Cao Wei

This article is about the Three Kingdoms state. For the Warring States Period state, see Wei (state). For the Northern and Southern Dynasties state, see Northern Wei.

Cao Wei 曹魏
← 220–265 →
The territories of Cao Wei (in yellow), 262
Capital	Luoyang
Language(s)	Chinese
Religion	Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese folk religion
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
- 220 - 226	Cao Pi
- 226 - 239	Cao Rui
- 239 - 254	Cao Fang
- 254 - 260	Cao Mao
- 260 - 265	Cao Huan
Historical era	Three Kingdoms
- Cao Pi taking over the throne of the Later Han Dynasty	10 December 220
- Abdication to the Jin Dynasty	4 February 265
Population
-  est.	40,000,000
Currency	Chinese coin, Chinese cash

Cao Wei
Traditional Chinese	曹魏
Simplified Chinese	曹魏
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Cáo Wèi - Wade–Giles Ts'ao Wei Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Cou4 Ngai6

A wall mural of robed and seated figures, painted in a tomb at Luoyang, Cao Wei Dynasty

Cao Wei (220 CE - 256 CE) was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid. Its name came from 213, when Cao Cao's feudal holdings were given the name Wei; historians often add the prefix Cao (曹, from Cao Cao's family name) to distinguish it from the other states in Chinese history also known as Wei, such as the earlier Wei state during the Warring States Period, and the later Northern Wei state. In 220, when Cao Pi deposed the last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei became the name of the new dynasty he founded, which was seized and controlled by the Sima family in 249, until it was overthrown and became part of the Jin Dynasty in 265.

History

During the decline of the Han Dynasty, the northern part of China was under the control of Cao Cao, the chancellor to the last Han ruler, Emperor Xian. In 213, Cao Cao was granted the title of "Duke of Wei" and given ten cities as his domain. This area was named "Wei". At that time, the southern part of China was already divided into two areas controlled by two warlords. In 216, Cao Cao was promoted to "King of Wei".

On March 15, 220, Cao Cao died and his son Cao Pi inherited the title of "King of Wei". Later that year on December 11, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate and took over the throne, founding the Wei Dynasty. However, Liu Bei of Shu Han immediately contested Cao Pi's claim to the Han throne, and Sun Quan of Eastern Wu followed suit in 222.

Cao Pi ruled for six years until his death in 226. He was succeeded by his son Cao Rui, who died in 239, and was in turn succeeded by Cao Fang. In 249, during Cao Fang's reign, the regent Sima Yi seized state power from his co-regent Cao Shuang in a coup known as the Incident at Gaoping Tombs. This event marked the collapse of imperial authority in Wei, as Cao Fang's role had been reduced to a puppet ruler while Sima Yi wielded state power firmly in his hands. Sima Yi died in 251 and passed on his authority to his oldest son Sima Shi, who continued ruling as regent. Sima Shi deposed Cao Fang in 254 and replaced him with Cao Mao. After Sima Shi died in the following year, his younger brother Sima Zhao inherited his power and status as regent. In 260, Cao Mao attempted to seize back state power from Sima Zhao in a coup, but was killed by Sima's subordinate Cheng Ji (成濟).

After Cao Mao's death, Cao Huan was enthroned as the fifth ruler of Wei. However, Cao Huan was also a figurehead under Sima Zhao's control much like his predecessor. In 263, Wei armies led by Zhong Hui and Deng Ai conquered Shu. Two years later, Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan forced Cao Huan to abdicate in his favour, replacing Wei with the Jin Dynasty.

Culture

Sometime between the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Cao Wei Dynasty, kaishu, a style of Chinese calligraphy, appeared, with its first known master being Zhong Yao, who also served as a politician in Wei.^[1]

List of territories

You Province
幽州

Commanderies
Fanyang 范陽	Dai 代	Yuyang 漁陽	Right Beiping 右北平	Liaoxi 遼西	Lelang 樂浪	Shanggu 上谷	Yan (state) 燕國	Changli 昌黎	Xuantu 玄菟	Liaodong 遼東	Daifang 帶方

Ji Province
冀州

Commanderies
Wei 魏	Yangping 陽平	Guangping 廣平	Qinghe 清河	Julu 鉅鹿	Zhao (state) 趙國	Changshan 常山	Anping 安平	Pingyuan 平原	Leling (state) 樂陵	Hejian 河間	Bohai 渤海	Zhongshan (state) 中山國

Qing Province 青州 Commanderies Chengyang 城陽 Donglai 東萊 Beihai (state) 北海國 Qi (state) 齊國 Le'an 樂安 Jinan (state) 濟南國

Bing Province 并州 Commanderies Shangdang 上黨 Xihe 西河 Taiyuan 太原 Leping 樂平 Xinxing 新興 Yanmen 雁門

Si Province 司州 Commanderies Henan 河南尹 Hongnong 弘農 Henei 河內 Hedong 河東 Pingyang 平陽

Yan Province 兗州 Commanderies Taishan 泰山 Jibei (state) 濟北國 Dongping (state) 東平國 Dong 東 Rencheng 任城 Shanyang 山陽 Jiyin 濟陰 Chenliu (state) 陳留國

Xu Province 徐州 Commanderies Dongguan 東莞 Langye (state) 琅琊國 Donghai (state) 東海國 Guangling 廣陵 Xiapi 下邳 Pengcheng (state) 彭城國

Yong Province 雍州 Commanderies Jingzhao 京兆 Pingyi 馮翊 Fufeng 扶風 Beidi 北地 Xinping 新平 Anding 安定 Guangwei 廣魏 Tianshui 天水 Nan'an 南安 Longxi 隴西

Yu Province 豫州 Commanderies Chen 陳 Yingchuan 潁川 Runan 汝南 Liang (state) 梁國 Pei (state) 沛國 Qiao 譙 Lu 魯 Yiyang 弋陽 Anfeng 安豐

Liang Province 涼州 Commanderies Wuwei 武威 Jincheng 金城 Xiping 西平 Zhangye 張掖 Jiuquan 酒泉 Xihai 西海 Dunhuang 敦煌

Yang Province 揚州 Commanderies Huainan 淮南 Lujiang 廬江

Jing Province 荊州 Commanderies Jiangxia 江夏 Xiangyang 襄陽 Xincheng 新城 Nanyang 南陽 Nanxiang 南鄉 Shangyong 上庸 Weixing 魏興 Zhangling (Yiyang) 章陵 (義陽)

List of sovereigns

Cao Wei or Kingdom of Wei 220-265 AD

Posthumous names	Family (in bold) name and first names	Year(s) of reigns	Era names and their range of years
Chinese convention: family and first names, and less commonly "Wei" + posthumous name + "di"
Emperor Wen of Wei (Chinese: 文; pinyin: Wén)	Cao Pi (Chinese: 曹丕; pinyin: Cáo Pī)	220-226	Huangchu (simplified Chinese: 黄初; traditional Chinese: 黃初; pinyin: Huángchū) 220-226
Emperor Ming of Wei (Chinese: 明; pinyin: Míng)	Cao Rui (Chinese: 曹叡; pinyin: Cáo Rùi)	226-239	Taihe (Chinese: 太和; pinyin: Tàihé) 227-233 Qinglong (simplified Chinese: 青龙; traditional Chinese: 青龍; pinyin: Qīnglóng) 233-237 Jingchu (Chinese: 景初; pinyin: Jĭngchū) 237-239
Shao (Chinese: 少; pinyin: Shào) or Prince of Qi of Wei (simplified Chinese: 齐王; traditional Chinese: 齊王; pinyin: Qí Wáng)	Cao Fang (Chinese: 曹芳; pinyin: Cáo Fāng)	239-254	Zhengshi (Chinese: 正始; pinyin: Zhèngshĭ) 240-249 Jiaping (Chinese: 嘉平; pinyin: Jīapíng) 249-254
Duke of Gaoguixiang of Wei (simplified Chinese: 高贵乡公; traditional Chinese: 高貴鄉公; pinyin: Gāogùixīang Gōng)	Cao Mao (Chinese: 曹髦; pinyin: Cáo Máo)	254-260	Zhengyuan (Chinese: 正元; pinyin: Zhèngyúan) 254-256 Ganlu (Chinese: 甘露; pinyin: Gānlù) 256-260
Emperor Yuan of Wei (Chinese: 元; pinyin: Yúan)	Cao Huan (Chinese: 曹奐; pinyin: Cáo Hùan)	260-265	Jingyuan (Chinese: 景元; pinyin: Jĭngyúan) 260-264 Xianxi (Chinese: 咸熙; pinyin: Xíanxī) 264-265

See also

• Shu Han
• Eastern Wu
• Three Kingdoms
• List of people of the Three Kingdoms
• Timeline of the Three Kingdoms period
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms
• Records of Three Kingdoms

References

1. ^ Qiú Xīguī (2000). Chinese Writing. Translation of 文字學概論 by Mattos and Norman. Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. ISBN 1-55729-071-7; p.142-3

• de Crespigny, Rafe. "To Establish Peace: being the Chronicle of the Later Han dynasty for the years 201 to 220 AD as recorded in Chapters 64 to 69 of the Zizhi tongjian of Sima Guang". Volume 2. Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra. 1996. ISBN 0-7315-2526-4.