Cao Pi of Wei

formally Emperor Wen of (Cao) Wei (曹魏文帝), courtesy name Zihuan (子桓), was born in Qiao County, Pei Commandery (modern Bozhou, Anhui). He was the second son of the Chinese politician and poet Cao Cao and was the first emperor and the real founder of Cao Wei (also known as "Kingdom of Wei"), one of the Three Kingdoms.

Cao Pi, like his father, was a poet. The first Chinese poem using seven syllables per line (七言詩) was the poem 燕歌行 by Cao Pi. He also wrote over a hundred articles on various subjects.

Cao Pi was the eldest son of Cao Cao and his concubine (later wife) Princess Bian. Of all his brothers, Cao Pi was the most shrewd. Instead of studying hard or conducting military affairs, he was always in the presence of court officials in order to gain their support. He was mostly in charge of defense at the start of his career. After the defeat of Yuan Shao at Guandu, he took the widow of Yuan Shao's son Yuan Xi, Lady Zhen, as a consort, although eventually she lost his favor and was forced to commit suicide. After he became emperor, his other favorite, Guo Nüwang, became empress.

In 220, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate the throne and proclaimed himself emperor of Wei. Cao Pi continued his father's war against Liu Bei's Shu Han and Sun Quan's Eastern Wu but was unsuccessful. Unlike Cao Cao he concentrated most of his efforts on his home country, which prospered under his rule.

There were many internal conflicts during Cao Pi's rule. He demoted his brother Cao Zhi (who had contended with him the status as Cao Cao's heir) and had two of Cao Zhi's best friends executed. Allegedly, his younger brother Cao Xiong committed suicide out of fears for his brother, although this was undocumented in actual historical records. Cao Pi also put Yu Jin to shame for his loss to Guan Yu, which caused him to become ill and die. He further restricted the roles his other brothers had in the imperial administration; in addition, unlike princes of the Han Dynasty, under regulations established by Cao Pi, Cao Wei princes had minimal authority even in their own principalities and were restricted in many ways. Many historians attribute these heavy restrictions to how Cao Pi was jealous of Cao Zhi's literary talent and Cao Zhang's military might.

Modern references

Cao Pi appears in the Koei video game Dynasty Warriors 6, the latest in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms-based franchise. Whilst several characters have been portrayed as corrupt, megalomanical, arrogant and merciless, none before the introduction of Cao Pi have been portrayed as inherently evil.

In Warriors Orochi, a crossover between Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, Cao Pi inherits the kingdom of Wei after the alleged death of Cao Cao. He fought for Orochi and Da Ji in the beginning and made an uneasy alliance with Mitsunari Ishida. He would defect from Orochi after allowing Sun Ce to escape. When Mitsunari witnessed this he struck a friendship with Cao Pi and continued to fight alongside him. They would eventually find out that Cao Cao was still alive. But Cao Pi was to lead the final battle against Orochi.