Cao Pi was the founding emperor of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, and he was also a brilliant writer and literary theorist. His Dian Lun Thesis is one of the important representatives of literary theory criticism monographs in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
In Dian Lun Papers, Cao Pi put forward the literary creation idea of "seeking beauty", that is, poetry and fu should pursue beautiful, gorgeous and exquisite artistic forms in order to achieve profound and outstanding artistic effects. He believes that literary works should not only have superb skills and expressive language, but also be able to accurately express the author's thoughts and feelings, thus producing appeal and shock.
Cao Pi made extensive analysis and comments on ancient literary works in Dian Lun Thesis, and put forward many enlightening and targeted viewpoints. He emphasized that the formal beauty and connotative beauty of literary works complement each other, and only by combining them can real artistic value and aesthetic effect be produced.
In a word, Dian Lun Thesis is an important work in the history of China literature, which has a far-reaching influence on the literary development and artistic creation of later generations. Cao Pi's literary creation thought of "desiring beauty" pointed out the direction for the development of literary and art circles in later generations and became one of the important milestones in the history of ancient China literature.
Characteristics of literature in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties
From the literary theories and literary criticism works in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, we can see a new literary trend of thought, which is to distinguish literature from scholarship, and then explore the characteristics of literature, the classification of literature itself, the law of literary creation and the value of literature. Confucian poetry in the Han Dynasty is dominant, emphasizing the relationship between poetry and political education. Poetry is regarded as a tool for "being a wife, filial piety, love, educating beauty and changing customs" (Preface to Poetry).
As for the characteristics and laws of poetry itself, it has not attracted due attention. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, poetics got rid of the shackles of Confucian classics, and the direction of the whole literary trend of thought was to get rid of the need of political education emphasized by Confucianism and find the significance of independent existence of literature.
At this time, some brand-new concepts and theories are put forward, such as style, verve, image, the relationship between words and meaning, and the relationship between form and spirit. , formed the aesthetic thought of emphasizing image, style and charm. Poetry seeks meaning, pleasure seeks meaning, and painting seeks interest outside the image. This conscious aesthetic pursuit of communication among various literary forms marks the arrival of a new literary era.
The literary creation of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was carried out under the influence of this new literary trend of thought, which also provided a practical basis for this literary trend of thought. A remarkable feature of literary creation in this period is that the demand for serving political education has weakened, and literature has become a personal behavior, expressing personal life experiences and emotions. Fu evolved from Da Fu in Han Dynasty.