Cao Wei: A Visual History

Cao Wei was the northern of China's Three Kingdoms, founded in 220 when Cao Pi forced the last Han emperor to abdicate. His father Cao Cao had spent 30 years conquering north China as the emperor's 'protector'. Wei held the Yellow River heartland, most of China's population and its old capitals, and fended off Shu Han and Wu, but the Sima clan seized real power in 249 and, after conquering Shu in 263, replaced Wei with their own Jin dynasty in 266.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Cao Wei. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Registered population of the Three Kingdoms

Registration counts far below actual population; Wei's relative dominance is the point.

Timeline of the Cao Wei

1. 196
   Cao Cao takes custody of the emperor
2. 200
   GuanduYuan Shao defeated.
3. 208
   Red CliffsSouthern conquest fails.
4. 220
   Cao Pi founds WeiThe Han ends.
5. 228
   Zhuge Liang's first northern expedition
6. 249
   Sima Yi's coup
7. 260
   Emperor Cao Mao killed
8. 263
   Shu Han conquered
9. 266
   Sima Yan founds the Jin

Cao Cao

Cao Cao rose in the chaos after the Yellow Turbans, took custody of Emperor Xian in 196 and used the emperor's name to defeat rivals, notably Yuan Shao at Guandu in 200. He unified the north but his attempt to conquer the south ended at Red Cliffs in 208. Poet, strategist and organiser of military farm colonies, he was made king of Wei in 216 and died in 220.

The Wei state

Cao Pi took the throne months after his father's death, ending the Han. Wei's civil service used the nine-rank system for recruiting officials, which entrenched aristocratic families. Zhuge Liang's five northern expeditions from Shu were repelled by Sima Yi; Wu attacks were held on the Huai River. Cao Rui built palaces and left a child heir.

The Sima usurpation

In 249 Sima Yi staged a coup while the regent Cao Shuang was visiting the imperial tombs and executed his faction. His sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao deposed one emperor and had another, Cao Mao, killed in the street in 260 when he tried to fight back. Wei armies conquered Shu in 263; Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan took the throne as Emperor Wu of Jin in 266.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Eastern Han dynasty (25 to 220)
• Shu Han (221 to 263)
• Eastern Wu (222 to 280)
• Western Jin dynasty (266 to 316)
• Xianbei state (93 to 234)
• Former Zhao (Han Zhao) (304 to 329)

Wars of the same era and region

• Three Kingdoms period (184 to 280)

8 surprising things about the Cao Wei

1. Cao Cao is a byword for cunning villainy in Chinese culture thanks to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, though historians rate him highly.
2. The saying 'speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives' is the Chinese 'speak of the devil'.
3. Cao Cao's tomb was identified in Henan in 2009, sparking a scholarly quarrel over its authenticity.
4. Cao Pi wrote one of the earliest works of Chinese literary criticism.
5. The Wei emperor Cao Mao, aged 19, personally led palace servants against Sima Zhao's men and was killed by a spear.
6. Cao Cao's poems, such as 'Short Song', are still memorised by Chinese schoolchildren.
7. The Wei nine-rank system for officials lasted 400 years and produced the aristocratic society of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
8. The Wei tuntian military farms fed the army and were copied by later dynasties.

Sources

• Cao Wei Wikipedia
• Cao Cao Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Three Kingdoms World History Encyclopedia
• Rafe de Crespigny, Imperial Warlord: A Biography of Cao Cao (2010) Brill

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