Wèi Wéndì jí 魏文帝集
Collected Works of Emperor Wen of Wei (Reconstructed) by 曹丕 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the literary writings of Cáo Pī 曹丕 (188–227 CE), Emperor Wén 文帝 of the Wèi 魏 dynasty. Organized in five juǎn, the collection opens with the 〈短歌行〉 “仰瞻帷幕” (Looking up at the curtained canopy — Cáo Pī’s version, distinct from Cáo Cāo’s famous 〈短歌行〉 “對酒當歌”), followed by yuefu ballads (〈秋胡行〉, 〈善哉行〉, 〈丹霞蔽日行〉, etc.) and prose fù (〈愁霖賦〉, 〈喜霽賦〉, 〈浮淮賦〉 with Jiàn’ān 建安 date markers), imperial edicts drawn from Wèi zhì 魏志 biographies, and other court compositions. Citations throughout are drawn from Sòng shū 宋書 Yuèzhì 樂志, Lèifǔ shījí 樂府詩集, Lèi jù 類聚, Shī jì 詩紀 (juǎn 12), and Wén xuǎn 文選. Compiled by Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 for his Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集. This jíyìběn is distinct from the transmitted Wèi Wéndì jí held elsewhere; the Kānripo corpus does not include a separate WYG edition of Cáo Pī’s collected works.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Cáo Pī 曹丕 (188–227 CE; zì Zǐhuán 子桓; CBDB id 30261), posthumously Emperor Wén of Wèi 魏文帝, was the eldest surviving son of Cáo Cāo 曹操. He founded the Wèi dynasty by forcing the abdication of the last Hàn emperor (220 CE) and reigned until his death in 227 CE. His biography is in Sān guó zhì (Wèishū, juǎn 2). As Wilkinson cites: “Literary works are the greatest accomplishment in the workings of a state, a splendor that never decays” — Cáo Pī’s own words from the Diǎnlùn 典論 Lùnwén 論文 (Chinese History: A New Manual, §26.7, §27.4: Cao Pi, Dianlun, Lunwen). See 曹丕 for full biography.
Cáo Pī occupies a foundational place in Chinese literary history for two reasons. First, his Diǎnlùn 典論 — specifically its Lùnwén 論文 chapter — is the earliest systematic piece of literary criticism in Chinese, offering assessments of each of the Seven Masters and enunciating the principle that literary achievement constitutes a form of immortality (bùxiǔ zhī shèngshì 不朽之盛事). Second, his 〈燕歌行〉 (Song of Yan) is the earliest complete seven-character (qīyán 七言) poem in Chinese literature. He also composed a substantial body of yuefu ballads, fù, letters, and imperial edicts. Cáo Pī’s 〈與吳質書〉 (Letter to Wu Zhi), which mourns the deaths of the Seven Masters in 217 CE, is a landmark of epistolary literature and a primary source for understanding the Jiàn’ān literary milieu. The Suíshū Jīngjí zhì records a collected works in twenty-three juǎn (lost). Zhāng Pǔ’s reconstruction assembles surviving verse and prose. The standard reconstruction of his poetry is in Lù Qīnlì 逯欽立’s Xiān-Qín Hàn Wèi Jìn Nánběicháo shī 先秦漢魏晉南北朝詩 (Zhōnghuá, 1983).
Translations and research
- Tian, Xiaofei. The Halberd at Red Cliff: Jian’an and the Three Kingdoms. Harvard University Press, 2018. Wide-ranging study of how the Jiàn’ān era became part of the Chinese cultural imaginary.
- Owen, Stephen. Readings in Chinese Literary Thought. Harvard University Asia Center, 1992. Includes translation and commentary on the Diǎnlùn 典論 Lùnwén 論文.
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. Entry on Cao Pi.
- Lù Qīnlì 逯欽立, ed. Xiān-Qín Hàn Wèi Jìn Nánběicháo shī 先秦漢魏晉南北朝詩. 3 vols. Zhōnghuá, 1983.
Links
- Wikipedia: Cao Pi