End of the Han dynasty
The end of the Han dynasty refers to the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 AD, which roughly coincides with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler, Emperor Xian. During this period, the country was thrown into turmoil by the Yellow Turban Rebellion (184–205). Meanwhile, the Han Empire's institutions were destroyed by the warlord Dong Zhuo, and fractured into regional regimes ruled by various warlords, some of whom were nobles and officials of the Han imperial court. Eventually, one of those warlords, Cao Cao, was able to gradually reunify the empire, ostensibly under Emperor Xian's rule, but the empire was actually controlled by Cao Cao himself. Cao Cao's efforts to completely reunite the Han empire were rebuffed at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 / 209, when his armies were defeated by the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei. The Han dynasty formally ended in 220 when Cao Cao's son and heir, Cao Pi, pressured Emperor Xian into abdicating in his favour. Cao Pi became the emperor of a new state, Cao Wei. A year later, in response to Cao Pi's usurpation of the Han throne, Liu Bei declared himself emperor of Shu Han; and in 229, Sun Quan followed suit, declaring himself emperor of Eastern Wu. The period from Emperor Xian's abdication in 220 to the partial reunification of China under the Jin dynasty in 265 was known as the Three Kingdoms era in Chinese history.
Cao Cao Mausoleum
During the forum, Lin Kuicheng, a historian and member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, pointed out that Cao Cao should not be referred to as "King Wu of Wei" before 220 CE. After Cao Cao died in March 220 CE, his vassal king title – "King of Wei" – was inherited by his son, Cao Pi, who continued to hold the title until around December when he forced Emperor Xian, the last emperor of the Han dynasty, to abdicate in his favour. Since Cao Cao was buried about one month after his death and his funeral was most likely presided over by Cao Pi, it would be taboo to refer to Cao Cao as "King Wu of Wei" because the "King of Wei" (Cao Pi) was still living then. Furthermore, when Emperor Xian relinquished his throne to Cao Pi, he referred to Cao Pi and Cao Cao as "King of Wei" and "King Wu" respectively in his official abdication edict; Cao Cao was never referred to as "King Wu of Wei" in the edict.