Cao Mao 曹髦

The Duke of Gaogui Village was named Mao, with the courtesy name Yanshi; he was a grandson of Emperor Wen and the son of Cao Lin, Prince Ding of Donghai. In the 5th year of Zhengshi (244) he was enfeoffed as Duke of Gaogui Village in Tan County. From childhood he loved learning and matured early. In the autumn of the 6th year of Jiaping (254), when the General-in-Chief Sima Shi deposed the emperor Cao Fang, the Empress Dowager issued an order saying that among the sons of Cao Lin, Prince of Donghai, the Duke of Gaogui Village, Cao Mao, had the capacity to achieve great things, and made him the heir of Emperor Ming. Wang Su, concurrently serving as Minister of Ceremonies, took the imperial carriage of state to Yuancheng to welcome him. Records, Wei 4 §44 · 46 · 48Records, Wei 13 §93

When he reached the Xuanwu Lodge in the 10th month, the ministers asked him to stay in the front hall, but he stayed in the western wing, saying the hall had been used by the late emperor, and he also declined their offer to welcome him with the imperial carriage of state. On entering Luoyang, when the ministers bowed to him south of the Xiye Gate, he bowed in return despite the master of ceremonies' attempt to stop him, saying, 'I am a subject.' At the Zhiche Gate he got down from his carriage and, saying he had only been summoned by the Empress Dowager and did not yet know for what, walked to the Eastern Hall of the Taiji Palace to see her. That day he ascended the imperial throne in the front hall of the Taiji Palace, and all the officials in attendance rejoiced. He changed the era name to Zhengyuan, reduced spending on the imperial carriages, robes and harem, and stopped the Imperial Workshops and the Imperial Treasury from making luxurious articles. Records, Wei 4 §48–49 · 52–53

In the 10th month of the 1st year of Zhengyuan (254) he granted the General-in-Chief Sima Shi the yellow battle-axe and allowed him not to hurry with small steps when entering court, and to ascend the hall wearing his sword and shoes. In the 1st month of the following year, when Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin rebelled, Sima Shi attacked them, and when Sima Shi died at Xuchang, in the 2nd month Cao Mao made Sima Zhao, General of the Guards, General-in-Chief and Intendant of the Affairs of the Imperial Secretariat. Records, Wei 4 §53–55

In the 8th month of the 2nd year of Zhengyuan (255), Jiang Wei, General-in-Chief of Shu, invaded Didao, and Wang Jing, Inspector of Yong Province, was heavily defeated at Taoxi. Cao Mao issued an edict saying that, lacking virtue, he had failed to stop the bandits and let thousands of officers and soldiers die, and ordered that their families be comforted and exempted from corvée and taxes for a year. In the 11th month, grieved that the bones of those who had drowned in the Tao River lay abandoned in the fields, he ordered the Generals Who Conquer the West and Who Pacify the West to search for the bodies, gather them and bury them. Records, Wei 4 §57–59

In the 4th month of the 1st year of Ganlu (256) he visited the Imperial Academy, had the scholars lecture on the Book of Changes, the Book of Documents and the Book of Rites, and questioned them himself. He asked why, if Zheng Xuan's combining of the 'Tuan' and 'Xiang' commentaries with the text of the classic made it easier to study, Confucius had not combined them himself, and he challenged them on Yao's testing Gun in office for nine years, asking how in that case Yao could be called sage and wise. The Erudites Chunyu Jun and Yu Jun could not answer him fully in the end and drew back, saying it was beyond the reach of their understanding. Records, Wei 4 §62–65 · 67 · 70–72

In the 6th month of that year he changed the era name to Ganlu, and in the 8th month he added the title of Grand Commander and the yellow battle-axe for Sima Zhao. In the 5th month of the 2nd year of Ganlu (257) he visited the Biyong and had his ministers compose poems, and when the Palace Attendant He You, the Master of Writing Chen Qian and others were slow and the officials in charge asked for their dismissal, he pardoned them, saying that he had sought poems widely only because he loved literary refinement. Records, Wei 4 §75 · 77 · 81

That same month, when Zhuge Dan refused the summons to become Minister of Works and rebelled, Cao Mao issued an edict citing how Emperor Gaozu of Han had taken the field in person against the rebellion of Qing Bu and how Emperor Ming had personally campaigned against Wu and Shu, and declaring that he would go to the front together with the Empress Dowager. The imperial carriage stopped at Xiang, and in the 2nd month of the 3rd year of Ganlu (258) Sima Zhao took the city of Shouchun and beheaded Zhuge Dan. Cao Mao had Qiutou, where Sima Zhao had encamped, renamed Wuqiu. In the 5th month he made Sima Zhao Chancellor of State, enfeoffed him as Duke of Jin and added the Nine Bestowments, but Sima Zhao declined nine times and it was dropped. In the 8th month he made Wang Xiang the Thrice Venerable and Zheng Xiaotong the Fivefold Experienced, and performed the ancient rites in person. Records, Wei 4 §82–83 · 85 · 88–90 · 93–94

In the 1st month of the 4th year of Ganlu (259) two yellow dragons appeared in a well in Ningling County. In the 4th month of the 5th year of Ganlu (260) he had the officials in charge carry out the earlier order and again raised Sima Zhao to Chancellor of State, enfeoffing him as Duke of Jin and adding the Nine Bestowments. Records, Wei 4 §96–97

On the jichou day of the 5th month, the Duke of Gaogui Village died. He was twenty. The Empress Dowager issued an order stating that he was violent by nature and slandered her, shot at her palace with a crossbow, and bribed her attendants to put poison in her medicine. It further stated that he had summoned the Palace Attendant Wang Chen, the Cavalier Regular Attendant Wang Ye and the Master of Writing Wang Jing, shown them an edict on yellow silk from the fold of his robe and said he would carry it out that very day, but Wang Chen and Wang Ye informed the General-in-Chief, and he led his attendants out of the Yunlong Gate, beating the drums, drew his sword himself and entered among the ranks of soldiers, where he was struck down by the vanguard. The Empress Dowager ordered that he be buried with the rites of a commoner, like the King of Changyi of the Han, and that Wang Jing and his family be handed over to the Commandant of Justice. Records, Wei 4 §98–102

The next day, when the Grand Tutor Sima Fu, the General-in-Chief Sima Zhao, the Grand Commandant Gao Rou and the Minister over the Masses Zheng Chong asked that he be shown grace and buried with the rites of a prince, the Empress Dowager agreed. Sima Zhao submitted a memorial stating that when the Duke of Gaogui Village came toward where he was, leading soldiers, his sword drawn and gongs and drums sounding, he had ordered that the Duke not be harmed, but that Cheng Ji, Retainer of the Heir Apparent, had rashly rushed into the ranks and struck the Duke so that he lost his life; he reported that he had dealt with Cheng Ji by military law and handed his family over to the Commandant of Justice. Wang Jing was executed for his involvement in the affair of the Duke of Gaogui Village. Records, Wei 4 §103–104 · 107–110Records, Wei 9 §130

In his assessment Chen Shou said that the Duke of Gaogui Village's talent and intelligence matured early, that he loved asking questions and esteemed literary composition, carrying on the cultivated manner of Emperor Wen, but that he was rash, impetuous, unable to restrain his anger and wilful, and so walked into great disaster of his own accord. Records, Wei 4 §153