Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...
period of China.
Life
Cao Hui was a son of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to prominence towards the end of the Han dynasty and laid the foundation for the Cao Wei state. His mother was Consort Song (宋姬), a concubine of Cao Cao. He was designated as the heir of his uncle, Cao Yu (曹玉), because the latter had no son to succeed him when he died.(東平靈王徽，奉叔公朗陵哀侯玉後。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 20. In 217, Cao Hui was enfeoffed as the "Marquis of Licheng" (歷城侯) by
Emperor Xian
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 the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220.
Liu Xie was a so ...
, the figurehead emperor of the Han dynasty.
In 220, following Cao Cao's death, Cao Hui's half-brother
Cao Pi
Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest ...
usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, ended the Han dynasty, and established the Cao Wei state with himself as the new emperor. The following year, Cao Pi enfeoffed Cao Hui as a duke. In 222, Cao Pi elevated Cao Hui from the status of a duke to a prince under the title "Prince of Lujiang" (廬江王). He changed Cao Hui's title to "Prince of Shouzhang" (壽張王) in 223 and designated Shouzhang County (壽張縣; south of present-day
, Shandong) as Cao Hui's princedom in the following year.
In 232, Cao Pi's successor,
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 ...
, changed Cao Hui's title to "Prince of Dongping" (東平王) after upgrading his princedom from Shouzhang County to the entire Dongping Commandery (with Shouzhang County as its administrative centre). In 234, someone reported Cao Hui to the imperial court after he ordered his subordinate(s) to beat up an official in Shouzhang County. As punishment for his misconduct, Cao Hui had one county with 500 taxable households removed from his princedom. However, the county and its 500 households were returned to him within the same year.
Cao Hui died sometime between 17 February and 18 March 242 during the reign of Cao Rui's successor
Cao Fang
Cao Fang () (232–274), courtesy name Lanqing, was the third emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. He was an adopted son of Cao Rui, the second ruler of Wei. Cao Fang ruled from 239 to 254 as a nominal emperor be ...
, and was given the
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 ...
"Prince Ling" (靈王).
Descendants
Cao Hui's son, Cao Xi (曹翕), succeeded him as the Prince of Dongping. The number of taxable households in the Dongping princedom increased throughout the reigns of the subsequent Wei emperors until it reached 3,400. After the
Jin dynasty (266–420)
The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...
replaced the Cao Wei state, Cao Xi pledged allegiance to the new emperor Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), who enfeoffed him as the "Duke of Linqiu" (廩丘). Among all the former Wei nobles, Cao Xi was the most famous after Cao Zhi (曹志), the Duke of Zhencheng (鄄城公).
In 266, Cao Xi sent his son and heir apparent, Cao Kun (曹琨), to pay tribute to Emperor Wu Di. The emperor issued an imperial decree to praise Cao Xi for his loyalty towards the Jin dynasty and awarded Cao Kun the appointment of a Cavalry Commandant (騎都尉), a set of official robes, and 100,000 coins. Cao Xi was known for studying medicine and writing books with
Huangfu Mi
Huangfu Mi (215–282), courtesy name Shi'an (), was a Chinese physician, essayist, historian, poet, and writer who lived through the late Eastern Han dynasty, Three Kingdoms period and early Western Jin dynasty. He was born in a poor farming fam ...
, a physician who lived around the same time as him.(至泰始二年，翕遣世子琨奉表來朝。詔曰：「翕秉德履道，魏宗之良。今琨遠至，其假世子印綬，加騎都尉，賜朝服一具，錢十萬，隨才叙用。」翕撰解寒食散方，與皇甫謐所撰並行於世。) Pei Songzhi's annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 20.