What is Jian'an Literature?

Jian'an literature refers to the literature of Jian'an period in the late Han Dynasty.

During the Jian'an period, many warlords fought in separatist regimes, causing great disasters to the people. The warlord who won in this period was Cao Cao. In order to expand the foundation of their rule, some small and medium-sized landlords represented by Cao Cao adopted new policies in terms of political culture. They themselves live in the vortex of the turbulent era, and their works reflect the spirit of the times, the turbulent social reality and express their ambition to make contributions. Poetry, in particular, won the first harvest of literati creation and created a brilliant era of poetry creation. Later generations called the literary style of this period "Jian'an style".

Jian'an is an era in the history of Chinese literature, in which a large number of writers and works emerge. Among them, the most famous are "three CAOS" and "seven sons".

Three CAOS refer to Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi and his son. Cao Cao's poems more express his ambition and enterprising spirit, such as "although the tortoise lives", "short song line", "watching the sea" and so on.

"Seven sons" refer to Kong Rong, Wang can, Liu Zhen, Chen Lin, Ruan Wang Yu, Xu Gan and Ying! Seven. Although they came from different backgrounds and experienced different experiences, they all went through the turmoil in the late Han Dynasty, then attached to Cao Cao and wanted to rely on him to do some business. This kind of thought is reflected in their works. Among them, Wang can achieved the highest achievement. His poem of seven sorrows truly reflects the tragic situation of the war and shows the author's deep sympathy for the people; "Poems on joining the army" shows the ideal of making contributions. In addition to these writers, Fu also wrote many poems and prose.

Jian'an literature has made great achievements and has a great impact on later generations.