has been fighting all his life, how can he still have time to study poetry? The essence of the old key is also beyond the reach of Jian' an talents. " ("Poetry Around the Furnace" Volume II)