Cao Wei

魏 Wei ← 220 – 265 → The territories of Cao Wei (in yellow), AD 262 Capital Luoyang Language(s) Chinese Religion Buddhism, 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 220  - Abdication to Jin Dynasty 265 Population  -  est. 4,400,000  Currency Chinese coin, Chinese cash

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

Cao Wei (Chinese: 曹魏; pinyin: Cáo Wèi; Wade-Giles: Ts'ao Wei) was one of the empires that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luòyáng, the empire 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 (from Cao Cao's family name) to distinguish it from the other states in Chinese history also known as Wei, such as the earlier State of Wei 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 officially overthrown and became 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 Imperial Chancellor to the last Han emperor (see Unification of northern China). In 213, he was titled the "Duke of Wei" and was 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 (later Shu Han and Eastern Wu). In 216, Cao Cao was promoted to "King of Wei".

In March 15 of 220, Cao Cao died and his son Cao Pi succeeded to the title "King of Wei" and the position as Imperial Chancellor. Later that year in December 11, Cao Pi seized the imperial throne and claimed to have founded the Wei Dynasty, but Liu Bei of Shu Han immediately contested his claim to the throne, and Sun Quan of Eastern Wu followed suit in 222.

Wei conquered Shu Han in 263. Shortly afterwards, in 265, the Wei dynasty was overthrown by its own last Imperial Chancellor, Sima Yan, grandson of Sima Yi, who then founded the Jin Dynasty.

Culture

Sometime between the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Cao Wei, standard or regular script (kaishu) appeared, with its first known master being Zhong Yao^[1].

Important figures

Sovereigns of Cao Wei

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

• Bo Yang's edition of Zizhi Tongjian by Sima Guang. 柏楊版資治通鑑
• 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.

See also

• Shu Han
• Eastern Wu
• Three Kingdoms
• Personages of the Three Kingdoms
• Timeline of the Three Kingdoms period
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms
• Records of Three Kingdoms
• Dynasty Warriors