Cao Pi, the second son of the warlord Cao Cao, was appointed as a general and vice-chancellor at 25, named crown prince of Wei in 217, and after his father's death in 220, he forced Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate, proclaiming himself emperor—later known as Emperor Wen of Wei.
Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of Wei, learned archery and swordsmanship from his father's campaigns as a child. Yet he was also a voracious reader, never putting down a book even on military campaigns. By his teens, he had devoured the Four Books, Five Classics, and the Hundred Schools of Thought. His extraordinary memory allowed him to recall everything he read, earning him a recommendation as a "Flourishing Talent"—which he declined. A passionate writer from age eight, Cao Pi once considered literature his very life, composing nearly a hundred poems and essays with fresh, flowing prose. His "Essay on Literature" in the *Classic of Discourses* remains a masterpiece of Chinese literary criticism. He personally penned a copy of the *Classic of Discourses* as a gift for Sun Quan.
All of this shows that Cao Pi was knowledgeable and well-informed. Thus, historical records praise Emperor Wen of Wei as "naturally gifted, writing effortlessly, widely learned with a strong memory, and versatile in talents." Since then, the idiom "widely learned with a strong memory" has often been used to describe someone with extensive knowledge and a powerful memory.
Source: *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, Chapter "Biography of Emperor Wen"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "博闻强识" came to describe how someone with extensive knowledge and a powerful memory.