Cao Xuan 曹玹

Cao Cao, Emperor Wu, had twenty-five sons; Lady Qin bore Cao Xuan, Prince Huai of Jiyang, and Cao Jun (曹峻), Prince Gong of Chenliu. Records, Wei 20 §2

Cao Xuan was enfeoffed as Marquis of Xixiang in the 16th year of Jian'an (211). He died young and had no son. In the 20th year of Jian'an (215) Cao Zan, son of Cao Lin (曹林), Prince of Pei, was made to inherit Cao Xuan's rank and fief, but Cao Zan too died young without a son. Emperor Wen, Cao Pi, then had Cao Zan's younger brother Cao Yi succeed Cao Xuan. Records, Wei 20 §33

Cao Yi was re-enfeoffed as Marquis of Jiyang in the 2nd year of Huangchu (221), and in the 4th year (223) his rank was raised to duke. In the 4th year of Taihe (230) Cao Xuan's rank was raised posthumously and he was given the posthumous name Duke Huai; in the 6th year (232) his title was raised again to Prince Huai, and Cao Zan was posthumously given the title Marquis Ai of Xixiang. Records, Wei 20 §33

When Cao Yi died he was given the posthumous name Duke Dao, and his son Cao Heng (曹恆) succeeded him. In the Jingchu, Zhengyuan and Jingyuan eras his fief was enlarged several times, reaching 1,900 households including the earlier ones. Records, Wei 20 §34

In Chen Shou's main text Cao Xuan appears only in this biography and in the list of sons at the beginning of the Biographies of the Princes of Emperors Wu and Wen, and his courtesy name, age and the year of his death are not recorded. In his assessment at the end of Volume 20, Chen Shou said that the princes and dukes of Wei had only the name of fiefs and lands and none of the substance of a state, were so hemmed in by prohibitions and surveillance that they were no different from men held in prison, and, their titles never being fixed, had their fiefs, large and small, changed year after year. He then lamented that the affection between flesh and blood had been perverted and the duty of the 'Changdi' ode cast aside, and asked whether the evils of the system had really come to this. Records, Wei 20 §2 · 33 · 93