could I talk to who would understand me?" Literary achievements Although he did not meet with much success in politics, Kong Rong was considered a leading literary figure of his time, famed for his prose as well as poetry. Along with six other poets of his time, their poems formed the backbone of what was to be known as the Jian'an style, named for the Jian'an Era of the Xian Emperor's rule between 196 and 220. Collectively they were known as the Seven Scholars of Jian'an. Civil strife towards the end of the Han dynasty gave the Jian'an poems their characteristic solemn yet heart-stirring tone, while lament over the ephemerality of life was also a central theme of works from this period. In the history of Chinese literature, the Jian'an poems were a transition between early folksongs and scholarly poetry. Kong Rong's literary skills, however, were often thought to be elaborate and empty show without sound content. Cao Pi commented in his A Discourse on Literature (典論) that Kong Rong's words cannot sustain discourse and surpassed reasoning, so much so that they almost seem like mere sarcasm or mockery. After Kong Rong's death, Cao Pi collected 25 of his poems and included them in A Discourse on Literature. However, most of these were lost and only five survive till this day, two of which are of unverified authenticity. Nine volumes containing Kong Rong's prose under the Book of Sui (隋書) have also been lost. Those that survive are found in compilations from the Ming and Qing dynasties. These include several epistles that Kong Rong wrote to Cao Cao in criticism of his policies. See also Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms References Citations Bibliography Fan Ye (5th century). Book of the Later Han, Chapter 70, Biography of Kong Rong. External links The story of Kong Rong from the Association for Asian Research 153 births 208 deaths 2nd-century Chinese poets 3rd-century Chinese poets 3rd-century executions Descendants of Confucius Executed Han dynasty people Han dynasty poets Han dynasty warlords Officials under Cao Cao People executed by the Han dynasty by decapitation Political office-holders in Shandong Seven scholars of Jian'an