Cao Jie (125 - 181),

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, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Hanfeng, was a Chinese court enunch and politician during the Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to power during the reign of Emperor Ling ( 168–189). He was involved in a power struggle against a rival faction led by

Dou Wu Dou Wu (; died 25 October 168), courtesy name Youping (), was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was known as a Confucian scholar and served as a low-level official during the reign of Emperor Huan until his d ...

and

Chen Fan Chen Fan (90s- 25 October 168), courtesy name Zhongju (), was a Chinese politician of the Eastern Han dynasty. A native of Pingyu, Runan (north of present-day Pingyu County, Henan), Chen served as Grand Commandant () during the reign of Empe ...

during the reign of Emperor Huan ( 146–168) and early reign of Emperor Ling. His son-in-law Feng Fang later became one of the 8 colonels of the

Army of the Western Garden {{Chinese, t=西園軍, s=西园军, p=Xī Yuán Jūn The Army of the Western Garden was an army established in 188 CE during the reign of Emperor Ling in the Eastern Han Dynasty. History Emperor Ling had endowed his brother-in-law, the Genera ...

. In the beginning of the 14th-century historical novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'', Cao Jie is listed as one of the

Ten Attendants The Ten Attendants, also known as the Ten Eunuchs, were a group of influential eunuch-officials in the imperial court of Emperor Ling ( 168–189) in Eastern Han China. Although they are often referred to as a group of 10, there were actually 12 ...

even though historically he was not a member of the group.

Life

Cao Jie started serving as a xiao huangmen () in the early reign of

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition a ...

( 125–144). He rose through the ranks and became a () during the reign of Emperor Huan ( 146–168). He also concurrently held the appointment of a (; Commandant of Equipage). In 168, due to his efforts in helping to install Emperor Ling on the throne, he was enfeoffed as the "Marquis of Chang'an District" (). As Emperor Ling was still underage, state affairs were overseen by Empress Dowager Dou (Emperor Huan's widow), General-in-Chief

(the empress dowager's father), and

Grand Tutor The Three Ducal Ministers (), also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in Ancient China and Imperial China. These posts were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 AD a ...

. Dou Wu and Chen Fan led a faction in the imperial court that was at odds with the

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

faction represented by Cao Jie and others. When Cao Jie and the eunuch faction heard that Dou Wu and Chen Fan's faction were planning to eliminate them, they launched a coup against their rivals with the aid of Wang Fu (), Zhu Yu (), Gong Pu (), Zhang Liang () and others. Dou Wu and Chen Fan were arrested and executed, while Empress Dowager Dou was put under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

. After the coup, Cao Jie was promoted to "Minister of the Guards of Changle Palace" (), in addition to having his marquis rank elevated to "Marquis of Yuyang (County)" () with a marquisate comprising 3,000 taxable households. His allies in the coup also received marquis titles and other honours from Emperor Ling. In 169, Cao Jie was reassigned to be a () again. Not long after, he was appointed (; Empress's Chamberlain). In 172, when Empress Dowager Dou died while under house arrest, Cao Jie and Wang Fu tried to persuade Emperor Ling to hold an ordinary consort's funeral for the empress dowager instead of one that befitted her status, as well as not to bury her together with Emperor Huan. However, their attempt failed when two officials – Chen Qiu (), the Minister of Justice (); and Li Xian (), the Grand Commandant (), – managed to convince Emperor Ling to hold an empress's funeral for the empress dowager and bury her beside Emperor Huan. In the same year, Cao Jie, Wang Fu and others framed Emperor Huan's younger brother, Liu Kui (), the Prince of Bohai (), for treason; Liu Kui committed suicide in prison. Emperor Ling rewarded Cao Jie and Wang Fu for exposing Liu Kui's "treachery" by increasing the number of taxable households in their marquisates. Their relatives were also appointed as officials in the Han government. In 179, Cao Jie was promoted to Prefect of the Masters of Writing (). He died in 181 and was posthumously honoured with the appointment of General of Chariots and Cavalry ().

References

* Fan, Ye. ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...

'' (''Houhanshu''), volume 78. * Luo, Guanzhong. ''

'' (''Sanguo Yanyi''). * Sima, Guang. ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Jie Year of birth unknown 2nd-century births 181 deaths Eunuchs during the end of the Han dynasty Han dynasty politicians from Henan Politicians from Nanyang, Henan