Treasure
Yidaizhao 衣帶詔
About this item
The Yidaizhao (Girdle Edict) is the secret edict that Emperor Xian is said to have placed inside a robe belt and given to Dong Cheng, General of Chariots and Cavalry, ordering him to do away with Cao Cao. Chen Shou's text records that Dong Cheng, claiming to have received a secret edict from inside the emperor's robe belt, plotted with Liu Bei and others to kill Cao Cao, but the matter was discovered and in the 1st month of the 5th year of Jian'an (200) they were all put to death. The Romance depicts it as an edict that Emperor Xian wrote in blood after biting his finger and that Empress Fu sewed into the lining of a jade belt, and follows this edict through the pact of Dong Cheng, Liu Bei, Ma Teng and others and its discovery. Records, Shu 2 §15Records, Wei 1 §58Romance, Ch. 20 §21Romance, Ch. 21 §5Romance, Ch. 23 §57
Chen Shou's text records this secret edict in the Biography of the First Sovereign in Records of Shu 2, and records the leaking of the plot and the deaths of Dong Cheng and others in the Annals of Emperor Wu in Records of Wei 1. The Romance has the edict made and bestowed in Chapter 20, depicts the pact and its discovery in Chapters 21, 23 and 24, and calls up this edict again in Chapters 30, 31, 57 and 69. Records, Shu 2 §15Records, Wei 1 §58Romance, Ch. 20 §21Romance, Ch. 21 §5Romance, Ch. 23 §57Romance, Ch. 24 §1Romance, Ch. 30 §6Romance, Ch. 31 §24Romance, Ch. 57 §40Romance, Ch. 69 §30
In the Records
The Biography of the First Sovereign records that before Liu Bei had left Cao Cao's side, Dong Cheng, General of Chariots and Cavalry, said he had received a secret edict contained in the emperor's robe belt and that Lord Cao must be killed, but Liu Bei did not yet act. At that time, when Cao Cao said that the only heroes in the realm now were Liu Bei and himself, Liu Bei dropped the spoon and chopsticks he was eating with, and soon he plotted together with Dong Cheng, Chong Ji, Colonel of the Changshui Garrison, the general Wu Zilan, Wang Zifu and others. As it happened, Liu Bei was sent out on a commission and the plot was not launched; the matter was discovered, and Dong Cheng and the others were all put to death. Records, Shu 2 §15
The Annals of Emperor Wu record that before Liu Bei went east he secretly plotted rebellion with Dong Cheng and others, and that on reaching Xiapi he killed Che Zhou, Inspector of Xu Province, and raised troops. They go on to say that in the 1st month, in spring, of the 5th year of Jian'an (200), the plot of Dong Cheng and the others leaked and they were all put to death, and Cao Cao set out in person to attack Liu Bei in the east. Records, Wei 1 §56 · 58
This affair is mentioned again and again later on. In the 11th month of the 19th year of Jian'an (214), it came to light that Empress Fu had once written in a letter to her father Fu Wan that the emperor resented Cao Cao over the execution of Dong Cheng, and she was deposed and died. In the 24th year of Jian'an (219), the memorial of the officials raising Liu Bei to King of Hanzhong said that Liu Bei had sought to kill Cao Cao together with Dong Cheng but that Dong Cheng's affair had not been kept secret, and Liu Bei himself, in the document he submitted to the Han emperor, said that he had once sought to attack Cao Cao together with Dong Cheng, but the matter leaked and Dong Cheng was harmed. Records, Wei 1 §136 · 142Records, Shu 2 §38 · 40–42 · 48–49
In the Romance
In Chapter 20 of the Romance, after the hunt at Xutian, when Emperor Xian weeps and laments to Empress Fu over Cao Cao's arbitrary rule, Fu Wan recommends Dong Cheng and proposes bestowing on him a robe and a jade belt with a secret edict sewn into the lining of the belt. Emperor Xian bites the tip of his finger and writes the secret edict in blood, has Empress Fu sew it into the purple brocade lining of the jade belt, then takes Dong Cheng to the Pavilion of Meritorious Officials, tells him to wear this robe and this belt, and whispers to him to examine them carefully when he gets home. Romance, Ch. 20 §17–24
As Dong Cheng is leaving the Pavilion of Meritorious Officials he runs into Cao Cao, who has him take off the belt, holds the robe up to the sunlight to examine it, tries it on and asks him to hand it over, then returns it saying he was only joking. That night, as Dong Cheng is about to fall asleep after examining the belt, a spark from the lamp falls and burns the lining, revealing bloodstains on white silk, and when he cuts it open he finds a secret edict written in blood by the Son of Heaven's own hand. The edict says that Cao Cao is usurping power and tells him to gather loyal and righteous men and destroy the treacherous faction, and it ends with "the 3rd month, in spring, of the 4th year of Jian'an." Romance, Ch. 20 §25–31
The next day Wang Zifu secretly takes the edict from under Dong Cheng's sleeve and agrees to join him, and the two draw up a pledge on white silk on which names are written. Chong Ji and Wu Shuo read the edict and write their names in tears, Wu Zilan also writes his name, and Ma Teng reads the edict, bites his lip until his mouth is full of blood and swears an oath. In Chapter 21 Liu Bei, shown the Yidaizhao that Dong Cheng has carried to him at night, also writes his name as "Liu Bei, General of the Left." Romance, Ch. 20 §32–42Romance, Ch. 21 §4–6
In Chapter 23, when the physician Ji Ping bites his finger and swears an oath, Dong Cheng shows him the Yidaizhao. Ji Ping tries to poison Cao Cao but dies in the 1st month of the 5th year of Jian'an, exposed by Dong Cheng's servant Qin Qingtong, and Cao Cao finds the Yidaizhao and the pledge in Dong Cheng's bedroom. In Chapter 24, seeing the Yidaizhao, Cao Cao means to depose Emperor Xian but stops at Cheng Yu's remonstrance; after killing the entire households of Dong Cheng and the other four, more than seven hundred people, he asks Emperor Xian whether he has forgotten biting his finger to write an edict, and has Dong Cheng's younger sister Dong Guifei put to death before him. Romance, Ch. 23 §36–37 · 54 · 56–57Romance, Ch. 24 §1–2 · 5–7
The Romance calls up this edict even afterward. In Chapter 30 Yuan Shao proclaims that he is attacking the traitor in obedience to the Yidaizhao, and in Chapter 31 Liu Bei reads the Yidaizhao aloud on horseback. In Chapter 57 Ma Teng tells his son Ma Chao about receiving the Yidaizhao with Dong Cheng, and in Chapter 69 Jin Yi recommends the two sons of Ji Ping, whose father Cao Cao killed over the Yidaizhao affair. Romance, Ch. 30 §6Romance, Ch. 31 §24Romance, Ch. 57 §40Romance, Ch. 69 §30
Where the Romance differs
The form of the edict: In Chapter 20 of the Romance, Empress Fu sews into the lining of a jade belt the edict that Emperor Xian wrote in blood after biting his finger, Cao Cao examines the belt and robe without noticing it, and Dong Cheng finds the edict thanks to a spark from the lamp. The Biography of the First Sovereign in the Records records only that Dong Cheng said he had received a secret edict from inside the emperor's robe belt, and records neither how the edict was made nor its text. Romance, Ch. 20 §21 · 24–30Records, Shu 2 §15
Those who made the pact: In Chapters 20 and 21 of the Romance, Dong Cheng, Wang Zifu, Chong Ji, Wu Shuo, Wu Zilan, Ma Teng and Liu Bei write their names on the pledge. The Biography of the First Sovereign in the Records records that Liu Bei plotted together with Dong Cheng, Chong Ji, Wu Zilan, Wang Zifu and others, and the names of Wu Shuo and Ma Teng are absent. Romance, Ch. 20 §35–38 · 42Romance, Ch. 21 §5–6Records, Shu 2 §15
How it came to light: In Chapter 23 of the Romance, Ji Ping's plot to poison Cao Cao comes to light through Qin Qingtong's denunciation, and Cao Cao finds the Yidaizhao in Dong Cheng's bedroom. The Annals of Emperor Wu in the Records say only that the plot of Dong Cheng and the others leaked and they were all put to death, and the Biography of the First Sovereign likewise records only that the matter was discovered. Romance, Ch. 23 §54 · 56–57Records, Wei 1 §58Records, Shu 2 §15
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.
Ownership history
| Owner | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dong Cheng | 199~200 | Novel & History 「董承辭受帝衣帶中密詔」 · 「帝解袍帶賜承」 「五年春正月，董承等謀泄」 |
Ownership is checked against the source texts (3KDEX) — each entry rests on the passage where the item changes hands. Owners not in the People index are not shown.