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Cao Pi

Courtesy nameZihuanAlso known asEmperor Wen of Wei (posthumous)

The Founding Emperor of Wei Who Usurped the Han

The Three Kingdoms A-List · Central Figures

LiteraturePower PoliticsFounding a Dynasty

Who they are

Cao Cao’s second son, famed for a tale of brotherly suspicion — the "poem in seven paces" — but in fact the victor of years of political maneuvering over his brother Cao Zhi for the heirship. Soon after Cao Cao’s death he forced Emperor Xian to "abdicate" to him, formally ending the four-century Han dynasty and founding Wei, and honoring his father posthumously as Emperor Wu of Wei. He was also a leading writer of the Jian’an era, whose Discourse on Literature is among the earliest works of literary criticism in China.

Primary sourcesChen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei, Annals of Emperor Wen

Key stories

The Poem in Seven Paces

Suspicious of his gifted brother Cao Zhi after taking the throne, Cao Pi ordered him to compose a poem within seven paces on pain of punishment. Cao Zhi answered on the spot: "Beanstalks are burned to boil the beans, and the beans weep in the pot: born of the same root, why so fierce to scald each other?" — using beanstalks scalding beans as a figure for brothers destroying brothers. Moved, Cao Pi in the end did him no harm. The tale’s truth is doubtful, but those two lines survive to this day as the classic image of kin turned against kin.

Abdication and the End of the Han

In 220, when Cao Cao died and Cao Pi succeeded him as King of Wei, he at once imitated the ancient form of "abdication," forcing Emperor Xian to "yield" the throne to him, formally taking the imperial title, renaming the state Wei, and honoring Cao Cao as Emperor Wu. So ended the Han dynasty of over four hundred years. This "abdication," all outward modesty and grace, was a thoroughgoing seizure of power — and Sima Yan would later use the very same script to usurp Wei and found Jin.

Relationships

Father

🦅Cao Cao

Serves

🦉Sima Yi　Entrusted him with the regency of his heir

Echoes today

Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.

The "poem in seven paces": "born of the same root, why so fierce to scald each other?"From the legend of Cao Pi forcing his brother Cao Zhi to improvise a poem — the two lines remain the classic image of kin turned against kin; the tale’s truth is doubtful, but the lines are widely known.

Appears in

Red Cliffs and the Three-Way DivisionWinning Hanzhong at Mount Dingjun; Cao Pi Takes the Throne The Northern Campaigns and the Return to JinThe Coup at Gaoping Tombs

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