Cheng Ji

Historical Record

Cheng Ji, a general of the late Wei, had a life whose deeds are closely bound up with the assassination of the Duke of Gaoguixiang, Cao Mao. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 4, citing the Han Jin Chunqiu, on the jichou day of the fifth month of 260 CE, the Duke of Gaoguixiang, Cao Mao, dissatisfied with Sima Zhao's ever-growing power, gathered the Palace Attendant Wang Chen, the Master of Writing Wang Jing, and the Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary Wang Ye, and declared, "Sima Zhao's heart is known to every passer-by," intending to lead his followers to attack Sima Zhao ^c:2018. Although Wang Jing strenuously remonstrated, Cao Mao remained resolved to act, and went in to inform the Empress Dowager. Wang Chen and Wang Ye, however, swiftly betrayed the plan to Sima Zhao, enabling Sima Zhao to deploy in advance.

Cao Mao led several hundred servants out amid an uproar and encountered the troops of the Central Protector of the Army Jia Chong below the Southern Gate-tower. Cao Mao personally wielded his sword and fought fiercely, and his followers at one point wished to fall back. At this critical moment, the Prince's Attendant Cheng Ji asked Jia Chong how to deal with the situation. Jia Chong gave an explicit instruction: "It is for this very day that you have all been kept and reared. As for today's affair, there is nothing to ask." Cheng Ji thereupon advanced and stabbed Cao Mao, the blade entering through Cao Mao's chest and coming out through his back, and Cao Mao died on the spot ^c:2018.

Afterward, Sima Zhao was greatly alarmed upon hearing the news, and feigning grief threw himself to the ground, saying, "What will the world say of me!" The Grand Tutor Sima Fu, overcome with grief, pillowed Cao Mao's thigh and wept, blaming himself, saying, "That Your Majesty was slain is my crime" ^c:2018. The Empress Dowager then issued an edict laying the responsibility for Cao Mao's assassination on his "violent and perverse nature," and accusing him of having attempted to harm the Empress Dowager and Sima Zhao. The edict mentioned that Cao Mao "was killed by the vanguard," while the Master of Writing Wang Jing was charged as "wicked and rebellious beyond measure," arrested and imprisoned ^c:2018. Although the sources do not directly detail Cheng Ji's final end, his key role in the regicide is clearly recorded.

In the Novel

In Chapter 114 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cheng Ji is portrayed as a warrior who obeyed Jia Chong, fierce and brutal. When Cao Mao led the palace guards to confront Jia Chong, the palace guards dared not act rashly because of Cao Mao's status as Son of Heaven ^c:2019. At this point, Jia Chong sternly called out to Cheng Ji, emphasizing that it was for this very day that Sima Zhao had reared them. Cheng Ji thereupon took up his painted halberd and asked Jia Chong, "Should I kill, or should I bind?" Jia Chong answered without hesitation, "Lord Sima has given the order: he wants only a dead one." ^c:2019

Having received the instruction, Cheng Ji rushed with leveled halberd straight before Cao Mao's carriage. Cao Mao cried out, "How dare you, commoner, be so insolent!" Before the words were finished, Cheng Ji thrust his halberd into Cao Mao's chest, knocking him from the carriage; then with another thrust, the blade came out through his back, and Cao Mao died on the spot beside the carriage. Jiao Bo tried to resist and was also stabbed dead by Cheng Ji with one thrust of the halberd ^c:2019.

Afterward, Sima Zhao feigned grief and gathered his officials to discuss how to handle the matter. The Vice Director of the Masters of Writing Chen Tai bluntly stated that Jia Chong should be beheaded to appease the realm. After deliberating, Sima Zhao at last laid the blame on Cheng Ji, ordering that he be "sliced to death and his three clans exterminated" ^c:2020. Before his execution, Cheng Ji cursed Sima Zhao loudly: "It is not my crime—it was Jia Chong who conveyed your order!" Sima Zhao thereupon ordered his tongue cut out, and Cheng Ji to the very end cried out his grievance without ceasing. His younger brother Cheng Cui was also beheaded in the marketplace, and Cheng Ji's three clans were utterly wiped out ^c:2020. In the novel, Cheng Ji's image is more vivid; his brutality and his eventual wretched end both intensify the dramatic conflict of the story.

Key Relationships

* Cao Mao (enemy_of): The relationship between Cheng Ji and Cao Mao is one of direct enmity and slaughter. In both history and the novel, Cheng Ji is the direct executor of Cao Mao's assassination ^c:2018, ^c:2019.
* Jia Chong (betrayed_by): Cheng Ji was a subordinate of Jia Chong, taking his orders directly from Jia Chong. In the regicide, Jia Chong explicitly instructed Cheng Ji to kill Cao Mao ^c:2018, ^c:2019. In the novel, however, in order to quell public outrage, Sima Zhao laid all the blame for the regicide on Cheng Ji, leading to the extermination of Cheng Ji and his three clans—this constitutes Jia Chong's betrayal of Cheng Ji ^c:2020 (unique to the novel).
* Sima Zhao (master/betrayer): Cheng Ji was a general under Sima Zhao's power. Although the direct order came from Jia Chong, Jia Chong's action undoubtedly represented Sima Zhao's will. In the novel, in order to clear himself of blame, Sima Zhao executed Cheng Ji as a scapegoat, displaying his cold-blooded and ruthless side ^c:2020 (unique to the novel).

Signature Scene

* Regicide at the Southern Gate: This is the most signature scene of Cheng Ji's life. Below the Southern Gate-tower, Cao Mao encountered Jia Chong's troops, and Cheng Ji, on Jia Chong's explicit instruction, thrust his halberd straight into Cao Mao, causing Cao Mao to die on the spot. This scene is recorded in detail in both the Han Jin Chunqiu and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and is the core of his historical and literary image ^c:2018, ^c:2019.
* Cursing Loudly Before Execution: In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Sima Zhao designated Cheng Ji as the chief culprit of the regicide and condemned him to be sliced to death, Cheng Ji cursed Sima Zhao loudly before his death, exposing the truth that Jia Chong had conveyed Sima Zhao's order. This episode profoundly displays his anger and despair at being unwilling to be made a scapegoat ^c:2020 (unique to the novel).
* "It is for this very day that you have all been kept and reared": This line spoken by Jia Chong to Cheng Ji is not only the key instruction that prompted Cheng Ji to commit regicide, but also profoundly reveals the political ecology of the Sima family, who reared their lackeys and stopped at nothing to achieve their ends. This line appears in both the historical sources and the novel, and is the direct trigger of Cheng Ji's action ^c:2018, ^c:2019.