You would think the end of a 400-year dynasty would have more action than this, but it’s all just decrees, counter-decrees, speeches, humble brags, and an unusually strong gust of wind.

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Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 101.

Happy new year everyone. This is our first episode of 2017, and as we bid goodbye to 2016 in our own time, we are about to bid goodbye to the Han Dynasty in our narrative. Last time, all the court officials were turning up the heat on the emperor to abdicate and give his throne to Cao Pi. They even went so far as to execute the guy in charge of the imperial seal when he refused to hand it over.

Seeing that the court officials were not messing around, and seeing a few hundred of Cao Pi’s armed guards hanging around the main hall of his palace, the emperor wept and informed the officials, “I am willing to cede the empire to the King of Wei. I hope he will allow me to live out my years in peace.”

“His highness will not mistreat you,” the official Jia (2) Xu (3) told the emperor. “You should immediately issue a decree so as to put everyone at ease.”

So the emperor asked Chen (2) Qun (2), one of Cao Pi’s top officials, to draft the decree, which another of Cao Pi’s trusted officials, Hua (2) Xin (1), then carried off to Cao Pi, followed by all the other officials. The emperor’s decree said:

“My 32-year reign has seen great trouble in the land. Fortunately, the spirits of my forefathers have rescued me from peril. But now, having observed the patterns of the heavens and peered into the hearts of the people, I see that the cycle of the element of fire has expired, and a new element, corresponding to the House of Cao, now reigns. That change is attested by the martial success of the late King of Wei and the manifest and glorious virtue of the current King of Wei. The new succession thus fulfills the expectations of all.

“It is said, ‘When the way of the sages prevails, the empire belongs to all.’ For not favoring his own son, the ancient sage king Yao earned an immortal name. I venture to emulate him. Today, by abdicating to the prime minister and King of Wei, I follow in the footsteps recorded in the ‘Canon of Yao.’ I hope your highness will not decline.”

 

So let’s talk a little about this reference to the ancient sage king Yao. He is from the mythical era of Chinese history, a time marked by wise rulers with incredible lifespans. According to legend, Yao reigned for about 100 years during the third millennium B.C. Among the things he’s known and admired for is how he handled the succession question. Instead of passing his title to a son, he instead chose a highly recommended man named Shun (4) and married both of his daughters to the guy, as a way to observe and evaluate him. Eventually, satisfied that Shun was up to the job, Yao abdicated his throne and passed it to Shun (4).

So in invoking the story of Yao, the Han emperor is saying, or being made to say, that he is nobly, and totally voluntarily, abdicating to a worthy man. Of course, the story of Yao is mentioned every single time a Chinese ruler has been made to step down, so it really loses a bit of its meaning after a while. But whatever. The important thing is that the emperor had issued a decree to Cao Pi, offering him the key to the empire.