| Emperor Wen of Wei 魏文帝 | |||||||||||||||||
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 ATang dynasty painting of Cao Pi and two ministers flanking him, byYan Liben | |||||||||||||||||
| Emperor ofWei | |||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 11 December 220[1] – 29 June 226 | ||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Cao Rui | ||||||||||||||||
| King of Wei (魏王) (under theHan Empire) | |||||||||||||||||
| Tenure | 15 March 220 – 11 December 220 | ||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Cao Cao | ||||||||||||||||
| Imperial Chancellor (丞相) (under theHan Empire) | |||||||||||||||||
| Tenure | 15 March 220 – 11 December 220 | ||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Cao Cao | ||||||||||||||||
| Born | c. late 187[2] Qiao County,Pei State,Han Empire[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | June 29, 226(226-06-29) (aged 38–39)[3] Luoyang,Wei Empire | ||||||||||||||||
| Burial | |||||||||||||||||
| Consorts |
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| Issue | |||||||||||||||||
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| Dynasty | Cao Wei | ||||||||||||||||
| Father | Cao Cao | ||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Empress Wuxuan | ||||||||||||||||
| Cao Pi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.svg) "Cao Pi" in Chinese characters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 曹丕 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cao Pi (pronunciationⓘ) (c.late 187[2] – 29 June 226[3]),[4]courtesy nameZihuan, was the firstemperor of the state ofCao Wei in theThree Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son ofCao Cao, a warlord who lived in the lateEastern Han dynasty, but the eldest son among all the children born to Cao Cao by his concubine (later wife),Lady Bian. According to some historical records, he was often in the presence of court officials in order to gain their support.[citation needed] He was mostly in charge of defence[clarification needed] at the start of his career. After the defeat of Cao Cao's rivalYuan Shao at theBattle of Guandu, he tookYuan Xi's wife,Lady Zhen, as a concubine, but in 221 Lady Zhen died andGuo Nüwang became empress.
On 25 November 220,[5] Cao Pi forcedEmperor Xian, the last ruler of the Eastern Han dynasty, to abdicate in his favour, after which on 11 December 220[1] he proclaimed himself emperor and established the state of Cao Wei. Cao Pi continued the wars against the states ofShu Han andEastern Wu, founded by his father's rivalsLiu Bei andSun Quan, respectively, but did not make significant territorial gain in the battles. Unlike his father, Cao Pi concentrated most of his efforts on internal administration rather than on waging wars against his rivals. During his reign, he formally establishedChen Qun'snine-rank system as the base forcivil service nomination, which drew many talents into his government. On the other hand, he drastically reduced the power of princes, stripping off their power to oppose him, but at the same time, rendering them unable to assist the emperor if a crisis arose within the state. After Cao Pi's death, his successorCao Rui granted him theposthumous name "Emperor Wen" and thetemple name "Gaozu".
Cao Pi was also an accomplished poet and scholar, just like his father Cao Cao and his younger brotherCao Zhi. He wroteYan Ge Xing (燕歌行), the firstChinese poem in the style of seven syllables per line (七言詩). He also wrote over a hundred articles on various subjects.
Cao Pi was the eldest son ofCao Cao and his concubineLady Bian, but he was the second among all of Cao Cao's sons, the eldest beingCao Ang. At the time of Cao Pi's birth, Cao Cao was a mid-level officer in the imperial guards in the capitalLuoyang, with no hint that he would go on to the great campaigns he eventually carried out after the collapse of the imperial government in 190. Cao Pi was recorded as excellent swordsman as he studied martial arts from Shi E, a gentleman of the household from the "Rapid as Tigers" (虎賁) division of the imperial guards.[6] In the period after 190 when Cao Cao was constantly waging war against other rival warlords, it is not known where Cao Pi and Lady Bian were, or what they did. The lone reference to Cao Pi during this period was in 204. After Cao Cao defeatedYuan Shang then conquered the city ofYe and massacred his population. The women of the Yuan household were often raped while Cao Pi tookYuan Xi's wife[7]Lady Zhen as his wife.[8]
The next immediate reference to Cao Pi's activities was in 211, when he was appointed General of the Household for All Purposes (五官中郎將) and ViceImperial Chancellor (副丞相). This position placed him second to his father, who was then Imperial Chancellor (丞相) and thede facto head of government in China. The eldest of all of Cao Cao's sons,Cao Ang, had died early, so Cao Pi was regarded as the eldest among all his father's sons. Besides, Cao Pi's mother had also become Cao Cao's official spouse after Cao Cao's first wife Lady Ding was deposed. Cao Pi thus became the presumptive heir to his father.
However, Cao Pi's status as heir was not immediately made legal, and for years there were lingering doubts on whom Cao Cao intended to make heir. Cao Cao greatly favouredCao Zhi (his third son with Lady Bian), who was known for his literary talents. Both Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were talented poets, but Cao Zhi was more highly regarded as a poet and speaker. By 215, the brothers appeared to be in harmony with each other, but each had his own group of supporters and close associates engaging the other side in clandestine rivalry. Initially, Cao Zhi's party appeared to be prevailing, and in 216 they were successful in falsely accusing two officials supporting Cao Pi—Cui Yan andMao Jie. Cui Yan was executed, while Mao Jie was deposed. However, the situation shifted after Cao Cao received advice from his strategistJia Xu, who concluded that changing the general rules of succession (primogeniture) would be disruptive—usingYuan Shao andLiu Biao as negative examples. Cao Pi was also fostering his image among the people and created the sense that Cao Zhi was wasteful and lacking actual talent in governance. In November or December 217,[9] Cao Cao, who had received the title of avassal king—King of Wei (魏王)—fromEmperor Xian (whom he still paid nominal allegiance to), finally declared Cao Pi as his heir apparent (世子). Cao Pi would remain as such until his father's death in March 220.
Cao Cao died in the spring of 220 inLuoyang. Even though Cao Pi had been his father's heir apparent for several years, there was initially some confusion as to what would happen next. The apprehension was particularly heightened when, after Cao Cao's death, theQingzhou Corps under the generalZang Ba suddenly deserted, leaving Luoyang and returning home. Besides, Cao Pi's younger brotherCao Zhang (also born toLady Bian) had arrived in Luoyang in a hurry, resulting in rumours that he was intending to seize power from his elder brother. Upon hearing these news at Cao Cao's headquarters atYe, Cao Pi hastily declared himself the new King of Wei and issued an edict in the name of his mother Queen Dowager Bian, before receiving an official confirmation fromEmperor Xian, to whom he still nominally paid allegiance. After Cao Pi's self-declaration, neither Cao Zhang nor any other individual took action against him. Cao Pi then ordered his brothers, including Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi, to return to their respective fiefs. With the help ofJiang Ji, the political situation soon stabilised.
In the winter of 220, Cao Pi made his move for the imperial throne, strongly suggesting toEmperor Xian that he should yield the throne. Emperor Xian did so, and Cao Pi formally declined three times (a model that would be followed by future usurpers in Chinese history), and then finally accepted on 25 November of that year, establishing the state ofCao Wei. This event marked the official end of the Han dynasty and the beginning of theThree Kingdoms period. The dethroned Emperor Xian was granted the title "Duke of Shanyang" (山陽公). Cao Pi granted posthumous titles of emperors to his grandfatherCao Song and his fatherCao Cao, while his mother Queen Dowager Bian becameempress dowager. He also moved the imperial capital fromXuchang toLuoyang.
After news of Cao Pi's ascension (and an accompanying false rumour that Cao Pi had executed Emperor Xian) arrived inLiu Bei's domain ofYi Province (covering present-daySichuan andChongqing), Liu Bei also declared himself emperor in May 221, establishing the state ofShu Han.Sun Quan, who controlled the vast majority of southeastern and southern China, did not take any affirmative steps one way or another, leaving his options open.
An armed conflict between Liu Bei and Sun Quan quickly materialised, because in late 219 Sun Quan had sent his generalLü Meng toinvadeJing Province and seize the territories from Liu Bei, which resulted in the death of Liu's generalGuan Yu. To avoid having to fight on two fronts, Sun Quan formally paid allegiance to Cao Pi, expressing his willingness to become avassal under Wei. Cao Pi's strategistLiu Ye suggested rejecting this offer and instead attacking Sun Quan on a second front. This would effectively partition Sun Quan's domain with Shu, and would eventually allow Cao Pi to destroy Shu as well. Cao Pi declined this suggestion, in a fateful choice that most historians believe doomed his empire to ruling only northern and central China; such an opportunity would not come again. Indeed, against Liu Ye's advice, Cao Pi granted Sun Quan the title "King of Wu" (吳王) and thenine bestowments.
Sun Quan's submission did not last long. After Sun Quan's forces, under the command ofLu Xun, defeated Shu forces at theBattle of Xiaoting in 222, Sun Quan began to distance himself from Wei. When Cao Pi demanded that Sun Quan send his heir apparent,Sun Deng, to Luoyang as a hostage, Sun Quan refused and formally broke ties with Wei. Cao Pi personally led an expedition against Sun Quan, and in response, Sun Quan declared independence from Wei, establishing the state ofEastern Wu (but he continued ruling as "King of Wu" and did not declare himself emperor until 229). By this time, having defeated Shu, the Wu forces enjoyed high morale and effective leadership from Sun Quan, Lu Xun and a number of other capable generals. Cao Pi's forces were not able to make significant advances against them despite several large-scale attacks in the next few years. The division of the former Han Empire into three states has become firmly established, particularly after Liu Bei's death in 223. The ShuchancellorZhuge Liang, serving as regent for Liu Bei's son and successorLiu Shan, re-established the alliance with Wu, resulting in Wei having to defend itself on two fronts and unable to conquer either. Exasperated, Cao Pi made a famous comment in 225 that "Heaven created the Yangtze River to divide the north and the south."[10]
Cao Pi was generally viewed as a competent, but unspectacular, administrator of his empire. He commissioned a number of capable officials to be in charge of various affairs of the empire, employing his father's general guidelines of valuing abilities over heritage. However, he was not open to criticism, and officials who dared to criticise him were often demoted and, on rare occasions, put to death.
Since Cao Pi was still fearful and resentful ofCao Zhi, he soon had the latter's fief reduced in size and had a number of his associates executed.Ding Yi, who was chief among Cao Zhi's strategists, had his whole clan exterminated as a result of assisting the latter in the past. In summary, under regulations established by Cao Pi, not only were the Wei princes (unlike princes of the Han dynasty) distanced from central politics, they also had minimal authority even in their own principalities and were restricted in many ways, particularly in the use of military force.
Cao Pi was recorded to frequently ridicule his subordinates. For example,Yu Jin was captured by Liu Bei's generalGuan Yu at theBattle of Fancheng in 219, and was later taken back to Wu and detained there after theWu invasion of Jing Province. Yu Jin was allowed to return to Wei after Wu briefly became a vassal state under Wei in 221. Cao Pi reinstated Yu Jin as General Who Pacifies the Borders (安遠將軍) and announced that he would send Yu Jin back to Eastern Wu—where he had been imprisoned—as an envoy. However, before Yu Jin's departure, he was instructed to travel toYe to pay his respects at Cao Cao's tomb. When Yu Jin arrived, he found that the emperor had commissioned artists to paint, in his father's tomb, scenes of the Battle of Fancheng. These scenes showed Yu Jin begging for his life to be spared and succumbing to the victorious Guan Yu, while his subordinatePang De was shown dying an honourable death by resisting the invading forces to his last breath. Upon seeing the vivid mural, Yu Jin was so filled with regret and shame that he fell ill and soon died. Cao Pi further gave the deceased Yu Jin a negative-soundingposthumous title, "Marquis Li" (厲侯), for people to remember the latter as the "stony marquis (or vicious marquis)".[11] Wang Zhong, a general who followed Cao Cao for many years, was also a subject of ridicule by Cao Pi.
An immediate issue after Cao Pi became emperor in 220 was who the empress would be.Lady Zhen was his wife. Cao Pi summoned Lady Zhen to Luoyang, but Lady Zhen refused because of her poor health. In August 221, Lady Zhen died and the position of empress went to Guo Nüwang.[12]
Guo Nüwang did not bear Cao Pi any children. Cao Rui was the eldest of Cao Pi's sons, but because of his mother's death, he was not instated as the crown prince. Instead, Cao Rui was appointed "Prince of Pingyuan" after his father's ascension to the throne. Cao Pi did not appear to have seriously considered any other son as heir. (It might have been because the other sons were all significantly younger, although their ages were not recorded in history.) In the summer of 226, when Cao Pi was seriously ill, he finally named Cao Rui as his crown prince. On his deathbed, he entrusted Cao Rui to the care ofCao Zhen,Chen Qun andSima Yi. Following his father's death, Cao Rui ascended the throne at the age of 21.
| Cao Song (d. 193) | |||||||||||||||
| Cao Cao (155–220) | |||||||||||||||
| Lady Ding | |||||||||||||||
| Cao Pi (187–226) | |||||||||||||||
| Bian Guang | |||||||||||||||
| Bian Yuan | |||||||||||||||
| Lady Zhou | |||||||||||||||
| Empress Wuxuan (161–230) | |||||||||||||||
How Cao Pi became an emperor is portrayed in "Secret of the Three Kingdoms".
Cao Pi appears as a playable character inKoei'sDynasty Warriors andWarriors Orochi video game series. He also appears in Koei'sRomance of the Three Kingdoms series.
Yu Bin portrayed Cao Pi in the 2010 Chinese television seriesThree Kingdoms.
"Alas. It is truly the will of Heaven which divides the south from the north." And he gave the order to withdraw.
Emperor Wen of Cao Wei Born: 187 Died: 29 June 226 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Himself as King ofWei | Emperor of Cao Wei 220–226 | Succeeded by |
| Chinese royalty | ||
| Preceded by | King of Wei 220 | Himselfas Emperor ofWei |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Emperor of China 220–226 Reason for succession failure: Three Kingdoms | Succeeded by |
