Cao Rui

Who was Cao Rui?

Cao Rui, courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later remarried Cao Pi, the first ruler of Wei. Pei Songzhi claimed that Cao Rui was Cao Pi's son, but Lu Bi and Mou Guangsheng stated that he was Yuan Xi's son.

Cao Rui's reign was viewed in many different ways throughout Chinese history. He was an emperor who was known to have been a strong military strategist and a good leader astute in commissioning capable officials. At the same time, he was personally a supporter of arts. He devoted much resources into building palaces and ancestral temples, and his reign saw the stalemate between his empire, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu become more entrenched. His building projects and his desire to have many concubines greatly exhausted the imperial treasury. On his deathbed, he entrusted his son Cao Fang to the regency of Cao Shuang and Sima Yi — a fatal mistake for his clan, as Cao Shuang monopolised power and governed incompetently, eventually drawing a violent reaction from Sima Yi, who overthrew him in a coup d'état and became in control of the Wei government, eventually allowing his grandson Sima Yan to usurp the Wei throne. After his death, Cao Rui was posthumously honoured as "Emperor Ming" with the temple name "Liezu".