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  • The Poetic Art of Mortality and the Early Medieval Chinese Court of the Warlord Cao Cao (156–220)
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  • By Hsiang-Lin Shih
  • 2024
  • Published by: Arc Humanities Press
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During the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, the northern warlord Cao Cao (155–220) established his domain and took the Han emperor under his control. His court was known not only for its military and political excellence, but also the literati who were accomplished poets and main participants of early medieval Chinese symposia. Celebration was not the only theme of their symposium poems. The poets, including Cao Cao and his talented sons, distinguished themselves by writing about frustration, separation, war, disaster, and death in social settings.

Traditional Chinese poetry tends to separate the “marginal” (sorrow of exile, solitude, and death) from the “centre” (conviviality of court, community, and life). Poetic Art of Mortality examines poetry bridging these two spheres of life, showing how poets at the Cao court employed the dark poetic art of mortality in their efforts to build, solidify, and reconstruct a community.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. ii-iv
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
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  1. Acknowledgements
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-10
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  1. Chapter 1. Aging with Fellow Mortals
  2. pp. 11-30
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  1. Chapter 2. Surviving in Her Voice
  2. pp. 31-52
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  1. Chapter 3. Soul-Summoning and a Brilliant Summer
  2. pp. 53-72
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  1. Chapter 4. Conversing in Lingua Mortua
  2. pp. 73-96
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  1. Chapter 5. Emulating Cao Cao in a World Undone
  2. pp. 97-128
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  1. Epilogue
  2. pp. 129-130
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  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 131-136
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