Royals › Monarch / Emperor
Cao Huan
Last emperor of Cao Wei, put on the throne by Sima Zhao after Cao Mao's killing, who saw Shu conquered and handed the throne to Sima Yan in 266
In a side chamber of a palace, a yellow ceremonial robe embroidered with a dragon hangs on a wooden stand, its hem worked with waves and rocks, before a carved folding screen, while a black lacquer chest sits on a low table by a lattice window and no person is in view.
Also known as Weiyuan Di · Cao Huang
- Roles
- Monarch / Emperor
Cao Huan, originally named Cao Huang, courtesy name Jingming, was a grandson of Cao Cao and a son of Cao Yu, Prince of Yan, and in 258 was made Duke of Changdaoxiang. In 260, after the emperor Cao Mao led his palace guard against Sima Zhao and was stabbed to death by Cheng Ji, Sima Zhao had the young duke brought from Ye to Luoyang, renamed Huan, and enthroned under the reign title Jingyuan. In 263 Deng Ai and Zhong Hui invaded Shu and its ruler Liu Shan surrendered; that year Cao Huan made Sima Zhao Duke of Jin and the next year King of Jin. Sima Zhao died in 265 and was succeeded by his son Sima Yan, to whom Cao Huan surrendered the throne in February 266, ending the Wei dynasty. As Prince of Chenliu he lived at Ye, allowed to keep imperial banners and to address the Jin emperor without calling himself a subject. He died in 302 at fifty-eight by Chinese reckoning and was posthumously named Emperor Yuan.
Life and times
Dates 246 CE–302 CE