#cao pi

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

-beans of various types-

The fourth son of the Cao household was leading a one-man war in the courtyard of the main house. His name was Cao Zhi, and he was a little boy of five years. Old enough to wear proper trousers, though his hair was still shaved in the middle and braided into two ox-horns on the sides. His sword was a stick, and his horse was a broom. Cao Zhi ran this way and that, leading soldiers that only his eyes could see. 

“Crossbows back, ji forward! Hold fast and prepare to engage!” He had plenty of brothers but preferred to play alone. It wasn’t as much fun, but at least there was no one to scold him for being annoying or twist his arm when he talked back. 

Victory was at hand, such was his concentration, Cao Zhi did not hear the horses arriving at the main gate or the servants rushing out to greet “Lord Cao!” A moment later, a man dressed in a short, plain riding coat stepped quietly into the courtyard and stopped under the shade of a tree to watch him. 

“One more push, men! Calvary to the left and right! We’ll break their arrays and put them to route!”  Most people would have been surprised to hear such a young child recite word-perfect battlefield commands at an age when most were singing nursery rhymes. The man in the shade watched him attentively without speaking a word. There was a complicated expression on his face. 

Cao Zhi turned around and finally noticed that he had attracted an audience. The instant his eyes alighted on the man, his face split into a gap-toothed grin. 

“Eldest Brother! Eldest Brother!” he cried and ran forward with his arms outstretched. Then, he remembered that his half-brother was now a man grown and the Heir Apparent to boot, so giving him a big hug was Not Proper anymore. He quickly stopped and bowed. “Greetings, Elder Brother. Zhi hopes you have travelled well.” 

“I did, thank you,” replied his eldest brother, Cao Ang. He returned the bow, and his movements seemed a hundred times more refined in the boy's eyes. “I trust you’ve been in good health, Fourth Brother?” 

“Yes. I am well.” Cao Zhi said, suddenly feeling very shy. It had been nearly a year since they had last spoken. Cao Ang left home as a brother and returned as a lord, capped and gowned, with a sword at his side and a dusty whip hanging from his belt. Between working in the civil service and accompanying Father on campaigns, there was a noticeable change in his manners and speech. The fifteen years between them suddenly felt as impassable as a mountain. Cao Ang had become impossibly tall, grand and grown-up. Almost more imposing than Father.

Perhaps it would be better if Cao Zhi played in the inner courtyard, out of his brother’s way. “May I take my leave, Eldest Brother?” 

“Hold it,” Cao Ang commanded. His face was stern, but there was no mistaking the humorous twinkle in his eyes. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? How dare you approach your liege with your weapon bared!” 

Cao Zhi realised that he was still holding onto his stick. He giggled and made a show of putting it into his belt, in place of a scabbard. “Please forgive your vassal’s impudence.”  

“I fail to see what’s so funny, young man.” Cao Ang said, dead serious, which only made his little brother laugh harder. “I could have been run through!” 

It happened just like that. As swiftly as a burst of water unblocking a choked-up stream. Any lingering awkwardness was gone, and the two of them began chatting and laughing like no time had passed.

(To be continued)

[qunxionggeju]

A son who offers a sword, a son who receives a sword. And ofc, Saturn Devouring His Son as the backdrop for Cao Ang, I swear I'll never get over this

[the-archlich]

Would you refer to Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Rui, Cao Shuang as progressive or conservative(within the context of the time) figures? I ask because I've seen plenty of cases being made for both based on both their policy and behavior and I'm curious regarding your thoughts on the subject.

I think instead of progressive vs conservative (which bumps up too much against modern definitions and expectations) it's better to think of groups in the Wei court as reformist (wanting to make major changes to government or society) and traditionalist (wanting to restore or maintain the old Han order).

Longer explanation below but short: Cao Cao & Cao Pi are pretty balanced, Cao Rui skewed traditionalist.

In Wei things generally break upon pretty clear lines. The old guard, the families who were prosperous and powerful under Han, tended to be very traditionalist. It worked for them, after all. The reformists tended to come from the new gentry, those who were raised up by the Cao for their exploits and come from outside of the old system. Obviously the new way was benefiting them.

I think Cao Cao and Cao Pi both did a good job of balancing between these two groups, to the point where there isn't really a clear factional split during their regimes. This, too, is to be expected. The Cao were themselves part of the old guard but it was only new circumstances that elevated them to ultimate power and they had a literal army of personal supporters to thank for it.

It would be impossible to call Cao Cao and Cao Pi traditionalists. After all they completely overturned the old order. Cao Cao fundamentally reorganized the Han government and Cao Pi eliminated it entirely. That's about as reformist as you can get. At the same time, both carefully left key pieces of the old order in place and preserved the majority of Han's customs and traditions, not reorganizing their society as radically as, say, Sima Zhao and Sima Yan (who restored ancient titles of nobility, enthroned the princes, etc.).

On the whole, I believe Cao Rui leaned more towards the traditionalists. Most of the leading figures in his regime can be classified as such. Those who had been Cao Cao's personal supporters were much fewer in number and the connections between the new emperor and the family's retainers were much more distant than they had been for Cao Pi. This is most clearly illustrated in his dismissing of many reformist scholars (later associated with Cao Shuang).

The split becomes most visible under Cao Fang, of course, but he was a young child when he came to the throne and cannot be held responsible. During his time these two factions coalesced around Sima Yi and Cao Shuang. To some degree that conflict was inevitable, as soon as there was no longer a strong emperor able to balance between the factions (or tip the scales).

[exhalcyon]

Context? What’s that lol

The vids I rotoscoped from were the Dynamite MVs, bts choreography video, and crosswalk concert vid by James Corden

[torikobako]

真・三國無双8 - 曹丕

三國志真戦コラボ先の曹丕さんの立ち絵かっこよい…………かわいい………最高………ありがとう………！

[kouignamann90]

天意

[dongzhou3kingdoms]

The man behind the translations does a focus on the more positive aspects of Cao Pi's military record

[sevengraces7777]

[mogu359]

真・三國無双８

曹丕 2023 まとめ２

[beehunni62]

The Advisors Alliance Mini Encyclopedia - Post 14: Grapes

The Advisors Alliance 大军师司马懿之军师联盟 is a 2017 two-part Chinese TV series depicting the life of Sima Yi, a government official and military strategist who lived during the late Eastern Han Dynasty 东汉 (25 CE - 220 CE) and the Three Kingdoms Period 三国時代 (220 CE - 280 CE). [Wikipedia of the show’s first season]

The second part is titled Growling Tiger Roaring Dragon 虎啸龙吟 and keeps following Sima Yi’s life as he matures and becomes wiser [Link to the show’s second season’s MyDramaList page].

The Weibo account [Link] of the show made a series of posts in the style of small encyclopedias explaining different historical and cultural facts that where included in the series. The user @moononmyfloor compiled the 50 posts and asked me to translate them. This will be an ongoing series where I will do just that. Although I tried to stay as close as possible to the original text, I had to take some liberties in some posts to get the meaning across better. On the side, I have included extra information from personal research that explains certain things better.

The posts are not in order of the episodes but I will provide the episode and season number to avoid confusion. If there are any mistakes in translation, do let me know in the comments or privately message me and I will do my best to fix them.

If it is difficult to read the letters, tap or click on the image to expand it. Without more preamble, here you go.

Extra information:

Catalogue (Find the rest of the posts)

[reflectingstars]

DW9 Empires - Sword Dance - Cao Pi x Sun Quan

[qunxionggeju]

《魏略》：干一名良。良本陈妾子，良生而陈氏死，太祖令王夫人养之。良年五岁而太祖疾困，遗令语太子曰：“此儿三岁亡母，五岁失父，以累汝也。”太子由是亲待，隆于诸弟。良年小，常呼文帝为阿翁，帝谓良曰：“我，汝兄耳。”文帝又愍其如是，每为流涕。

Translation:

[Cao] Gan was also called Liang. Liang was originally the son of Concubine Chen, [but] she died after he was born, Taizu (Cao Cao) ordered Lady Wang to raise him. When Liang was five years old Taizu became deathly ill, and on his deathbed said to the Crown Prince (Cao Pi): This boy lost his mother at three, and his father (Cao Cao) at five, I'll have to trouble you to take care of him." The Crown Prince took care of him personally, favoring him over his other younger brothers. When Liang was young, he often called Wendi (Cao Pi) Grandpa, the Emperor would say to him, "I'm your brother" and weep in pity.

Cao Pi raising Cao Gan...sobbing. Samtalk actually did cover this with that livestream scene where Cao Gan called Cao Cao grandpa instead of dad.

[sol-lus]

[exhalcyon]

I’ve been thinking about Yuan Shao wearing George from Beef’s fits an unhealthy amount lately. And Jujutsu Kaisen ED 1 colors😭

[natstarbuck]

[torikobako]

真・三國無双7(一部8) - 司馬師・曹丕・鍾会

11月のさんむその朝落書き集。 晋勢がかわいくて7猛を始めました。