Wèi Wǔdì jí 魏武帝集
Collected Works of Emperor Wu of Wei (Cao Cao, Supplementary Reconstruction) by 曹操 (撰)
About the work
A supplementary reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the literary writings of Cáo Cāo 曹操 (155–220 CE), posthumously Emperor Wǔ 武帝 of Wèi. Organized in seven juǎn, the collection opens with the 〈短歌行〉 (Short Song: “長安高城…”), a version distinct from the famous “對酒當歌” 〈短歌行〉. Further contents include the 〈秋胡行〉, 〈惟漢行〉, 〈豔歌行〉 (beginning with the Qin Luofu narrative, “日出東南隅，照我秦氏樓”), 〈長歌行〉, and other yuefu ballads, all cited from Shī jì 詩紀 (juǎn 22), Lèifǔ shījí 樂府詩集, and Lèi jù 類聚. This text is distinct from and supplementary to the primary Cáo Cāo jíyìběn KR4b0020 in the Kānripo corpus. Compiled by Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 for his Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集.
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 Cāo 曹操 (155–220 CE; childhood name Āmǎn 阿瞞; CBDB id in KB; posthumously Emperor Wǔ of Wèi 魏武帝) was the dominant political and military figure of the late Hàn–Three Kingdoms transition. As Wilkinson notes, the childhood name A-man 阿瞞 is “one of the best known in all of Chinese history” (Chinese History: A New Manual, §22.2). He served as Chancellor (chéngxiàng 丞相) of the Hàn from 208 CE and effectively controlled the empire, though the formal founding of the Wèi dynasty was completed by his son Cáo Pī after his death. His biography is in Sān guó zhì (Wèishū, juǎn 1) and he features prominently throughout that work. See 曹操 for full biography.
Cáo Cāo was also one of the most accomplished poets of his era. His yuefu verse — drawing on older ballad forms but infusing them with personal political and philosophical reflection — is distinctive for its directness and emotional weight. The 〈短歌行〉 “對酒當歌” (the version beginning “Drinking wine, let us sing…”), in which he invokes the image of the Han statesman Zhōu Gōng 周公 who never refused a guest, is one of the most celebrated poems in Chinese literature and a centerpiece of the Three Kingdoms literary imaginary. The 〈龜雖壽〉 (Though the Turtle Lives Long) and 〈觀滄海〉 (Gazing at the Vast Sea) are similarly canonical. His writing is discussed in Cáo Pī’s Diǎnlùn 典論 in terms appropriate to the father’s august stature. Wilkinson cites the Battle of Red Cliffs and Cáo Cāo’s defeat as the defining event of Three Kingdoms history (Chinese History: A New Manual, §21.2; further, Eikenberry 1995). A larger jíyìběn reconstruction is cataloged as KR4b0020; the present text (7 juǎn) represents Zhāng Pǔ’s supplementary anthology of ballad verse, drawing on citation traditions separate from those used in the primary reconstruction. 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.
- Eikenberry, Karl W. “Cao Cao: Ancient China’s Military Master.” Military History 12.1 (1995): 38–44.
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. Entry on Cao Cao.
- 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 Cao