Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China China, officially the People's R ...

Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of

Cao Wei Wei (Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

in the

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 Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period of China. He was the second son of

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern 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. He was mostly in charge of defence at the start of his career. After the defeat of Cao Cao's rival

Yuan Shao Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred tow ...

at the Battle of Guandu, he took

Yuan Xi Yuan Xi (died December 20711th month of the 12th year of the ''Jian'an'' era, per Emperor Xian's biography in ''Book of the Later Han''. The month corresponds to 7 Dec 207 to 5 Jan 208 in the Julian calendar.), courtesy name Xianyi or Xianyong ...

's widow,

Lady Zhen Lady Zhen (26 January 183 – 4 August 221), personal name unknown, was the first wife of Cao Pi, the first ruler of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period. In 226, she was posthumously honoured as Empress Wenzhao when her son, Cao ...

, as a concubine, but in 221 Lady Zhen died and

Guo Nüwang Guo Nüwang (8 April 184According to the ''Book of Wei'' by Wang Chen et al., Lady Guo was born on the ''yimao'' day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of the ''Zhongping'' era during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han. This corresponds to 8 April 1 ...

became empress. On 25 November 220, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian, the last ruler of the Eastern Han dynasty, to abdicate in his favour, after which on 11 December 220 he proclaimed himself emperor and established the state of Cao Wei. Cao Pi continued the wars against the states of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu o ...

, founded by his father's rivals

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 H ...

and

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...

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 established Chen Qun's nine-rank system as the base for civil 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 successor Cao Rui granted him the posthumous name "Emperor Wen" and the temple name "Shizu". Cao Pi was also an accomplished poet and scholar, just like his father Cao Cao and his younger brother Cao Zhi. He wrote ''Yan Ge Xing'' (), the first Chinese poem in the style of seven syllables per line (). He also wrote over a hundred articles on various subjects.

Early life and career

Cao Pi was the eldest son of

and his concubine Lady Bian, but he was the second among all of Cao Cao's sons. (The first was Cao Ang) At the time of Cao Pi's birth, Cao Cao was a mid-level officer in the imperial guards in the capital Luoyang, 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" () division of the imperial guards. 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, when he took

's widow

as his wife.

Succession struggle with Cao Zhi

The next immediate reference to Cao Pi's activities was in 211, when he was appointed General of the Household for All Purposes () and Vice Imperial Chancellor (). This position placed him second to his father, who was then Imperial Chancellor () and the ''de 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 favoured Cao 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 and Mao Jie. Cui Yan was executed, while Mao Jie was deposed. However, the situation shifted after Cao Cao received advice from his strategist Jia Xu, who concluded that changing the general rules of succession (

primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

) would be disruptive – using

and Liu 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 217, Cao Cao, who had received the title of a vassal king – King of Wei () – from Emperor Xian (whom he still paid nominal allegiance to), finally declared Cao Pi as his heir apparent (). Cao Pi would remain as such until his father's death in 220.

As King of Wei

Cao Cao died in the spring of 220 in Luoyang. 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, the Qingzhou Corps under the general Zang Ba suddenly deserted, leaving Luoyang and returning home. Besides, Cao Pi's younger brother Cao Zhang (also born to Lady 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 at Ye, 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 from Emperor 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 of Jiang Ji, the political situation soon stabilised.

As emperor of Cao Wei

Succeeding Emperor Xian

In the winter of 220, Cao Pi made his move for the imperial throne, strongly suggesting to Emperor 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, establishing the state of

Cao Wei Wei (Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

. This event marked the official end of the Han dynasty and the beginning of the

period. The dethroned Emperor Xian was granted the title "Duke of Shanyang" (). Cao Pi granted posthumous titles of emperors to his grandfather Cao Song and his father

, while his mother Queen Dowager Bian became empress dowager. He also moved the imperial capital from

Xuchang Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast, and P ...

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

's domain of Yi Province (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 th ...

and Chongqing), Liu Bei also declared himself emperor in 221, establishing the state of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

, 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 Lü Meng () (178 – January or February 220), courtesy name Ziming, was a Chinese military general and politician who served under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early in his career, he fought in several batt ...

invade An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing c ...

Jing Province Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in Chinese historical texts such as the ''Tribute of Yu'', '' Erya'' and '' Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of Empe ...

and seize the territories from Liu Bei, which resulted in the death of Liu's general Guan Yu. 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. 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 Sun Deng (Wade–Giles: Sun Teng) is the name of: * Sun Deng (Xin dynasty) (died 26 AD), rebel leader *Sun Deng (Eastern Wu) Sun Deng (209 – May or June 241), courtesy name Zigao, was an imperial prince of the state of Eastern Wu during the T ...

, 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 Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu o ...

(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 was captured by Liu Bei's general Guan Yu 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 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, "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.

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, Chen Qun and

Sima Yi Sima Yi ( ; 179 CE – 7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He formally began his political career in 208 un ...

. 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, 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, Prince Ai of Zan'' (, d. 235) * ''Shuyuan'', of the Pan clan () ** Cao Rui, Prince Wen'an (; d. 233), third son * ''Shuyuan'', of the Zhu clan () ** Cao Jian, 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 ...

, Prince Liang (; 208–229) * Lady, of the Su clan () **

Cao Yong Cao Yong (; born June 9, 1962, in Xinxian, Henan, China) was a Chinese artist whose work depicts Tibet. He spent a year alone in the mountains of Tibet and the paintings he produced were exhibited in Beijing in early 1989. He was subsequently ...

, Prince Luyang (; died 229) * Lady, of the Zhang clan () ** Cao Gong, Prince Dao of Qinghe (; d. 223) * Lady, of the Song clan () ** Cao Yan, 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 * Unknown ** ''Cao Jie'' ()

Ancestry

In popular culture

How Cao Pi became an emperor is portrayed in "

Secret of the Three Kingdoms ''Secret of the Three Kingdoms'' is a 2018 Chinese television series based on the novel ''San Guo Ji Mi'' (三国机密; ''Secret of the Three Kingdoms'') by Ma Boyong. Produced by Tangren Media and directed by Patrick Yau and Cheng Wai-man, the s ...

". Cao Pi appears as a playable character in

Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on p ...

's '' Dynasty Warriors'' and '' Warriors Orochi'' 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 ''

''.

References

External links

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' (''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