Cao Wei 曹偉
| Appears | R | Biography in | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Native place | Shanyang Commandery | |
| Cause of death | RExecuted Unverified | ||
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R4 |
Profile
Cao Wei was a native of Shanyang. The Records has no separate biography of him; his name appears alongside that of Wei Feng in the memorial submitted by Dong Zhao in Records of Wei 14, the Biographies of Cheng, Guo, Dong, Liu, Jiang and Liu, and in the admonition that Wang Chang (王昶) wrote for his sons and nephews in Records of Wei 27, the Biographies of Xu, Hu and the Two Wangs. Records, Wei 14 §78Records, Wei 27 §24 · 33
Dong Zhao said that Wei Feng was executed at the end of Jian'an and Cao Wei beheaded at the beginning of Huangchu, and Wang Chang wrote that Wei Feng of Jiyin and Cao Wei of Shanyang were both ruined by their crookedness and wickedness, and that they had led their age astray and stirred up the young. Chen Shou's main text does not record his courtesy name, his offices or the offence for which he was beheaded, and he does not appear in the Romance. Records, Wei 14 §78Records, Wei 27 §33
In the Records
Dong Zhao acted as Minister over the Masses in the 4th year of Taihe (230) and was formally appointed in the 6th year (232). He submitted a memorial setting out the abuses of the degenerate times, saying that every ruler of the realm values honest, simple, loyal and trustworthy men and deeply loathes the false and insincere, because they undermine teaching, disorder government, corrupt customs and harm moral transformation. He went on to say that, in recent times, Wei Feng had been executed at the end of Jian'an and Cao Wei beheaded at the beginning of Huangchu. Records, Wei 14 §78
Dong Zhao said that the young men of the day no longer took learning as their foundation but made social connections their sole occupation, forming cliques and joining factions to praise one another. He added that some even registered their slaves and retainers as members of serving officials' households, going in and out of the inner recesses of the palace, exchanging letters and making inquiries; such things were what the law would not accept and punishment would not pardon, and even the crimes of Wei Feng and Cao Wei could not exceed them. The emperor thereupon issued a stern edict dismissing Zhuge Dan, Deng Yang and others from office. Records, Wei 14 §79–81
Wang Chang (王昶) gave his nephews and sons personal and courtesy names based on modesty and sincerity, and wrote an admonition to them. It said that a false man's words are not rooted in the Way and his deeds pay no regard to his words, yet people are deceived by him because they do not examine him by his words and deeds. Records, Wei 27 §24 · 32
It went on to say that recently Wei Feng of Jiyin and Cao Wei of Shanyang had both been ruined by their crookedness and wickedness, that they had led their age astray, harbored villainy and stirred up the young, and that although they had been punished by the axe and become a great and clear warning, many had already been tainted by them, so how could one not be careful? Records, Wei 27 §33
These three passages are the only places where Cao Wei's name appears in Chen Shou's main text. His courtesy name, his offices and the crime for which he was beheaded are not recorded. Records, Wei 14 §78 · 80Records, Wei 27 §33
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.
Abilities
This person does not appear in the Romance, so only the Records score (Chen Shou’s main text) is given.
- LEA33
- STR33
- INT42
- POL35
- CHA50
- VIR12
- ADP35
- SCH40
- DIP42
- DIS33
Evidence by ability
RNo direct record — no record of any officeWei 27 §33
RNo direct record — no record of any officeWei 27 §33
RNo direct record — estimated as a man beheaded at the beginning of HuangchuWei 27 §33
RNo direct record — no record of any officeWei 27 §33
RLed his age astray and stirred up the young, tainting manyWei 27 §33
RCalled crooked and wicked and harboring villainy; beheaded at the beginning of HuangchuWei 27 §33Wei 14 §78
RNo direct record — estimated from his ruin by beheadingWei 14 §78
RNo direct record — estimated as a man beheaded at the beginning of HuangchuWei 27 §33
RNo direct record — estimated as a man beheaded at the beginning of HuangchuWei 27 §33
RNo direct recordWei 27 §33
Records Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.