The Secret Edict and Its Afterlife

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms

This flow traces the emperor’s secret attempt to resist Cao Cao and the way the failed conspiracy shapes later ideas of loyalty.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Blood-Written Appeal A Blood-Written Appeal from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The Emperor Acts in Secret A Public Humiliation At the hunt, Cao Cao takes the imperial bow and receives praise intended for the emperor.

A Blood-Written Appeal from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The Emperor Acts in Secret A Public Humiliation At the hunt, Cao Cao takes the imperial bow and receives praise intended for the emperor.

The Emperor Acts in Secret A Public Humiliation At the hunt, Cao Cao takes the imperial bow and receives praise intended for the emperor. The event convinces Emperor Xian that his authority has been publicly appropriated. A Hidden Decree The emperor writes in blood and hides a command in a belt for Dong Cheng, hoping loyalists can act without Cao Cao’s knowledge.

Xuande Joins the Plot Xuande Joins the Plot from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Trust Is Tested A Careful Approach Dong Cheng seeks Xuande’s support, and Xuande initially tests whether he is being watched by Cao Cao.

Xuande Joins the Plot from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Trust Is Tested A Careful Approach Dong Cheng seeks Xuande’s support, and Xuande initially tests whether he is being watched by Cao Cao.

Trust Is Tested A Careful Approach Dong Cheng seeks Xuande’s support, and Xuande initially tests whether he is being watched by Cao Cao. A Shared Risk Xuande signs the conspiracy document, then hides his intentions by tending his garden and accepting a military assignment away from court.

The Poisoning Attempt The Poisoning Attempt from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". A Physician Turns Assassin The Plan Ji Ping intends to poison Cao Cao under the cover of treating his migraines.

The Poisoning Attempt from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". A Physician Turns Assassin The Plan Ji Ping intends to poison Cao Cao under the cover of treating his migraines.

A Physician Turns Assassin The Plan Ji Ping intends to poison Cao Cao under the cover of treating his migraines. A household servant overhears the conspiracy and informs Cao Cao. Interrogation Cao Cao forces Ji Ping to drink the medicine and then tortures him for names. Ji Ping refuses to betray the others and dies without exposing them.

Families Executed Families Executed from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Rebellion Crushed at Home Evidence Found Cao Cao searches Dong Cheng’s household and discovers the blood edict and conspiracy document.

Families Executed from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Rebellion Crushed at Home Evidence Found Cao Cao searches Dong Cheng’s household and discovers the blood edict and conspiracy document.

Rebellion Crushed at Home Evidence Found Cao Cao searches Dong Cheng’s household and discovers the blood edict and conspiracy document. Collective Punishment Dong Cheng and hundreds of relatives and allies are executed. Cao Cao kills Consort Dong despite the emperor’s plea, leaving the imperial family more tightly controlled.

A Recurring Model of Loyalty A Recurring Model of Loyalty from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The Plot Remains a Standard A Failed Attempt Remembered The secret edict fails to remove Cao Cao, but Xuande invokes it as evidence of his duty to defend the…

The Plot Remains a Standard A Failed Attempt Remembered The secret edict fails to remove Cao Cao, but Xuande invokes it as evidence of his duty to defend the Han. A Political Legacy The conspiracy becomes a precedent for later loyalist resistance, even as the competing rulers use Han legitimacy to justify their own claims.

After the Xutian hunt

AD 199

After Ji Ping hears of the conspiracy

After the conspiracy is exposed

During Xuande’s later campaigns