Writing
Tongquetai Fu 銅雀臺賦
About this item
The Tongquetai Fu is the rhapsody (fu) that Cao Cao's son Cao Zhi composed after climbing the Bronze Sparrow Terrace at Ye. Chen Shou's text records that when the Bronze Sparrow Terrace was newly completed, Cao Cao took all his sons up the terrace and had each of them compose a rhapsody, and that the piece Cao Zhi composed the moment he took up his brush was worth reading, so that Cao Cao found him most remarkable. The Romance turns it, in Chapter 44, into a scene in which Zhuge Liang recites this rhapsody and holds it up as proof that Cao Cao intends to keep the two Qiao women of Jiangdong on the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, enraging Zhou Yu. Records, Wei 19 §12Romance, Ch. 44 §15–18 · 22
Chen Shou's text records this event in Cao Zhi's biography in Records of Wei 19, and the Wei Chronicle (Wei Ji), quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary, gives the text of the rhapsody. The Romance gives its text in Chapter 44 under the name "Rhapsody on the Bronze Sparrow Terrace". Records, Wei 19 §12Romance, Ch. 44 §17–21
In the Records
Cao Zhi's biography records that at little more than ten years of age he could recite the Book of Songs, the Analects and several hundred thousand words of rhapsodies and odes, and wrote well. When Cao Cao, having looked at his writing, asked whether he had had someone else write it for him, Cao Zhi knelt and said that when he spoke it became discourse and when he set brush to paper it became composition, and asked to be tested in person. At that time the Bronze Sparrow Terrace at Ye had just been completed, and Cao Cao took all his sons up the terrace and had each of them compose a rhapsody; the piece Cao Zhi composed the moment he took up his brush was worth reading, and Cao Cao found him most remarkable. Records, Wei 19 §12
The Annals of Emperor Wu record that the Bronze Sparrow Terrace was built in the winter of the 15th year of Jian'an (210). The Wei Chronicle, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary, gives Cao Zhi's rhapsody: beginning with lines about following the enlightened ruler in his excursions and climbing the tiered terrace for delight, it sings of the lofty gates and the twin watchtowers, the pavilions linked as far as the western wall, the long flow of the river below and the flourishing gardens, praises Cao Cao's virtue by saying that even the glory of Duke Huan and Duke Wen cannot compare with his sagely brilliance, and, after a line wishing him an age equal to that of the King of the East, is cut short with "and so on". The Wei Chronicle also says that Cao Cao, on seeing it, found it most remarkable. Records, Wei 1 §107–108Records, Wei 19 §12
In the Romance
In Chapter 34 of the Romance, Cao Cao digs up a bronze sparrow at a spot where golden light shone, and when Xun You says it is a good omen, he orders a high terrace built to celebrate it and begins building the Bronze Sparrow Terrace on the bank of the Zhang River. His youngest son, Cao Zhi, proposes that if tiered terraces are to be built, the tall one in the middle should be called Bronze Sparrow, the one on the left Jade Dragon and the one on the right Golden Phoenix, linked by two flying bridges, and Cao Cao approves. Romance, Ch. 34 §1–2
In Chapter 44, Zhuge Liang tells Zhou Yu that Cao Cao has newly built the Bronze Sparrow Terrace on the Zhang River and wants to obtain the two daughters of Lord Qiao of Jiangdong, Daqiao and Xiaoqiao, and keep them on the terrace, so that if the two women are sent to him he will withdraw. When Zhou Yu asks for proof, Zhuge Liang says that the "Rhapsody on the Bronze Sparrow Terrace", composed by Cao Cao's youngest son Cao Zhi at his father's command, expresses the intent that his family will become emperors and vows to take the two Qiao women; he says that he secretly memorized it because its writing was so beautiful, and recites it. Romance, Ch. 44 §15–18
The rhapsody as given in the Romance begins with lines about following the enlightened ruler in his excursions and climbing the tiered terrace for delight, sets the Jade Dragon Terrace and the Golden Phoenix Terrace to left and right, includes the line "I shall embrace the two Qiao of the southeast and delight in them morning and evening", and ends with lines wishing that this terrace may stand firm forever and its delights never end. When he has heard it all, Zhou Yu flies into a rage, points north and curses the old traitor for despising him so; he reveals that Daqiao is the wife of Sun Ce and Xiaoqiao is his own wife, and says that he and the old traitor cannot both stand. Romance, Ch. 44 §18–23
In Chapter 48, Cao Cao, holding a banquet on the Yangtze, says that although Lord Qiao's two daughters were married to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, he has newly built the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, and once he takes Jiangnan he will bring the two Qiao women to live on the terrace and enjoy his last years. In Chapter 56, the Bronze Sparrow Terrace is completed in the spring of the 15th year of Jian'an, and Cao Cao gathers his civil and military officials at Ye Commandery for a banquet. Romance, Ch. 48 §12Romance, Ch. 56 §7
Where the Romance differs
The text of the rhapsody: The rhapsody in Chapter 44 of the Romance contains the Jade Dragon Terrace and Golden Phoenix Terrace to left and right and the line "I shall embrace the two Qiao of the southeast and delight in them morning and evening", and ends with a line wishing that the terrace may stand firm forever. The rhapsody in the Wei Chronicle, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary, has none of these lines, and is cut short with "and so on" after the line wishing for an age equal to that of the King of the East. Romance, Ch. 44 §19 · 21Records, Wei 19 §12
When it was composed: In Chapter 44 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang already recites this rhapsody before the Battle of Chibi, and the Bronze Sparrow Terrace is completed in the spring of the 15th year of Jian'an in Chapter 56. Cao Zhi's biography in the Records says that when the Bronze Sparrow Terrace was newly completed Cao Cao went up the terrace with his sons and had them compose rhapsodies, and the Annals of Emperor Wu record that the Bronze Sparrow Terrace was built in the winter of the 15th year of Jian'an (210). Romance, Ch. 44 §17–18Romance, Ch. 56 §7Records, Wei 19 §12Records, Wei 1 §107–108
Why it was composed: In Chapter 44 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang says that the rhapsody Cao Cao ordered Cao Zhi to compose was meant to express the aim of taking the two Qiao women. In Cao Zhi's biography in the Records, Cao Cao had each of his sons compose a rhapsody, and Cao Zhi wrote his the moment he took up his brush, so that Cao Cao found him remarkable. Romance, Ch. 44 §17–18Records, Wei 19 §12
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.