Novel scene
Cao Pi Deposes the Emperor and Usurps the Han 曹丕廢帝篡炎劉
About this event
"Cao Pi Deposes the Emperor and Usurps the Han" is the former scene of the title of Chapter 80 of the Romance, "Cao Pi Deposes the Emperor and Usurps the Throne of the Fiery Liu; the King of Han Takes His Rightful Place and Continues the Great Succession," and is one passage of Cao Pi's Usurpation of the Han. After Hua Xin and Wang Lang, together with Cao Hong and Cao Xiu, press Emperor Xian into issuing an edict of abdication, Cao Pi goes through the form of declining twice, receives the imperial seal on the Abdication Platform at Fanyang and becomes emperor, and Emperor Xian is driven out as Duke of Shanyang. Romance, Ch. 80 §1–12 · 15–24
In Chen Shou's text, the Annals of Emperor Wen in Records of Wei 2 record that the Han emperor, because the hopes of the people rested on Wei, summoned the ministers and gentlemen, made a report at the Temple of Gaozu, and had Zhang Yin, acting Imperial Counsellor, present the seal and ribbon and abdicate the throne. The King of Wei ascended the platform built at Fanyang on the gengwu day and took the imperial throne, and changed the era name from Yankang to Huangchu. Records, Wei 2 §13 · 16
In the Romance
In Chapter 80 of the Romance, Hua Xin and the others petition Emperor Xian to follow the way of Yao and Shun and abdicate in favor of the King of Wei, and Li Fu and Xu Zhi interpret the auspicious signs of the qilin, the phoenix and the yellow dragon, together with a prophecy that begins "The ghost (鬼) at the side, the entrusted (委) joined to it," to say that Wei should receive the abdication at Xuchang. When Emperor Xian, saying that auspicious signs and prophecies are empty fabrications, goes weeping into the rear hall, the officials withdraw with a sneer. Romance, Ch. 80 §1–5
The next day, when Cao Hong and Cao Xiu come in wearing swords, the Empress Cao Jie, Cao Cao's daughter, denounces them as rebels and goes in weeping, saying that her brother means to usurp the Han. Hua Xin seizes the emperor's dragon robe and demands that he say one word, yes or no, and when Cao Hong and Cao Xiu draw their swords and demand the imperial seal, Zu Bi, Keeper of the Tallies and Seals, rebukes them, saying that the treasure of the Son of Heaven cannot be handed over, and is dragged out and killed. Seeing several hundred Wei soldiers lined up below the steps, Emperor Xian begs only to be allowed to live out his remaining days and has Chen Qun draft the edict of abdication. Romance, Ch. 80 §6–12
On Sima Yi's advice Cao Pi submits a memorial declining, and when Emperor Xian sends a second edict, drafted by Huan Jie, together with the imperial seal by Zhang Yin, Cao Pi, as Jia Xu advises, sends them back again and has an Abdication Platform built so that the abdication can be made in public. Emperor Xian builds a three-tiered platform at Fanyang and chooses the yin hour of the gengwu day of the 10th month. Romance, Ch. 80 §15–19
On that day Emperor Xian, before more than four hundred officials and more than 300,000 palace troops, presents the imperial seal to Cao Pi with his own hands; Cao Pi ascends the throne, changes the 1st year of Yankang to the 1st year of Huangchu, names the state Great Wei, and posthumously honors his father as Taizu, Emperor Wu. Emperor Xian, made Duke of Shanyang, departs that very day amid Hua Xin's rebukes, and Cao Pi says, "Now I understand the affairs of Shun and Yu." As Cao Pi is about to give thanks to Heaven and Earth, a strange wind startles him and he collapses, and, uneasy with the palaces of Xuchang, he moves to Luoyang and builds palaces there on a grand scale. Romance, Ch. 80 §20–28
Where the Romance differs
How the abdication came about: In Chapter 80 of the Romance, Hua Xin, Cao Hong and Cao Xiu press Emperor Xian with drawn swords, and Zu Bi, Keeper of the Tallies and Seals, is killed for resisting. The Annals of Emperor Wen in the Records record only that the Han emperor, because the hopes of the people rested on Wei, summoned the ministers, made a report at the Temple of Gaozu and had Zhang Yin present the seal and abdicate the throne; there is no scene of coercion. Romance, Ch. 80 §8–12Records, Wei 2 §13
Duke of Shanyang: In Chapter 80 of the Romance, Emperor Xian is enfeoffed as Duke of Shanyang on the day of the abdication and driven out that same day. In the Annals of Emperor Wen in the Records, on the guiyou day of the 11th month of the 1st year of Huangchu the Han emperor was made Duke of Shanyang with the 10,000 households of the town of Shanyang in Henei, and was permitted to use the Han calendar, to perform the suburban sacrifices with the rites of the Son of Heaven, and not to call himself a subject when submitting letters. Romance, Ch. 80 §24–25Records, Wei 2 §17
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.