Emperor Xian of Han
The term "Jian'an poetry" covers the final years at the end of the Han Dynasty and during which the Cao family was rising, or risen, to prominence were known as the "Jian'an" era (196-220), the final reign era of Emperor Xian of Han: the following period is known as the Three Kingdoms era, due to the three kingdoms which divided up the Han Dynasty, and war with one another for succession to the Han empire. A prominent Han dynasty general, Cao Cao effectively took control of the Han dynasty from the Liu imperial family, and following Cao Cao's death, his son Cao Pi formalized this by accepting the abdication of the last titular ruler of Han and establishing the Cao family as the ruling dynastic family of a new state, Wei (also known as Cao Wei), one of the Three Kingdoms which were successor states to the Han empire. Besides their role as leaders in war and politics, the Cao family also had an important role in the field of poetry and literature.