In the history of China literature, Jian 'an literature attracted the attention of later generations with its brand-new and distinctive style. Represented by Three Caos (Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi) and Seven Sons, all writers have made extraordinary achievements, each leading the way. Among them, the most famous is Cao Zhi. Cao Zhi is the fourth son of Cao Cao, and Cao Pi is just like his mother and brother. He was named King Chen, and he was named "forbearance" on earth. Cao Zhi's literary talent is better than his brother Cao Pi's, but his political talent is inferior. In addition, his straightforward and simple personality led to his failure in political struggle and his later life. He had no choice but to serve his country, and finally he was depressed. It can be said that his "no progress, willfulness" character led to his tragedy.
Cao Zhi was born at the beginning of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty, and the world was in chaos. He joined the army with his father since childhood. As he himself said, "He was born in troubled times and grew up in the army." He experienced the war, got in touch with the vast social reality, and accumulated very rich materials for his creation. During the Jian 'an period, Cao Cao gradually unified the Central Plains, and he recruited many literary scholars to facilitate the development of literature. Cao Zhi has greatly developed his literary talent in this literary atmosphere. Taking Jian 'an as the boundary, his creation is divided into two periods: the early stage is relaxing and the later stage is expressing personal misfortune. This has nothing to do with his personality.
Cao Zhi used to be a rich boy and lived a decadent life of cockfighting and feasting. "Cockfighting" said: "The long banquet is for the audience, and the cockfighting is a leisure room." You can say you have nothing to do all day. "Mingdu" has: "Cockfighting in the eastern suburbs takes a long time." However, he is not completely addicted to this game of cockfighting all day. Some early poems can show the initiative spirit, such as "White Horse", which describes the heroic spirit of eager to fight on the battlefield and die for the country. Others are generous, such as gifts for rockett. Elegance and generosity were the ethos of Jian 'an at that time, not just friends of Cao. This is related to the chaos in the world at that time, people have many opportunities to make contributions, and generous and heroic emotions are overflowing. Besides, Cao Cao, a living model, is an example that people are eager to create a career. This is also one of the reasons why Cao Zhi never forgets to try his hand at the table and hopes to show his political ambitions.
In the early period of Jian 'an, Cao Zhi was favored by Cao Cao because of his extraordinary talent and literary attainments. When Tongquetai was completed, Cao Cao asked his sons to contribute, which suddenly caught Cao Cao's attention and made him "different". "It's hard to ask every time I see it, so I will answer, I love it." Therefore, Cao Cao wanted to appoint Cao Zhi as his successor, thinking that he was "the most important event" and had high hopes for him. At this rate, he will succeed Cao Cao. But it happened that his poet's innocence and frankness were gradually rejected by Cao Cao and lost his favor, which attracted Cao Pi's suspicion of him.
Cao Cao cherishes literary talents very much, which can be seen from his seducing scholars in the government and going to the desert to redeem Cai Wenji. But as a politician and strategist, he pays more attention to political quality. He doesn't want to give up his hard-working life. He gradually discovered Cao Zhi's bad habits, such as "willfulness, lack of self-encouragement, and improper drinking". As a poet, Cao Zhi's practice and personality are understandable, and most people will think that this is the poet's special. But as a successor to a politician, he is too unstable, easy to give people a handle and difficult to convince the public.
With the above shortcomings, Cao Cao lost his capital in his eyes. Even without Cao Pi's "relying on technology" to raise himself and belittle Cao Zhi, Cao Cao would not consider passing the throne to Cao Zhi. In addition, Cao Pi, who is alert, bought off people's hearts and caused imperial secretary to put in a good word for him. It is also inevitable that Cao Cao will gradually tilt the balance to xelloss. This method of Cao Pi was later imitated by Yang Di, which paved the way for him to ascend to the throne. The difference is that Yong Yang finally failed to escape, but Cao Zhi saved his life.
Cao Zhikong has political ambitions, but he has no political mind. After losing his father's favor, he didn't know it, and he continued to act willfully. For example, on one occasion, he privately "rode in the middle of the road and opened Sima Gate." This is obviously not according to the system! Cao Cao, who originally thought that Cao Zhi was "the most important person in the family", was greatly annoyed and completely changed his view of Cao Zhi.
Probably trying to warn Cao Zhi and remind his subordinates not to forget their duties. Cao Cao killed Yang Xiu, Cao Zhi's proud adviser. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Yang Xiu's "tasteless food, but a pity to abandon it" made Cao Cao understand. Let Cao Cao feel threatened and hang Yang Xiu's head at the gate of the camp on charges of shaking the morale of the army. Cao Zhi was deeply shaken. At this moment, Cao Zhi has lost his father's trust.
Cao Pi took the opportunity to hit people when they were down. When Cao Cao sent Cao Zhi to rescue Cao Ren who was besieged by Guan Yu, Cao Zhi was "driven as drunk as a fiddler" by Cao Pi before leaving. Cao Cao wanted to summon Cao Zhi, but Cao Zhi, who was too drunk to accept orders, undoubtedly added a few points to Cao Cao's bad impression of Cao Zhi. Cao Zhi's lack of political mind can be seen here again.
After Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor, his doubts about Cao Zhi deepened and he was always looking for opportunities to kill his heart. On one occasion, he sternly asked Cao Zhi to write a seven-step poem, deliberately making things difficult for him. Cao Zhi wrote "Seven Steps Poetry": "Boil beans and burn barrels, and simmer black beans for juice. The dustpan burns under the kettle, and the beans weep in the kettle. This is the same root, why rush to speculate with each other? " Using the metaphor of eating peas and carrots to compare eating people is a mockery of Cao Pi, which contains infinite sorrow. Finally, without the maintenance of the queen mother, it is estimated that Cao Zhi will also be doomed. Because with Cao Pi's character and ability, it is not difficult to find some flaws in the poem.
Since then, Cao Zhi has been living in distress, repeatedly being demoted, moving around and living in poverty. But the pain of the body is not as painful as the trauma of the mind. In the fourth year of Huang Chu, his ministers went to Beijing to appear before the emperor. Cao Zhang, the king of Rencheng, suddenly died of illness, and the cause of death was unknown. Where are you going? A brother went back to San Francisco with the White Horse King, and was interfered by the company. He felt very sad. "White Horse to Wang Biao" said that "flies are white and black, and friends are clever", but they still have reservations about their eldest brother, Cao Pi, for one thing, the environment is sinister, and for another, they still have fantasies in their hearts, dreams of blood relationship. The Ode to Luoshen, written in the third year of Huang, expresses the loss, sadness and depression of disillusionment of good wishes, and there is no way to complain.
During the reign of Cao Rui, his nephew, Cao Zhi still did not give up his efforts to "make contributions and make contributions forever", and went to ask for self-examination forms, relatives' forms and Chen Shenju's forms successively. The words are earnest and sincere. After Cao Pi's iron cage rule, although Cao Zhi's thought has a hidden side, it also shows frankness to his nephew, although it is not as "willful" as before, which is a bit risky. Maybe it was a provocation or something. It's a pity that Cao Rui,' s had to die in despair.
Throughout his life, Cao Zhi's achievements were in calligraphy and ci-fu. He had great political ambitions, but he was trapped by his personality and acted spontaneously, resulting in ruin.