Season 1 · Episode 32 · 5 min read
Cao Pi Ends the Eastern Han
After Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi inherited Wei and turned years of Cao family power into a new dynasty.
Guan Yu had died at Maicheng, and Jingzhou had fallen to Sun Quan.
Sun Quan then made a careful move. He sent Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao, hoping to shift some of the blame northward.
Cao Cao did not take the bait. He buried Guan Yu with honors and rewarded Sun Quan, keeping Wu close in name.
Then Cao Cao himself reached the end of his life.
Why Cao Cao Did Not Become Emperor
Sun Quan once urged Cao Cao to take the imperial throne.
Cao Cao laughed and said Sun Quan wanted to put him on a fire.
His own officers also pressed him. Xiahou Dun and others thought he should accept what power had already made obvious.
Cao Cao answered that if the mandate belonged to him, he would be like King Wen of Zhou.
King Wen prepared the way. His son King Wu completed the overthrow of Shang. Cao Cao was saying that he could build the structure and leave the final step to the next generation.
This was not simple modesty.
If Cao Cao became emperor, Liu Bei and Sun Quan could openly denounce him as a usurper. As long as Emperor Xian remained in his hands, Cao Cao could still use the Han court's name to command.
The shell of the Han was still useful.
The Heir Was Ready
Cao Cao could delay the throne. He could not delay succession.
Cao Pi had already been chosen as heir to Wei.
Cao Zhi was brilliant and had supporters such as Ding Yi and Yang Xiu. Yang Xiu knew Cao Cao's habits well and often guessed his intentions. That cleverness eventually made him dangerous.
Yang Xiu became entangled in the struggle between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. Cao Cao executed him under charges including disturbing military discipline.
With Cao Zhi's circle weakened, Cao Pi's position grew firmer.
Cao Cao also made Lady Bian queen, strengthening Cao Pi's legitimate status.
Cao Cao had seen what succession disputes had done to Yuan Shao and Liu Biao. He had fought those wars himself. He understood that an unclear heir could tear apart a house.
Cao Cao Dies
In 220, Cao Cao fell seriously ill.
His final instructions were restrained. He wanted a simple burial. His concubines could remain at the Copper Bird Terrace and learn weaving. Remaining incense and sashes could be distributed among them.
The details feel practical and oddly human. After a lifetime of war, command, and state-building, Cao Cao still arranged small matters before death.
He died at Luoyang.
For a moment, danger appeared inside the Cao family. Cao Zhang arrived from Chang'an and immediately asked where the seal and ribbons of the King of Wei were.
Jia Kui blocked him. The heir was Cao Pi in Ye. The seal was not Cao Zhang's to ask about.
That answer mattered. Cao Pi's status had been made clear enough that the succession did not collapse into open conflict.
Cao Pi then became King of Wei and buried Cao Cao at Gaoling.
Cao Pi Takes Control
Cao Pi first secured the inside of Wei.
Cao Zhi was demoted. Ding Yi and his brother were killed. Cao Pi did not destroy everyone connected to Cao Zhi, but the political space around his brother was broken.
Chen Qun then proposed the nine-rank system.
Under this system, local evaluators ranked men for office. It helped Cao Wei bring powerful families into a formal bureaucracy. It also made family status more important in later Wei and Jin politics.
Cao Cao had built power through war, command, and personal selection. Cao Pi needed a dynasty that could run through institutions.
The Abdication
The ministers now urged Cao Pi to replace the Han.
Emperor Xian had no real room to resist. The abdication edicts came. Cao Pi declined several times, according to ritual, and then accepted.
He ascended as emperor of Wei.
The Eastern Han ended.
Cao Pi made Liu Xie, the former Emperor Xian, Duke of Shanyang and allowed him to keep some imperial honors. He also honored Cao Cao as Emperor Wu of Wei.
The ritual language made the transfer look orderly. In reality, power had already moved years earlier.
Leaving Liu Xie alive also served Cao Pi. It reduced the shock for old Han officials and made the new dynasty appear controlled rather than bloody.
The Three States Become Clearer
In 220, Cao Pi's Wei was no longer a powerful family inside the Han. It was an open dynasty.
That forced Liu Bei and Sun Quan to respond.
Liu Bei had built his identity as a member of the Han imperial clan. Cao Pi's seizure gave him a reason to raise the Han banner even higher.
Sun Quan had gained Jingzhou, but he still had to decide how to balance Wei and Liu Bei.
The Han was over. The war was not.
The names had changed. The struggle for legitimacy now became explicit.
Next, Liu Bei will answer Cao Pi by becoming emperor in Chengdu.