Cao Zhi

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Cao Zhi

Portrait of Cao Zhi from a Qing Dynasty edition of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Born 192
Died 232
Occupation Poet
Literary movement Jian An

Cao Zhi (Chinese: 曹植 192 – 232) was a Chinese poet during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period. His poetry style, greatly revered during the Jin Dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasties, came to be known as the jian'an style.

Cao Zhi was also the son of the powerful warlord Cao Cao. Together with his elder brother Cao Pi, they were the strongest contestants for their father's position. Cao Pi eventually succeeded Cao Cao in 220 and within a year declared himself the first emperor of the Kingdom of Wei. Like many powerful families, tension among brothers was high. In his later life, Cao Zhi was not allowed to meddle in politics, despite his many petitions to seek office.

Contents

[edit] Life

Names
Simplified Chinese 曹植
Traditional Chinese 曹植
Pinyin Cáo Zhí
Wade-Giles Ts'ao Chih
Zi Zijian (子建)

Born in 192, Cao Zhi was the third son of the powerful warlord Cao Cao and Princess Bian. According to the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Zhi could recite the Shi Jing, Analects and more than ten thousand verses worth of poems before he even turned twenty. His literary talent made him a favorite son of Cao Cao in the early stage of his life.

However, Cao Zhi was an impetuous man with little self-discipline. He was also a heavy drinker. On the other hand, his elder brother Cao Pi was a shrewd man who knew how to feign emotions at the right times. Cao Pi also enjoyed a much closer relationship to the servants and subjects around Cao Cao, and they spoke well of him. In 217, Cao Cao eventually picked Cao Pi to succeed himself. This further aggravated Cao Zhi's already eccentric behavior. He once rode his chariot along the road reserved for the emperor and through the front gate of the palace. This infuriated his father, who sentenced the chariot driver to death.

Having chosen a successor, Cao Cao took measures to emasculate other contestants. He did this by executing Yang Xiu, a chief advisor to Cao Zhi. This greatly unsettled Cao Zhi, but failed to jolt him back to his senses. On the contrary, he sank further into his drunken habits. In 219, Cao Cao's cousin and leading general Cao Ren was besieged at Fancheng (樊城, present day Xiangfan, Hubei) by the enemy general Guan Yu. Cao Cao named Cao Zhi to lead a relief force to the rescue, in the hope that the task would instill into the latter a sense of responsibility. However, Cao Zhi was so drunk that he could not come forth to take the order. Cao Cao then gave up on this son.

Within months, Cao Cao died. One of the first things Cao Pi did was to do away with Ding Yi (丁仪) and Ding Yi (丁廙), two firm supporters of Cao Zhi. He also sent Cao Zhi, along with the other brothers, away from the capital and prohibited them from taking part in central political issues or even communicating with one another.

Prospects for Cao Zhi did not improve after Cao Pi died in 226. He wrote to the second Wei emperor Cao Rui many times, seeking a position to apply his talents. In 232, he even sought a private meeting with Cao Rui to discuss politics. However, Cao Rui probably still considered him a threat to the throne and declined all the offers. Severely depressed by the setbacks, Cao Zhi soon died of illness, leaving behind instructions for a simple burial.

[edit] Poetry

Despite his failure in politics, Cao Zhi was hailed as one of the representatives of the poetic style of his time, together with his father Cao Cao, his elder brother Cao Pi and several other poets. Their poems formed the backbone of what was to be known as the jian'an style (建安風骨). The civil strife towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty gave the jian'an poems their characteristic solemn yet heart-stirring tone, while lament over the ephemerality of life was also a central theme of works from this period. In terms of the history of Chinese literature, the jian'an poems were a transition from the early folksongs into scholarly poetry.

Although jian'an refers to the time between 196 and 220, Cao Zhi's poems could in fact be categorized into two periods, with the year 220 as the watershed. The earlier period consisted of poems that expressed his ambitions. These poems were optimistic and romantic in nature. On the other hand, his setbacks in political pursuits after the death of his father in 220 gave rise to the grievous tone of his later works.

More than ninety poems by Cao Zhi remain today, more than sixty of which are five-character poems (五言詩). These are held in high esteem for their significant influence over the development of five-character poetry in later ages. The most complete collection of Cao Zhi's poems and other literary works is Chen Si Wang Ji (陳思王集, Collection of King Si of Chen), compiled during the Ming Dynasty. One of Cao Zhi's most celebrated poems is On the White Horse. Written in the early years of his life, the poem portrayed a young warrior who answered fearlessly to the need of his country and reflected Cao Zhi's own aspiration to contribute to his times.

On the White Horse
《白馬篇》

A white horse, in a halter of gold,
Galloping swiftly to the northwest.
白馬飾金羈，連翩西北馳。

Ask which family's son is the rider –
A noble knight, who hails from You and Bing.
借問誰家子，幽幷遊俠兒。

He left his home in early youth, and now,
His name is known throughout the deserts.
少小去鄉邑，揚聲沙漠垂。

Morning and evening he clutches his bow;
How many arrows hang at his side!
宿昔秉良弓，楛矢何参差。

He pulls his bow -- the left-hand target is pierced,
He shoots at the right and cuts it through.
控弦破左的，右發摧月支。

Upwards his arrows seek the flying monkeys,
Downward they destroy another object.
仰手接飛猱，俯身散馬蹄。

His dexterity surpasses that of monkeys,
His courage that of leopard or dragon.
狡捷過猴猿，勇剽若豹螭。

Alarms are heard from the frontier!
Northern tribesmen pour into the country in their thousands.
邊城多警急，胡虏數遷移。

Letters are sent from the north, and
Reining his horse he clambers up the hill.
羽檄从北來，厲馬登高堤。

He charges Hun soldiers to the right;
Looking left he assaults the Xianbei.
長驅蹈匈奴，左顧陵鲜卑。

He's staked himself on the edge of his sword;
How can he treasure his life?
弃身鋒刃端，性命安可懷。

Even his father and mother he puts at the back of his mind,
Let alone his children and wife.
父母且不顧，何言子与妻。

If his name is to enter the roll of the heroes,
He can't be concerned about personal matters.
名編壯士籍，不得中顧私。

Giving up his life for the sake of his country,
He looks toward death as a journey home...
捐軀赴國難，視死忽如歸。

Translation by Wu Fusheng and Gradham Hartill

Ironically, Cao Zhi's most famous poem was found in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. Often mistitled The Quatrain of Seven Steps after a real poem by Cao Zhi, it was presented without a title but with slight variations in the novel. Furthermore, Cao Zhi was said to have formulated the poem without having to think twice. (See below)

[edit] Cao Zhi in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, was a romanticization of the events that occurred before and during the Three Kingdoms period. Exploiting the complicated relationship among the Cao Cao's sons, especially Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, Luo Guanzhong was able to create a palace scenario where the elder brother, having succeeded his father, tried to do away with his younger brother.

After the death of Cao Cao, Cao Zhi failed to turn up for the funeral. Men sent by Cao Pi found Cao Zhi drunk in his own house. Cao Zhi was then bound and brought to Cao Pi. When Empress Bian, their common birth mother, heard of this, she went to Cao Pi and pleaded for the life of her younger son. Cao Pi agreed.

However, Cao Pi's Chief Secretary (相国) Hua Xin then convinced him to put Cao Zhi's literary talent to a test. If Cao Zhi failed the test, it would be excuse enough to put him to death, Hua Xin suggested.

Cao Pi agreed and held audience with Cao Zhi, who in great trepidation bowed low and confessed his faults. On the wall there was a painting of two oxen fighting, one of which was falling into a well. Cao Pi told his brother to make a poem based on the painting after walking seven paces. However, the poem was not to contain explicit reference to the subjects of the drawing.

Cao Zhi took seven paces as instructed, and the poem was already formulated in his heart. He then recited:

Two butcher's victims lowing walked along,
Each head bore cuving bones, a sturdy pair.
兩肉齊道行，頭上帶凸骨。 两肉齐道行，头上带凸骨。

They met just by a hillock, both were strong,
Each would avoid a pit newly-dug there.
相遇塊山下，欻起相搪突。 相遇块山下，欻起相搪突。

They fought unequal battle, for at length
One lay below a gory mess, inert.
二敵不俱剛，一肉臥土窟 二敌不俱刚，一肉卧土窟。

'Twas not that they were of unequal strength –
Though wrathful both, one did not strength exert.
非是力不如，盛氣不泄畢 非是力不如，盛气不泄毕。

Translation by C. H. Brewitt-Taylor

However, Cao Pi was not satisfied. He then bade Cao Zhi make another poem on the spot based on their fraternal relationship, without using the word "brother". Not taking a second to think, Cao Zhi recited:

They were boiling beans on a beanstalk fire,
Came a plaintive voice from the pot.
煮豆燃豆萁，豆在釜中泣。

"O why, since we sprang from the selfsame root,
Should you kill me with anger hot?"
本是同根生，相煎何太急！

Translation by C. H. Brewitt-Taylor

Having heard this, Cao Pi was moved to tears. He then let his brother go after merely degrading the peerage of the latter as a punishment.

[edit] The Cao clan

For a complete list, see Cao Cao.

[edit] Direct descendant

  • Cao Zhi (曹志)

[edit] Immediate family

[edit] Extended family

[edit] Modern references

In the 2002 TVB produced serial, Where the Legend Begins 洛神, Cao Zhi is portrayed as the protagonist and shown to be a man of high intelligence and compassion. Hong Kong actor Steven Ma acted out the role of Cao Zhi in the series.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

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