Cao Gun 曹袞

Emperor Wu, Cao Cao, had twenty-five sons, and Lady Du bore Cao Lin (曹林), Prince Mu of Pei, and Cao Gun, Prince Gong of Zhongshan. Records, Wei 20 §2

Cao Gun was enfeoffed as Marquis of Pingxiang in the 21st year of Jian'an (216). He loved learning from childhood and could already compose writings when he was a little over ten. Whenever he read, his Literary Scholar and those around him constantly feared that he would wear himself out and fall ill and repeatedly tried to stop him, but because it was what he delighted in by nature, he could not give it up. In the 22nd year of Jian'an (217) his fief was moved and he became Marquis of Dongxiang, and that same year he was re-enfeoffed as Marquis of Zan. Records, Wei 20 §23

When his rank was raised to duke in the 2nd year of Huangchu (221), his officials all congratulated him. Cao Gun said, 'One born deep within the palace who does not know the hardships of farming is bound to fall into many faults of arrogance and idleness. Since you worthy gentlemen have already congratulated me on my good fortune, you should help me with my shortcomings.' Whenever his brothers amused themselves, Cao Gun alone pondered deeply over the classics. Records, Wei 20 §23–24

His Literary Scholar and Guardian-Assistant, saying that they had received an edict to watch over the duke's conduct and so should report his faults and make known his good deeds as well, jointly submitted a memorial praising Cao Gun's excellence. When Cao Gun heard of it, he was greatly alarmed and rebuked the Literary Scholar: cultivating oneself and keeping to one's principles was merely the conduct of an ordinary man, so reporting it to the throne only added to his burden, and if he had any good deeds there was no need to worry that they would go unknown, so rushing into this was no service to him. Chen Shou wrote that such was his caution and circumspection. Records, Wei 20 §24–25

In the 3rd year of Huangchu (222) he became Prince of Beihai. That year, when a yellow dragon appeared in the Zhang River west of Ye, Cao Gun submitted a writing in its praise. An edict granted him ten jin of gold, saying that in ancient times Tangshu had presented grain and the Prince of Dongping had offered a eulogy, both of them kinsmen giving praise and displaying the closest bonds of family; that the prince had studied the ancient records closely and savored the truth of the Way, so that the elegance of his writing shone brightly, which was most commendable; and it urged him to keep his bright virtue with care and preserve his fine name to the end. Records, Wei 20 §25–26

In the 4th year of Huangchu (223) he was re-enfeoffed as Prince of Zan, and in the 7th year (226) his fief was moved to Puyang. In the 2nd year of Taihe (228) he went to his fief, where, valuing frugality, he had his consorts and concubines spin and weave and learn the work of a commoner household. He came to court in the winter of the 5th year of Taihe (231), and in the 6th year (232) he was re-enfeoffed at Zhongshan. Records, Wei 20 §26

Earlier, when Cao Gun came to court, he had broken the prohibitions of the capital. When the authorities impeached him in the 1st year of Qinglong (233), an edict said that the prince had always been respectful and careful and had come to this by chance, so the matter should be deliberated under the statute for deliberating on imperial kin. When the authorities held firm, an edict stripped him of two counties and 750 households. Cao Gun, anxious and fearful, admonished his officials still more strictly, and the emperor, commending his attitude, restored the counties taken from him in the 2nd year of Qinglong (234). Records, Wei 20 §27

When Cao Gun fell ill in the autumn of the 3rd year of Qinglong (235), an edict sent the imperial physician to examine him. Palace attendants and Rapid as Tigers guards came one after another bearing letters in the emperor's own hand and rare delicacies, and the emperor also sent the Grand Consort and Cao Lin, Prince of Pei, to visit him in his illness together. Records, Wei 20 §27

When his illness grew grave, Cao Gun ordered his officials that, since he had always loved frugality and the sagely court had also set out regulations for funerals in an edict as a law for the realm, from the day his breath failed through the laying-in and the burial they should strive to follow the edict. He also said that in ancient times Qu Yuan (蘧瑗), a grandee of the state of Wey, had been buried at Puyang, and that gazing at his tomb he had always thought of the man's lingering example, so his own grave must be built beside it. Saying that the rites hold that a man should not die at the hands of women, he had the Eastern Hall hurriedly completed, and when the building was done he named it the Hall of Fulfilled Aspiration and had himself carried there in his sickness to live. Records, Wei 20 §28–29

Cao Gun warned his heir that, being young and not yet having learned the principles of right conduct, yet having become a ruler early, he knew only pleasure and not hardship, and so would surely err through arrogance and extravagance. He told him always to treat the great ministers with courtesy, to return the bow even of elders who were not great ministers, to serve his elder brothers with respect and care for his younger brothers with kindness. If a brother behaved badly, he should remonstrate with him knee to knee; if the brother did not heed him, he should reason with him in tears; if he still did not change, he should tell the brother's mother; and if he still did not change, he should report it to the throne and resign his fief. Better to live poor and humble and keep oneself whole, he said, than to cling to favor and meet disaster. He also told him that in matters within the inner apartments he should follow the Grand Consort's orders, and in matters outside the gate he should take instruction from the Prince of Pei. Records, Wei 20 §29–31

Cao Gun died that year. The Annals of Emperor Ming record that Cao Gun, Prince of Zhongshan, died on the jiyou day of the 10th month, in winter, of the 3rd year of Qinglong (235). An edict had Cao Lin, Prince of Pei, stay on until the burial was complete, sent the Grand Herald bearing the imperial tally to direct the funeral, and had the Director of the Imperial Clan offer condolences and sacrifices, and the funeral gifts were very generous. His writings came to more than 20,000 words in all; in talent he fell short of Cao Zhi, Prince Si of Chen, but he liked to measure himself against him. His son Cao Fu succeeded him, and during the Jingchu, Zhengyuan and Jingyuan eras the fief was repeatedly enlarged until, together with what it had before, it came to 3,400 households. Records, Wei 20 §31Records, Wei 3 §44

In his assessment at the end of Records of Wei 20, Chen Shou said that the princes and dukes of Wei had only the name of states and lands and none of the substance of a state, that, hemmed in by prohibitions and surveillance, they were no different from men in prison, and that, their ranks and titles never fixed, their fiefs great and small changed year by year. He lamented that the kindness owed to one's own flesh and blood had been perverted and the principle of the 'Changdi' ode abandoned, asking whether the flaws of the system had truly come to this. Records, Wei 20 §93