The Bronze Phoenix Quatrain 铜雀赋 (tóng què fù)

Description:
The Bronze Phoenix Quatrain is a poem. Yes, you read correctly. It is a poem. Better yet, this poem his nothing to do with war! It is a poem written by Cao Zhi 曹植, Cao Cao 曹操's third son, celebrating the construction of the Bronze Phoenix tower.

Though this is no sword or shield, a rare treasure it is! Cao Zhi was known as an incredibly talented poet, whose works have survived up till today, nearly 2000 years since they were first written. What is the Bronze Phoenix tower and what relevance does it have in the story? Read on the find out.



Ability description:
[Enforced ability] Once equipped, ATTACK 杀 used by characters of the opposite gender have no effect on you.

Historical basis:
Before I dive into the history behind the Bronze Phoenix Quatrain, let me get this out of the way. The poem has almost ZERO relation to the ability. It has nothing to do with gender specifics, and the ability is probably just a useful one to have. Ok that's that. Now, on to the story.

After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao 袁绍 and his two sons, the entire realm of northern China was secured. Cao Cao could then turn his focus towards the south to crush the other warlords, amongst them Sun Quan 孙权 and Liu Bei 刘备.

One night before Cao Cao departed for the south, he spent the evening gazing at the stars when he saw a brilliant light arise from the ground. He commanded workers to make for the location where the light arose and start digging. "There must be treasure here" he thought.

True enough, the workers unearthed a treasure; a bird made of bronze. His advisors convinced him that it is a good omen and should be celebrated accordingly. Thus Cao Cao instructed the building of a tower, henceforth known as the Bronze Phoenix tower 铜雀台.

It was then that his favorite son at the time, Cao Zhi, recommended building two more towers flanking the Bronze Phoenix tower to further amplify its grandeur. Cao Cao gave the go-ahead and even put Cao Zhi in charge of overseeing the construction. So passionate about the tower project was Cao Zhi that he recited a beautiful poem, the Bronze Phoenix Quatrain, that became one of his most famous works.

I shall not replicate the quatrain here because:

1. I have yet to find an English translation for the quatrain

2. The quatrain is ridiculously difficult to comprehend because it is unabridged and very long. (My Chinese ability is no where near the level required. Sorry!)

For your interest, you might like to read the actual Quatrain (in unabridged Chinese) by clicking on this link.


Wiki links:
Cao Zhi Wiki