Three Kingdoms period. The dethroned Emperor Xian was granted the title "Duke of Shanyang" (). Cao Pi granted posthumous titles of emperors to his grandfather
Cao Song
Cao Song (died 193), courtesy name Jugao, was an official who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the foster son of the eunuch Cao Teng and the father of the warlord Cao Cao, who rose to prominence in the final years of Easter ...
and his father
Cao Cao , while his mother Queen Dowager Bian became
empress dowager. He also moved the imperial capital from
Xuchang to
Luoyang.
Military failures against Sun Quan
After news of Cao Pi's ascension (and an accompanying false rumour that Cao Pi had executed Emperor Xian) arrived in
Liu Bei
Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the ...
's domain of
Yi Province
Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture, was a '' zhou'' (province) of ancient China. Its capital city was Chengdu.de Crespigny, p. 256. During the Han dynasty, it included the commanderies Hanzhong, Ba, Guanghan, Shu, Wenshan, Jianwei, ...
(covering present-day
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
and
Chongqing), Liu Bei also declared himself emperor in 221, establishing the state of
Shu 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 general
Lü Meng to
invade Jing Province and seize the territories from Liu Bei, which resulted in the death of Liu's general
Guan Yu
Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...
. To avoid having to fight on two fronts, Sun Quan formally paid allegiance to Cao Pi, expressing his willingness to become a
vassal under Wei. Cao Pi's strategist
Liu Ye suggested to reject and instead attack 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" () and the
nine bestowments
The nine bestowments () were awards given by Chinese emperors to officials, ostensibly to reward them for their accomplishments. While the nature of the bestowments was probably established during the Zhou Dynasty, there was no record of anyone r ...
.
Sun Quan's submission did not last long. After Sun Quan's forces, under the command of
Lu Xun, defeated Shu forces at the
Battle 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 of
Eastern 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 Shu
chancellor Zhuge Liang, serving as regent for Liu Bei's son and successor
Liu 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."
Domestic matters
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.
Treatment of princes
Since Cao Pi was still fearful and resentful of
Cao 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.
Treatment of officials
Cao Pi was recorded to frequently ridicule his subordinates. For example,
Yu Jin
Yu Jin (died 221), courtesy name Wenze, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He joined Cao Cao in 192 around the start of the civil wars leading to the collapse of the dyna ...
was captured by Liu Bei's general
Guan Yu
Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...
at the
Battle of Fancheng in 219, and was later taken back to Wu and detained there after the
Wu 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 () 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 to
Ye 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 subordinate
Pang De
Pang De () (died 219), courtesy name Lingming, was a Chinese military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He started his career under the warlord Ma Teng, who was based in Liang Province. In 211, Ma Teng's son Ma Chao, along ...
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-sounding
posthumous title
A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments o ...
, "Marquis Li" (), for people to remember the latter as the "stony marquis (or vicious marquis)". Wang Zhong, a general who followed Cao Cao for many years, was also a subject of ridicule by Cao Pi.
Succession issues and death
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 221 Lady Zhen died and the position of empress went to Guo Nüwang.
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 of
Cao Zhen
Cao Zhen (died April or May 231), courtesy name Zidan, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was an adopted son of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power in the late Eastern Han dynasty and l ...
,
Chen Qun and
Sima Yi. Following his father's death, Cao Rui ascended the throne at the age of 21.
Family
Consorts and Issue:
*
Empress Wenzhao, of the Zhen clan (; 183–221)
**
Cao Rui
Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later rem ...
, Emperor Ming (; 204–239), first son
** Princess Dongxiang ()
*
Empress Wende, of the Guo clan (; 184–235)
* ''Furen'', of the Ren clan (夫人任氏)
* ''Guiren'', of the Li clan ()
** ''
Cao Xie
Cao Xie ( third century) was a prince in the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Cao Pi, the first emperor of Wei. His mother, whose maiden family name was Li (李), was a concubine of Cao Pi holding the rank ...
, Prince Ai of Zan'' (, d. 235)
* ''Shuyuan'', of the Pan clan ()
**
Cao Rui
Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later rem ...
, Prince Wen'an (; d. 233), third son
* ''Shuyuan'', of the Zhu clan ()
**
Cao Jian
Cao Jian (died December 225 or January 226) was a prince in the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Cao Pi, the first emperor of Wei. His mother, whose maiden family name was Zhu (朱), was a concubine of Cao ...
, Prince Huai of Dongwuyang (; d. 225/226)
* ''Zhaoyi'', of the Qiu clan ()
**
Cao Lin, Prince Ding of Donghai (; d. 251)
* Lady, of the Xu clan ()
**
Cao Li
Cao Li (208 – May or June 229) was a prince in the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Cao Pi, the first emperor of Wei. His mother, Consort Xu (徐姬), was a concubine of Cao Pi. He had two full sisters: t ...
, Prince Liang (; 208–229)
* Lady, of the Su clan ()
**
Cao Yong, Prince Luyang (; died 229)
* Lady, of the Zhang clan ()
**
Cao Gong
Cao Gong (died 223) was a prince in the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Cao Pi, the first emperor of Wei. His mother, Consort Zhang (張姬), was a concubine of Cao Pi. He was enfeoffed as the Prince of Q ...
, Prince Dao of Qinghe (; d. 223)
* Lady, of the Song clan ()
**
Cao Yan
Cao Yan (died 223) was a prince in the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Cao Pi, the first emperor of Wei. His mother, Consort Song (宋姬), was a concubine of Cao Pi. He was enfeoffed as the Prince of Guan ...
, Prince Ai of Guangping (; d. 223)
*Lady, of the Xue clan (薛氏), personal name Lingyuan (灵芸)
*Lady, of the Chen clan (陈氏), personal name Shangyi (尚衣)
*Lady, of the Li clan (李氏)
*Lady, of the Duan clan (段氏), personal name Qiaoxiao (巧笑)
*Lady, of the Li clan (李氏)
[daughter of ]Emperor Xian of Han
Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last Emperor of China, emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220. ...
* Unknown
** ''Cao Jie'' ()
Ancestry
In popular culture
How Cao Pi became an emperor is portrayed in "
Secret of the Three Kingdoms".
Cao Pi appears as a playable character in
Koei's ''
Dynasty Warriors'' and ''
Warriors Orochi
is a hack and slash video game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, developed by Koei and Omega Force. It is a crossover of two of Koei's popular video game series, ''Dynasty Warriors'' and '' Samurai Warriors'' (specifically ''Dynasty Warriors 5'' a ...
'' video game series. He also appears in Koei's ''
Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series.
Yu Bin portrayed Cao Pi in the 2010 Chinese television series ''
Three Kingdoms''.
See also
*
Cao Wei family trees
This article contains the family trees of members of the Cao clan, who ruled the state of Cao Wei (220–265) in the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) in China. Only Cao Cao's lineage is shown in this article. The lineages of his relatives, such as ...
*
Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms
References
External links
*
Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''
Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi'').
*
*
Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi zhu'').
*
Sima, Guang (1084). ''
Zizhi Tongjian''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Pi
187 births
226 deaths
Family of Cao Cao
3rd-century Chinese monarchs
Cao Wei emperors
Cao Wei poets
Han dynasty poets
3rd-century Chinese poets
People from Bozhou
Poets from Anhui
Usurpers
Founding monarchs