RNo direct record — estimated from his serving as Lecturer in AttendanceWei 9 §73
NNo direct recordCh. 106 §36
Cao Yan 曹彥
| Occupation | RNOfficial · Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary | Faction | Wei |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Born | Native place | Pei Commandery Qiao County Unverified | |
| Cause of death | RExecuted NExecuted Unverified | ||
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R3 |
Profile
Cao Yan was a son of Cao Zhen, Grand Marshal of Wei, and a younger brother of the General-in-Chief Cao Shuang. He has no biography of his own in the Records; his name appears in the accounts of Cao Zhen and Cao Shuang in the Biographies of the Xiahou and Cao Clans in Records of Wei 9 and in the Annals of the Three Young Emperors in Records of Wei 4. After Cao Zhen died, Emperor Ming enfeoffed all five of his sons, Cao Xi, Cao Xun, Cao Ze, Cao Yan and Cao Ai, as full marquises. Records, Wei 9 §69 · 73Records, Wei 4 §28
When the Prince of Qi took the throne and Cao Shuang assisted in the government, Cao Yan became Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary and Lecturer in Attendance. In the 1st month of the 1st year of Jiaping (249), while the emperor had gone to pay respects at the Gaoping Mausoleum, the Grand Tutor Sima Xuanwang (Sima Yi) memorialized the throne and had him removed from office together with Cao Shuang, Cao Xi and Cao Xun and retired to his residence as a full marquis. Records, Wei 4 §2 · 28Records, Wei 9 §73
Chen Shou's main text records that Cao Shuang, Cao Xi, Cao Xun and others were afterward executed and their clans exterminated to the third degree, but it does not name Cao Yan among those executed, and the assessment in Records of Wei 9 does not discuss him. In the Romance he first appears in Chapter 106 as the younger brother whom Cao Shuang makes Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, and he appears in 2 of its 120 chapters; no chapter has his name in its title. Records, Wei 9 §88 · 132Romance, Ch. 106 §36Romance, Ch. 107 §1
In the Records
Cao Yan's father Cao Zhen, courtesy name Zidan, was a clan nephew of Taizu. Cao Zhen died in the 3rd month of the 5th year of Taihe (231), and his son Cao Shuang succeeded him. Emperor Ming issued an edict praising Cao Zhen for having walked the path of loyalty and assisted the two founding emperors, and enfeoffed all five of Cao Zhen's sons, Cao Xi, Cao Xun, Cao Ze, Cao Yan and Cao Ai, as full marquises. Records, Wei 9 §62 · 69Records, Wei 3 §21
In the 1st month of the 3rd year of Jingchu (239), when Emperor Ming died and the Prince of Qi took the throne, the General-in-Chief Cao Shuang and the Grand Commandant Sima Xuanwang assisted in the government. Cao Shuang's younger brother Cao Xi became Central Commander of the Army, Cao Xun General of the Martial Guard, and Cao Yan Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary and Lecturer in Attendance, and his other younger brothers all attended the emperor as full marquises and came and went through the palace gates. Chen Shou wrote that their honor and favor could not have been greater. Records, Wei 4 §2Records, Wei 9 §72–73
In the 1st month of the 10th year of Zhengshi (249), when the emperor's carriage went to pay respects at the Gaoping Mausoleum, Cao Shuang and all his brothers went with it. The Annals of the Three Young Emperors record this year as the 1st year of Jiaping. Sima Xuanwang first seized the arsenal and stationed himself at the floating bridge over the Luo River, then memorialized that, by order of the Empress Dowager, he had instructed the officials in charge and the Prefect of the Yellow Gate to dismiss the officers and troops of Cao Shuang, Cao Xi and Cao Xun and send them back to their residences as full marquises. Records, Wei 9 §80 · 83Records, Wei 4 §28
The Annals of the Three Young Emperors record that at this time the Grand Tutor Sima Xuanwang memorialized the throne and had the General-in-Chief Cao Shuang and Cao Shuang's younger brothers, the Central Commander of the Army Cao Xi, the General of the Martial Guard Cao Xun and the Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary Cao Yan, removed from office and retired to their residences as marquises. When Cao Shuang sent Xu Yun and Chen Tai to admit his guilt and ask for death, Cao Shuang and his brothers were at last dismissed and returned to their residences as full marquises. Records, Wei 4 §28Records, Wei 9 §85
Afterward the eunuch of the Yellow Gate Zhang Dang testified that Cao Shuang had plotted rebellion together with He Yan and others, and the high ministers and court officials deliberated at court and judged it to be great treason and impiety. Cao Shuang, Cao Xi, Cao Xun, He Yan, Deng Yang, Ding Mi, Bi Gui, Li Sheng, Huan Fan, Zhang Dang and others were then arrested and all executed, and their clans were exterminated to the third degree. Chen Shou's main text does not include Cao Yan's name in this list and does not record his death separately. Records, Wei 9 §87–88Records, Wei 4 §28
In his assessment in Records of Wei 9, Chen Shou said only that Cao Shuang's virtue was slight while his position was lofty and that he sank into excess, and he made no separate assessment of Cao Yan. Records, Wei 9 §132
In the Romance
In Chapter 106 of the Romance, Cao Shuang, heeding He Yan's words, petitions Cao Fang, the ruler of Wei, to raise Sima Yi to Grand Tutor, and from then on all military power passes to Cao Shuang. Cao Shuang makes his younger brothers Cao Xi Central Commander of the Army, Cao Xun General of the Martial Guard and Cao Yan Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, each leading 3,000 men of the Imperial Guard and free to come and go in the forbidden palace, and he makes He Yan, Deng Yang and Ding Mi Masters of Writing, Bi Gui Colonel-Director of Retainers and Li Sheng Intendant of Henan. Romance, Ch. 106 §35–36
In the same chapter, when Cao Shuang petitions the ruler of Wei to go and sacrifice at the Gaoping Mausoleum, officials great and small all follow the imperial carriage, and Cao Shuang, leading his three younger brothers and his confidants such as He Yan, escorts the carriage together with the Imperial Guard. The Minister of Agriculture Huan Fan remonstrates that since his lord commands the palace troops, the brothers should not all go out together, but Cao Shuang points his whip at him and rebukes him. Romance, Ch. 106 §47–48
In Chapter 107, Sima Yi is overjoyed to hear that Cao Shuang, with his younger brothers Cao Xi, Cao Xun and Cao Yan, his confidants He Yan, Deng Yang, Ding Mi, Bi Gui, Li Sheng and others, and the Imperial Guard, has followed Cao Fang, the ruler of Wei, to pay respects at the tomb of Emperor Ming and gone on from there to hunt. Sima Yi has the Minister over the Masses Gao Rou act as General-in-Chief and take over Cao Shuang's camp, and has the Minister Coachman Wang Guan act as Central Commander of the Army and take over Cao Xi's camp. Romance, Ch. 107 §1
In his memorial Sima Yi reports that he has dismissed the officers and troops of Cao Shuang, Cao Xi and Cao Xun and sent them back to their residences as marquises. The three Cao brothers return to their private residence and are confined there, and after obtaining the confessions of Zhang Dang, He Yan and the others, Sima Yi beheads the three Cao brothers and the criminals implicated with them in the marketplace and exterminates their clans to the third degree. The Romance does not mention Cao Yan's name again in these scenes. Romance, Ch. 107 §12 · 20–23
Where the Romance differs
Enfeoffment as marquises: In the Records, after Cao Zhen died, Emperor Ming, remembering his merit, enfeoffed all five of his sons, including Cao Yan, as full marquises. This does not appear in the Romance, where Cao Yan first appears in Chapter 106 as Cao Shuang's younger brother. Records, Wei 9 §69Romance, Ch. 106 §36
Appointment as Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary: In Chapter 106 of the Romance, Cao Shuang makes his younger brother Cao Yan Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, leading 3,000 men of the Imperial Guard and free to come and go in the forbidden palace. The Records state only that Cao Yan became Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary and Lecturer in Attendance and that the brothers came and went through the palace gates as full marquises, and do not mention any troops under his command. Romance, Ch. 106 §36Records, Wei 9 §73
Dismissal: In Chapter 107 of the Romance, Sima Yi's memorial speaks only of dismissing the officers and troops of Cao Shuang, Cao Xi and Cao Xun and does not mention Cao Yan. In the Records, too, the memorial quoted in the biography of Cao Shuang names only the same three, but the Annals of the Three Young Emperors name the Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary Cao Yan among those removed from office on Sima Xuanwang's memorial. Romance, Ch. 107 §12Records, Wei 9 §83Records, Wei 4 §28
How the executions came about: In Chapter 107 of the Romance, Sima Yi, after obtaining the confessions of Zhang Dang, He Yan and the others, promptly beheads the three Cao brothers and the criminals implicated with them in the marketplace and exterminates their clans to the third degree. In the Records, after Zhang Dang's testimony the high ministers and court officials deliberated at court and judged it great treason and impiety, and Cao Shuang, Cao Xi, Cao Xun and others were executed and their clans exterminated to the third degree. Neither account names Cao Yan among those executed. Romance, Ch. 107 §22–23Records, Wei 9 §87–88
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
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
Records total352 / 1000Rank 891 of 996 · Top 90%Romance total327 / 1000Rank 1,021 of 1,113 · Top 92%
Romance adaptation index−25Romance total − Records total
- LEA3540+5
- STR3133+2
- INT3531−4
- POL3831−7
- CHA3531−4
- VIR3835−3
- ADP3131±0
- SCH4533−12
- DIP3331−2
- DIS3131±0
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
9 similar abilities — show evidence
RNo direct record — estimated from his post as Cavalier Attendant-in-OrdinaryWei 9 §73
NNo direct record — commanded 3,000 men of the Imperial GuardCh. 106 §36
RNo direct record — estimated from his post as an attendant officialWei 9 §73
NNo direct recordCh. 106 §36
RNo direct record — estimated from his post as an attendant officialWei 9 §73
NNo direct recordCh. 107 §1
RNo direct record — estimated from his post as Cavalier Attendant-in-OrdinaryWei 9 §73
NNo direct record — Cavalier Attendant-in-OrdinaryCh. 106 §36
RNo direct record — estimated from his post as an attendant officialWei 9 §73
NNo direct recordCh. 106 §36
RNo direct record — enjoyed favor through his elder brother's powerWei 9 §73
NNo direct record — came and went freely in the forbidden palaceCh. 106 §36
RNo direct record — lost his office in the Gaoping Mausoleum coupWei 4 §28
NNo direct record — left the city with his brother to go huntingCh. 107 §1
RNo direct record — estimated from his post as an attendant officialWei 9 §73
NNo direct recordCh. 106 §36
RNo direct record — estimated from his post as an attendant officialWei 9 §73
NNo direct recordCh. 106 §36
Records Romance 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.
Romance chapters (2)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →
Allegiance history
- Wei · Romance · Romance ch. 107 「司马懿闻曹爽同弟曹羲、曹训、曹彦」 · Q124617593
Family
| Siblings | Cao Shuang Romance, Cao Xun Romance, Cao Xi Romance |
|---|
Based on Wikidata items for the historical and Romance figures. Relations without the Unverified badge were also confirmed in the Records.