Incident at the Gaoping Tombs

Incident at the Gaoping Tombs
Date5 February 249[1]
Location
Result Sima Yi seized power from Cao Shuang
Belligerents
Sima Yi Cao Shuang
Commanders and leaders
Sima Yi Cao Shuang
Cao Xi
Cao Xun
Incident at the Gaoping Tombs
Traditional Chinese高平陵之變
Simplified Chinese高平陵之变
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinGāopínglǐng zhī biàn

The Incident at the Gaoping Tombs was a coup d'état that took place on 5 February 249 in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China. The parties involved were Sima Yi and Cao Shuang, who were both regents for the Cao Wei emperor Cao Fang, who was then about 17 years old. On that day, while Cao Shuang and his brothers accompanied the emperor on a visit to the Gaoping tombs, Sima Yi staged a coup d'état; taking control of the capital city of Luoyang and issuing a memorial which listed out the various crimes Cao Shuang had committed. Cao Shuang surrendered and gave up his powers after further receiving reassurance that he and his family would be spared, thinking that he could still live a life in luxury. Shortly thereafter, Cao Shuang, his brothers, and his supporters were charged with treason and executed along with their families on 9 February. The coup d'état increased the Sima family's influence and paved the way for the eventual replacement of the Cao Wei regime by the Sima family's Jin dynasty in February 266.

  1. ^ jiawu day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the Jia'ping era, per Cao Fang's biography in vol. 04 of Sanguozhi