Annotations
設使國家無有孤 不知當幾人稱帝 幾人稱王
“Had the state been without me, who knows how many would have styled themselves emperor, and how many king?”
— Cao Cao曹操
ko만약 나라에 내가 없었다면, 몇 사람이나 황제를 칭하고 몇 사람이나 왕을 칭했을지 알 수 없는 일이다.
jaもし国家に私というものがいなかったなら、幾人が帝を称し、幾人が王を称したか分からない。
The scene behind the words
From the late-life edict in which Cao Cao explained himself. It protests to a suspicious world that he alone had propped up the Han — while flatly refusing to give up his armies. Pride and apologia, sincerity and calculation in one document: a self-portrait of the man.
Source: Wei Wu Gushi — the "Statement of Intent" edict