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The coup of Cao Mao was a coup d'état that occurred in 260 in Luoyang, the capital of the state of Cao Wei, during the Three Kingdoms period. Cao Mao, the nominal emperor of Wei, attempted to launch a coup to oust the regent Sima Zhao, who effectively controlled the Wei government. However, the coup concluded with Cao Mao's death and Sima Zhao retaining his status. Contrary to its intention, the coup actually increased the Sima clan's power and influence in Wei, thus providing a foundation for the eventual usurpation of the Wei throne in 265 by Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan, who founded the Western Jin Dynasty. The coup is also mentioned in the historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' by Luo Guanzhong, which dramatises the history of the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. The events of the coup described in the novel are largely similar to that described in historical sources. ==Background== The state of Cao Wei was established in 220 by Cao Pi, which marked the start of the Three Kingdoms period in China. The authority of the Wei imperial family had been weakening since the death of the second Wei emperor, Cao Rui, and reached a nadir after the Incident at Gaoping Tombs in 249, when the Wei general Sima Yi seized power from the regent Cao Shuang. Sima Yi died in 251 and was succeeded by his sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, who effectively controlled the Wei government. In 254, Sima Shi deposed the third Wei ruler Cao Fang and installed a 13-year-old Cao Mao on the throne. From the start of his reign, Cao Mao acted in defiance of the Simas, refusing to accept the imperial seal directly from Sima Shi, and, after Sima Shi's death in 255, he attempted to order Sima Zhao to remain in Xuchang to keep watch over Shouchun (present-day Shou County, Anhui), where a rebellion led by Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin had just been suppressed. However, Sima Zhao ignored Cao Mao's edict and returned to the capital Luoyang. While Sima Zhao administered state affairs, Cao Mao attempted to gain the favour of the literati in the court through unremarkable meetings to discuss literature with some officials—Sima Zhao's cousin Sima Wang, Wang Shen (王沈), Pei Xiu, and Zhong Hui. Cao Mao also provided Sima Wang with a chariot and five imperial guardsmen as escorts because the latter lived further away from the palace than the others. In 258, Sima Zhao incited his supporters to force Cao Mao to publicly offer him the nine bestowments, which he ostensibly refused as a showcase of his "humility". A year later, Cao Mao received sightings of yellow dragons in two wells, and he wrote a poem identifying the dragons as being trapped inside wells and likened himself to the dragons. With his suspicions aroused, Sima Zhao forced Cao Mao to offer him the nine bestowments but he declined again. Cao Mao perceived this as a sign to act immediately for his clan to regain control of the Wei government. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Coup of Cao Mao」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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