北宋時期的正統論述基於「五德終始」或「功之成敗」而以「帝魏」為主流,在朱熹以降「帝蜀寇魏」的正統意識與「揚劉抑曹」的人物褒貶,向來被視為一體兩面的情況下,如此正統觀念是否同樣影響北宋文人對曹操的看法?透過文本的梳理,可以發現在正統論述時,北宋文人雖然因為政治因素或史家本份,必須因「功業之實」而「不偽魏」甚至「帝魏」,但事實上由於儒家思想的再重視,「道德」已經成為時人看待歷史的重要考量,不過在正統論中大多時候不被凸顯;相形之下,詩歌則可視為文人抒發一己情感之載體,於正統論述外,開展出觀照三國時代的另一種視角。在這類作品裡,曹操由於「濫殺賢才」與「不臣漢室」的失德之舉而造成形象醜化,英雄色彩相較於唐代被淡化,在中期以後的詩作中甚至成為人神共憤的對象。由此觀之,北宋雖然「帝魏」卻不「尊曹」,為曹操形象從唐代到南宋逐漸醜化的發展軌跡,起了推波助瀾的效果。
Discourses on orthodoxy in the Northern Song Dynasty were based on the "cycle of the Five Elements", or whether a character succeeded or failed in certain events. At that time, the orthodoxy of Cao-Wei was widely discussed. Ever since Zhu Xi views that Shu, instead of Wei, was the orthodox legacy of Han dynasty, and his praising of Liu Bei and reproaching of Cao Cao had become the mainstream ideology, these two historical figures had always been interrelated in many various discourses. This study explores whether such orthodoxy concepts affected the literati's comments about Cao Cao. Through reviewing and analyzing historical texts, this study identifies that literati did not oppose or even recognize the Cao-Wei orthodoxy due to political reasons or because they had to acknowledge "factual achievement" as historians. However, due to the rising of Confucianism once again in the Northern Song Dynasty, "ethics" became a crucial element on how the literati viewed history, although it was not highlighted in most discourses on orthodoxy. In this case, poems served as a vehicle in which scholars and intellectuals could express their emotions. These poems provided an alternative viewpoint on the Three Kingdom Dynasty from the literati’s perspective, which was excluded from the orthodox history. In these poems, the image of Cao Cao had been villainized because of his immoral actions, including his injudicious execution of talented intellectuals and disloyalty towards the Han regime. They did not portray the heroic side of him as compared to works written in the Tang Dynasty, and the poems written after the mid Northern Song Dynasty further portrayed him as being resented by both God and men. Therefore, Cao Cao was not positioned as a noble character in the Northern Song Dynasty, although the literati affirmed that the Wei Dynasty was a legitimate bearer of the Mandate of Heaven. These views promoted the gradual defiling of Cao Cao's image since the Tang Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty.