Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Emperor · Politician · Poet
The first emperor of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. As a son of Cao Cao, he received Zen from the Emperor of Later Han and established the Wei Dynasty. He is a person who thinks about the change of dynasties in ancient China.
View in catalogLuoyang
Work
Discourse on Literature
c. 220
Essay
Founding of Cao Wei
220
Political event · Leader
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
As the son of Cao Cao, he grew up in the center of politics and military affairs at the end of the Later Han Dynasty. During the era of military rule, he inherited both the power and literary education of his family.
In 220, he received the transfer from Emperor Xian of the Later Han Dynasty, established Wei, and became emperor. Politically, he institutionalized the foundations laid down by Cao Cao, and in literature, he was involved in literati culture through works such as ``Dianron.''
Cao Pi is also known for his succession dispute with his younger brother Cao Zhi. The characteristics of the aristocratic culture of the Three Kingdoms period can be seen in the fact that political succession disputes and poetic talent competed within the same court.
If you study Cao Pi, you will see that the transition from the Later Han to the Three Kingdoms period was justified not only through military force but also through the ritual of Zen-yoshi. His accession to the throne provides material for thinking about the relationship between the form of Chinese dynastic change and the actual power.
