Cao Zhi Composing Poetry - China - second half of the 17th century

Cao Zhi Composing Poetry - China - second half of the 17th century

The link: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/77025 -  Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Printed Image in China: From the 8th to the 21st Centuries," May 5–July 29, 2012.

This print depicts Cao Zhi (192–232), a renowned poet with a tragic life, as a fragile youth standing on the foreground stairs. Resented for his literary talent by his powerful elder brother, the large figure sitting at the table, he was ordered to compose a poem within the time span of seven steps or suffer capital punishment. The monumental landscape screen transforms the finely detailed terrace into a stagelike space in which the human drama plays out.

---

Bequeathed to British Library by Sir Hans Sloane (1660 - 1753), part of Sloane manuscript 5293. Transferred from the Library to the British Museum in 1906.

-

About - Cao Zhi (192-232 AD) was a Chinese poet of the Han Dynasty.

He was the third son of the famous military commander Cao Cao, a prominent figure in Chinese history and one of the main characters in the epic novel "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Cao Zhi is known for his literary skills, especially in composing poems.

Cao Zhi is recognized for his poetic skill, and his poems often express intense emotions, philosophical reflections, and observations of nature. His works are considered an important part of classical Chinese literature.

One of his most famous works is “Ode to the Splendid Peacock”. This poem is an expression of his emotions and feelings regarding the decline of the Han dynasty, and he compares the beauty of the peacock to the lost splendor of the dynasty.

Cao Zhi is known for his participation in the famous "Dispute for the Throne" (Xuanjuan zhi zheng), a legendary event in which the brothers Cao Zhi and Cao Pi, Cao Cao's eldest son, fought for the right to inherit the throne of their father.  Cao Zhi is said to have presented a poem called "The Splendid Peacock" as part of his argument.

After his defeat in the Throne Contest, Cao Zhi was not executed by his brother, but his later life is less documented. He continued to write poetry and, after his death, his literary work was preserved and appreciated throughout the centuries.

Cao Zhi is remembered as one of the great poets of ancient China, and his contributions to classical Chinese poetry are still studied and appreciated.

source: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/77025

https://open.substack.com/pub/edisonmariotti/p/cao-zhi-composing-poetry?r=cfnp3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Zhi