The
Incident at Gaoping Tombs in
249 was a
coup d'etat which
occurred in
Cao Wei during the
Three Kingdoms period in China. The
parties involved were
Cao Shuang and
Sima Yi. Sima Yi seized power during the
coup and had Cao Shuang killed. The coup increased the Sima clan's
power and influence in Cao Wei, thus providing the foundation of
the
Jin Dynasty.
Background
In 239, Emperor Ming of Wei
Cao Rui died and
was succeeded by the eight-year old Emperor Shao
Cao Fang. In his final edict, Cao Rui named
General-in-Chief
Cao Shuang and Grand
Commandant
Sima Yi as the regents to assist
Cao Fang in ruling Cao Wei. Cao Shuang ostracised Sima Yi and
placed his close associates such as
He Yan,
Deng Yang,
Li Sheng,
Bi
Gui and
Ding Mi in high official
positions in the
imperial court. Cao
Shuang promoted Sima Yi to the rank of Grand Tutor, which was
actually a move by Cao Shuang to place Sima Yi in a powerless
position. Cao Shuang also appointed his brothers
Cao Xi and
Cao Xun in high military
ranks. The imperial guards were also under Cao Shuang's command.
Cao Shuang and his associates thus controlled the imperial court of
Cao Wei. Cao Shuang abused his power by indulging in personal
entertainment while neglecting state affairs.
Sima Yi was in a powerless position and was thus unable to
participate in discussions on state affairs. In 247, he feigned
illness to avoid Cao Shuang and ostensibly retired from public
life.
The
next year, when Li Sheng was sent to Jingzhou
to assume
office as the Inspector of Jingzhou, he paid a visit to Sima Yi
before his departure. Sima Yi put up a show in front of Li
Sheng and pretended that his health had worsened. In
Romance of the Three
Kingdoms, Sima Yi pretended to have poor hearing and
misheard "Jingzhou" as "
Bingzhou". Later,
when a servant came to feed him porridge, Sima Yi pretended to
cough so badly that the porridge spilt on his clothes.
宣王令两婢侍边，持衣，衣落；复上指口，言渴求饮，婢进粥，宣王持杯饮粥，粥皆流出沾胸。
annotations to
Records
of the Three Kingdoms Li Sheng reported Sima Yi's
condition to Cao Shuang and Cao Shuang thought that Sima Yi was
going to die soon so he lowered his guard. In the meantime, Sima Yi
and his sons
Sima Shi and
Sima Zhao were secretly preparing for a coup to
seize power.
Course of events
In 249, the Emperor Shao of Wei
Cao Fang
visited the
Gaoping Tombs to pay his
respects to the late Emperor Ming
Cao Rui.
Cao Shuang, together with his brothers
and close associates, followed Cao Fang on the trip. While they
were away,
Sima Yi seized the opportunity to
launch the military coup.
He had all the city gates in Luoyang
shut on the
orders of the Empress Dowager and he took over the floating bridge
at Luoshui as well. He appointed
Gao Rou as the acting General-in-Chief and
Gao took over command of Cao Shuang's army, while
Wang Guan was placed in charge of
Cao Xi's army. He wrote a report to Cao Fang, asking
Cao Fang to remove Cao Shuang and his brothers from power, in the
name of the Empress Dowager. Cao Shuang was shocked when he saw the
report and was unsure of how to react.
The Minister of Finance
Huan Fan managed to
flee from Luoyang and went to see Cao Shuang.
Huan Fan advised Cao
Shuang to move to Xuchang
and call for
a punitive war against Sima Yi in the
name of the emperor Cao Fang. On the other hand, Palace
Attendant
Xu Yun, Imperial
Secretariat
Chen Tai and Palace Guard
Yin Damu advised Cao Shuang to surrender as
soon as possible. Cao Shuang pondered over the issue for a night
and finally decided to surrender. He hoped to lead a luxurious life
even though he had lost his power. He requested for Cao Fang to
strip him off his military post and then he sent Xu Yun and Chen
Tai to apologise to Sima Yi on his behalf. Cao Shuang and his
brothers returned to their residences after losing their
powers.
Aftermath
After the incident,
Zhang
Fu was arrested and he produced a full confession on a plot to
overthrow the emperor.
Cao Shuang and his
associates were accused of treason and arrested and thrown into
prison.
Huan Fan had earlier met Si
Fan during his escape from Luoyang and he told
Si Fan, "The Imperial Tutor is planning to rebel, you should come
with me!"
"太傅图逆，卿从我去!"
annotations to Records of the Three
Kingdoms from Weilüe Si Fan surrendered himself to
Sima Yi after that. Sima Yi had Huan Fan arrested and thrown into
prison on charges of falsely accusing him of treason instead.
Subsequently, Cao Shuang and his associates were executed for
treason along with their clans.
Sima Yi successfully seized power during the coup and eliminated
the royal faction led by Cao Shuang in the imperial court. He was
appointed as
Imperial Chancellor
and received the
Nine Dignities from
the emperor
Cao Fang. Sima Yi's sons
Sima Shi and
Sima
Zhao were placed in high ranking positions in the imperial
court as well.
In 251,
Wang Ling and
Linghu Yu felt that Cao Fang was too young and
weak to rule the kingdom and that the kingdom's power actually lies
in the hands of Sima Yi. They started a
rebellion in Shouchun to overthrow Cao Fang and Sima Yi. They
intended to install
Cao Biao on the throne.
Eventually, the rebellion was crushed by Sima Yi and the rebel
leaders were killed.
After Sima Yi's death, his sons continued to control Cao Wei and
they eliminated almost all the loyalists to the kingdom.
Eventually, the royal Cao family's influence in Cao Wei weakened
and in 265 Sima Zhao's son
Sima Yan forced
the last Cao Wei ruler
Cao Huan to abdicate
and took over the throne, founding the
Western Jin Dynasty.
See also
Notes and references
- Comprehensive biography of Sima Yi
- The Three Kingdoms and Western Jin A history of
China in the Third Century AD Part 2: Rival Empires (220-265): Wei
and the Sima family
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