Cao Wei 曹魏
← 220–265 →
The territories of Cao Wei (in yellow), 262
Capital	Luoyang
Language(s)	Chinese
Religion	Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese folk religion
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
- 220 - 226	Cao Pi
- 226 - 239	Cao Rui
- 239 - 254	Cao Fang
- 254 - 260	Cao Mao
- 260 - 265	Cao Huan
Historical era	Three Kingdoms
- Cao Pi taking over the throne of the Later Han Dynasty	10 December 220
- Abdication to the Jin Dynasty	4 February 265
Population
-  est.	4,400,000
Currency	Chinese coin, Chinese cash

A wall mural of robed and seated figures, painted in a tomb at Luoyang, Cao Wei Dynasty

Cao Wei (220 CE - 265 CE) was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid. Its name came from 213, when Cao Cao's feudal holdings were given the name Wei; historians often add the prefix Cao (曹, from Cao Cao's family name) to distinguish it from the other states in Chinese history also known as Wei, such as the earlier Wei state during the Warring States Period, and the later Northern Wei state. In 220, when Cao Pi deposed the last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei became the name of the new dynasty he founded, which was seized and controlled by the Sima family in 249, until it was overthrown and became part of the Jin Dynasty in 265.

History[link]

During the decline of the Han Dynasty, the northern part of China was under the control of Cao Cao, the chancellor to the last Han ruler, Emperor Xian. In 213, Cao Cao was granted the title of "Duke of Wei" and given ten cities as his domain. This area was named "Wei". At that time, the southern part of China was already divided into two areas controlled by two warlords. In 216, Cao Cao was promoted to "King of Wei".

On March 15, 220, Cao Cao died and his son Cao Pi inherited the title of "King of Wei". Later that year on December 11, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate and took over the throne, founding the Wei Dynasty. However, Liu Bei of Shu Han immediately contested Cao Pi's claim to the Han throne, and Sun Quan of Eastern Wu followed suit in 222.

Cao Pi ruled for six years until his death in 226. He was succeeded by his son Cao Rui, who died in 239, and was in turn succeeded by Cao Fang. In 249, during Cao Fang's reign, the regent Sima Yi seized state power from his co-regent Cao Shuang in a coup known as the Incident at Gaoping Tombs. This event marked the collapse of imperial authority in Wei, as Cao Fang's role had been reduced to a puppet ruler while Sima Yi wielded state power firmly in his hands. Sima Yi died in 251 and passed on his authority to his oldest son Sima Shi, who continued ruling as regent. Sima Shi deposed Cao Fang in 254 and replaced him with Cao Mao. After Sima Shi died in the following year, his younger brother Sima Zhao inherited his power and status as regent. In 260, Cao Mao attempted to seize back state power from Sima Zhao in a coup, but was killed by Sima's subordinate Cheng Ji (成濟).

After Cao Mao's death, Cao Huan was enthroned as the fifth ruler of Wei. However, Cao Huan was also a figurehead under Sima Zhao's control much like his predecessor. In 263, Wei armies led by Zhong Hui and Deng Ai conquered Shu. Two years later, Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan forced Cao Huan to abdicate in his favour, replacing Wei with the Jin Dynasty.

As Gogeryeo consolidated its power, it proceeded to act to conquer the territories on the Korean peninsula which were under Chinese rule.^[1] Goguryeo initiated the Goguryeo–Wei Wars in 242, trying to cut off Chinese access to its territories in Korea by attempting to take a Chinese fort. However, the Chinese Wei state responded by invading and defeated Goguryeo. Hwando was detroyed in revenge by the Chinese Wei forces in 244.^[2]

Culture[link]

Sometime between the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Cao Wei Dynasty, kaishu, a style of Chinese calligraphy, appeared, with its first known master being Zhong Yao, who also served as a politician in Wei.^[3]

Ruling Family[link]

According to the Wei Shu and Tung Pa, the Cao family of Cao Wei were descended from Huangdi via Emperor Zhuanxu, from which the Cao family originated. They were of the same liniage as to Emperor Shun. Another account says that the Cao family was descended from Emperor Shun. This account was attacked by Chiang Chi who claimed it was people of the Tian 田 surname who were descended from Shun and not the Cao. He also claimed (Gui) Kuei 媯 was Shun's family name.^[4][5]

List of territories[link]

List of sovereigns[link]

See also[link]

• Shu Han
• Eastern Wu
• Three Kingdoms
• List of people of the Three Kingdoms
• Timeline of the Three Kingdoms period
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms
• Records of Three Kingdoms

References[link]

• de Crespigny, Rafe. "To Establish Peace: being the Chronicle of the Later Han dynasty for the years 201 to 220 AD as recorded in Chapters 64 to 69 of the Zizhi tongjian of Sima Guang". Volume 2. Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra. 1996. ISBN 0-7315-2526-4.

Cao or CaO may refer to:

• CaO, the chemical formula for Calcium oxide
• Cao (Vietnamese surname)
• Cao (Chinese surname)
• Cao (state), a Chinese vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty (1046 - 221 BCE)
• Cao Wei, also called Wei, one of the regimes that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period (220 - 280 CE)
• Cao Cao, founder of Cao Wei
• Cão!, an album by Portuguese band Ornatos Violeta
• Cao County, in Shandong, China
• Diogo Cão, a 15th century Portuguese explorer
• Joseph Cao, representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, elected 2008
• CA Osasuna

CAO

• a job description:
  • Chief administrative officer of a company
  • Chief accounting officer of a company
  • Chief analytics officer of a company

• a company or organization:
  • Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO
  • Civil Aviation Office of Poland
  • Iran Civil Aviation Organization
  • CAO (cigar company), a cigar company headquartered in the USA
  • CA Oradea, Romanian football club
  • Canadian Association of Orthodontists
  • Central Applications Office, Irish organisation that oversees tertiary education applications

• a software acronym:
  • CAO (Controller Access Object), as described in the ORiN robot interface

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Jolin Tsai 蔡依林
MTV Asia Awards 2006, Bangkok, Thailand
Chinese name	蔡依林
Pinyin	Cài Yīlín (Mandarin)
Birth name	蔡依林
Ancestry	Fujian, China
Origin	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Born	(1980-09-15) September 15, 1980 (age 31) Xinzhuang, Taipei County, Taiwan
Occupation	Singer, Dancer, Actress, Designer, Model, Spokesperson
Genre(s)	Mandopop, Dance
Instrument(s)	Piano
Label(s)	Universal Music Taiwan (1998–2001) Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan) (2002–2006) EMI Music Taiwan (2006–2008) Warner Music Taiwan (2008–present)
Years active	1998–present
Official Website	Jolin@Warner Music Taiwan
Awards Golden Melody Awards Best Female Mandarin Artist (2007) Dancing Diva Most Popular Female Artist (2007) MTV Asia Awards Style Award (2006)

Jolin Tsai (Chinese: 蔡依林; pinyin: Cài Yīlín; Wade–Giles: Tsai I-lin; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhoà I-lîm; born September 15, 1980) is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning Mandopop singer, dancer and actor. Tsai was the second top earner among Taiwanese singers in 2010 behind Jay Chou (周杰倫), with earnings of US$14.51 million that year.^[1] She is managed by Mars Entertainment Ltd (天熹娛樂).^[2]

Early life[link]

Though Tsai was introverted and shy as a child, she studied English intensively during her youth and eventually majored in English Literature at Fu Jen Catholic University. During her childhood years, Tsai developed an interest in singing and experimented with different vocal techniques after listening to the songs of popular female singers such as Teresa Teng and Faye Wong.^{[citation needed]}

Musical career[link]

Universal Music Taiwan (1998–2001)[link]

Tsai first started her singing career by taking part in an MTV singing competition at the age of 18. She won the top prize at the competition with her rendition of Whitney Houston's #1 hit "Greatest Love of All". She was then signed by Universal Music.

In July 1999, her first single "Living With the World" (和世界做鄰居) was released. It was sold in convenience stores and was a tremendous success,^[3] which led to the release of her first album, Jolin 1019, in September 1999. At that time, she was promoted as "The Girl Next Door," and was an instant hit with teenagers, earning her the title "Teenage Boy Killer"^{[citation needed]}. Jolin 1019 ended up selling more than 400,000 copies in Asia. With the success of her first album, she released her second album in May 2000, Don't Stop. Many of the hits from that album were well known throughout Asia as the album also became a tremendous success.^{[citation needed]} She also released her first photobook with pictures mainly taken in Hawaii.

Nearing the age of 21, Tsai changed her image in her third album, Show Your Love. The album was considered more mature and soothing.^{[citation needed]}, but it did not sell as well as her previous two albums. Her fourth album, Lucky Number, also failed to match the sales of her first two albums. Tsai's music career came to a halt when conflicts surfaced between her and her music company.^{[citation needed]} At the end of 2001, Tsai's contract with Universal Music ended and her first greatest hits compilation, Together was released. Tsai did not release any albums the following year, but she did release her second photo book, with photos taken in Thailand.

Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan) (2002–2006)[link]

Tsai signed with Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan) that year and got the biggest break of her whole career. Her first single with Sony Music "Spirit Of The Knight" (騎士精神) became a big hit that led to the highly anticipated release of her fifth album Magic (看我72變). The album topped the Taiwan album charts for three months. More than 300,000 copies were sold in Taiwan alone, and over a million copies were sold in Asia.^[4] The album contained many of her most well-known singles, including the hit dance song "See My 72 Changes" (看我72變) that brought Tsai back to the top of the charts, a song which some suggested was named after The Monkey King's 72 transformations.^[5] Other songs from the album, such as "Say Love You" (說愛你) and "Prague Square" (布拉格廣場) were penned by fellow Taiwan star Jay Chou. Her more dance-oriented album marked her first release in two years following her hiatus in 2002.

Tsai's sixth album Castle (城堡), released in 2004, was just as popular as "Magic" and became a top album in many Asian countries.^{[citation needed]} Just as with Magic, many songs on this album were written by Chou, her rumored boyfriend at that time.^{[citation needed]} The playful song "It's Love" (就是愛) and the rock ballad "Rewind" (倒帶), became two of Tsai's biggest hits. Prior to the album's release, she showcased her single "Pirates" (海盜), another song composed by Chou, at a mini-concert. She subsequently filmed one of the most expensive music videos in Taiwanese history for that song.^{[citation needed]}

Between Castle and her next studio album, Tsai released a remix album of her most popular dance songs called J9 New + Party Collection. Tsai featured two new songs in the CD, including the hit song "Signature Pose". Tsai sang the Mandarin version of "Mirage (Warriors In Peace)", the theme song for the film Warriors of Heaven and Earth.

On April 25, 2005, Tsai seventh album J-Game was released, become the longest running album on the Taiwanese album charts in 2005, with over 1 million copies sold throughout Asia in just a little over a month.^[6] The album featured many more hip-hop influenced tracks than before, though it retained the dance pop and love ballads in her previous albums. Tsai supposedly broke up with Chou around the time the album was recorded, but she was able to find other writers and producers, including Leehom Wang, another pop star who composed "Exclusive Myth" (獨佔神話). The first single of the album "Barbaric Game" (野蠻遊戲) was a huge hit across Asia^{[citation needed]} and it was followed by other singles including "The Greek Girl Next To The Wishing Pond" (許願池的希臘少女) (composed by rising Hong Kong singer Ivana Wong), "Sky" (天空), "Repeat Signs" (反覆記號), "I Really Miss You" (好想你) and "Eyes Half Shut" (睜一隻眼 閉一隻眼). During this time, Tsai rapped in the duet "真命天子" [Destined Guy] with fellow artist Show Luo, which was featured on his album Hypnosis Show. She performed that song with Show in his first solo concert at the Taipei Arena.

Late in 2005, Tsai released her J1 Live Concert DVD, presenting performances of hits from her albums Magic (看我72變) and Castle from a late-2004 concert in Taipei. Show Luo made a guest appearance in the performance of "Prove It". The DVD did not include Jay Chou's guest appearance in her concert, in which he danced together with Tsai. It was later placed in the DVD for her greatest hits compilation, J-Top.

In early 2006, it was announced that Tsai would be leaving Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan), to join Capitol Music Taiwan, which released under the name EMI Music Taiwan.^[7] To prepare for her new album, Tsai worked to perfect her dancing and change her style again.^{[citation needed]} She won the Style Award at the 2006 MTV Asia Awards, where she performed her new single "Dancing Diva" (舞孃) with elements of yoga and various props including a ball and a ribbon.^[8]

In May 2006, Sony released a greatest hits compilation album called J-Top, which included two CDs and a DVD with two previously unreleased music videos and a 70 minute documentary on Tsai's time at Sony. In one of the two music videos, Tsai looks back on all her previous music videos.

EMI Music Taiwan's label-Capitol Records (2006–2009)[link]

In concert during 2007 in Singapore.

After the release of J-Top, her first album with EMI Music Taiwan Dancing Diva was released on May 12, 2006. This album became Tsai's biggest album yet, selling over 2 million copies in Asia.^[9] The album featured her released single "Dancing Diva" (舞孃) along with "Pulchritude" (玩美), "Mr.Q" (The music video for this song shows Tsai getting intimate with Hong Kong pop star Edison Chen.), and the bonus track "Attraction of Sexy Lips"(唇唇欲動) (a song she did as part of an endorsement deal with MaxFactor similar to Anita Mui's song "Hot Red Lips"). The album also featured two of the biggest hits in Asia during the year^{[citation needed]}: the upbeat "A Wonder in Madrid" (馬德里不思議) and the love ballad "Pretence" (假裝). She collaborated with friend and label partner Stanley Huang on the song "Nice Guy" (乖乖牌), which he also helped to write. Tsai had some writing duties on the album, writing the lyrics for the song "The Prologue" (開場白), which many speculated was written about Chou. The album was re-released in July as the "Perfect Celebration Edition" with a DVD featuring music videos of all eleven of the songs on the album. She has done the same thing for Magic, Castle, and J-Game as well.

During the fall of 2006, Tsai began her Dancing Forever World Tour, performing concerts to sellout crowds in Asia and then to audiences in North America and Australia. The huge opening concert in Hong Kong, which took place on her birthday, featured many special guests, including one of Hong Kong's top male artists Eason Chan, Taiwan's rising pop princess Rainie Yang, and Show Luo. Show and Huang also made surprise appearances in other stops of her tour. In the most shocking moment of her tour, she kissed fellow Taiwanese star Elva Hsiao on the lips during one of her concerts. Tsai made guest appearances at her friend Stefanie Sun's concerts, while she and Singaporean male artist JJ Lin took turns appearing at each other's concerts.^{[citation needed]}

Tsai released her third remix album, Dancing Forever (唯舞獨尊) in October 2006, which contained two CDs and a DVD. The first disc contained all new material, including the title track and theme for her tour "Dancing Forever", covers of songs by Chinese singers Sandy Lam and Faye Wong, and the duet "Marry Me Today" (今天你要嫁給我) that she recorded with her idol and mentor David Tao. In this album, she experimented with two other Chinese dialects — Taiwanese and Cantonese (the Canto version of "Pretence" is on the album). Up to this point, she had only released music in Mandarin and English. The second disc included remixes of three dance hits from Dancing Diva, while the DVD featured the LUX-sponsored mini-concert she performed in the summer in Kaohsiung where Huang and Taiwanese boy band Energy also performed.

A month later, Sony released another two-CD compilation album called Jolin Favorite Live Concert Music Selection. This album consisted of remixes of popular songs Tsai recorded under Sony, as well as rare live tracks.

Tsai ended 2006 performing hits like "Mr.Q", "A Wonder in Madrid", "Pretence" and "Dancing Diva" at several New Year countdown parties in Taiwan. According to G-music, Dancing Diva became the biggest selling album of the year in Taiwan, while Dancing Forever reached #15 on the year-end album sales charts.^[10] Dancing Diva accounted for 4.26% of all Mandarin album sales in Taiwan for the year, ahead of Jay Chou's Still Fantasy, which accounted for 3.50%. Tsai's popular duet with Tao was considered by many lists to be the #1 song of the year in Taiwan^{[citation needed]}. Singles like "Dancing Diva," "Pretence," and "A Wonder in Madrid" also won many song awards between 2006 and 2007.^{[citation needed]}

On June 8, 2007, Tsai released her second DVD The Acquired Talent (地才), which featured performances from her latest world tour and documented her work in preparing for the tour. The DVD shows footage of her performing dance sequences with concert guests Luo, Huang, and Hsiao. The DVD opened at the top of the Taiwanese audio/video charts and stayed there for thirteen weeks.^[11]

On June 16, Tsai won the Most Favorite Female Artist and the Best Mandarin Female Singer Award for the first time at the 18th Golden Melody Awards.^[12][13] Her duet with David Tao won the Best Song Award. Tsai's win for Best Mandarin Female Singer drew criticism from netizens and industry critics, who believed her voice was not as strong as the other nominees (A-mei, Sandy, Angela Chang, and Penny Tai). However, many said that she won due to her all-round talent, hard work, and universal pop appeal.^[14] Regardless of the controversy surrounding this award, she won the Most Favorite Female Artist award following a fan vote conducted for a few months prior to the awards show, beating out many other artists such as A-mei, Fish Leong, Hsiao, Sun, Twins, and Yang.

Just a few days before the release of Tsai's new album at EMI Music Taiwan, Sony released another compilation album, Jolin's Final Wonderland (Jolin夢綺地精選). This collection featured almost all the songs Tsai released during her time at Sony in three CDs (The songs were separated into dance songs, cute songs, and love ballads.), as well as a DVD with 22 music videos and a 52-page photo book.

Jolin Tsai became the online game spokeswoman of "We Dancing Online" after the CD album release of "Dancing Forever".

Tsai's second album with EMI Music Taiwan, titled Agent J (特務J), was released on September 21, 2007. The album featured eleven new tracks - the title track "Agent J" (特務J), the ballads "Alone" (一個人) and "Fear Free" (怕什麼), the dance tracks "Bravo Lover" (愛無赦) (best known for its often-imitated dance steps^{[citation needed]}) and "Tacit Violence" (冷‧暴力), and the bonus track "Let's Move It," which was used as a promotional track in commercials for Toyota. The deluxe version of the album contained a 3-part 70-minute music movie filmed in France, London, and Bangkok. The movie, which cost NT$50 million to film, stars Tsai as the leather-clad Agent J and features popular Korean actor Kim Jae Won and Hong Kong stars Stephen Fung and Carl Ng.^[15][16] During the filming of the movie, Tsai had to learn two new forms of dance in 10 days: aerial silk dancing and pole-dancing. She almost paralyzed her right arm and fainted in the process.^[17]

According to G-music Taiwan, the album accounted for 45% of album sales and over 65% of Mandarin album sales in Taiwan in its first week of release. Since its release, the album stayed at the number one position for two weeks.^[18] Tsai released two more versions of the album: the Champion Special Edition (featuring 10 music videos, 4 dance instruction music videos, and a remix of Bravo Lover) and the No. 1 Special Celebration Edition (featuring the "Let's Move It" music video and her "Agent J" celebration concert with the best male artist at the Golden Melody Awards Nicky Lee from Taiwanese hip-hop group Machi).

Tsai then collaborated with Australian pop queen, Kylie Minogue in a song called "In My Arms", which would be included in the Asian version of Kylie's album X. Tsai was invited to the world premiere of Kylie's movie 'White Diamond', where Tsai presented Minogue with her newest album and a jade bracelet which Tsai personally picked for her.

Soon after, Tsai traveled to Hong Kong for Christmas, attending various functions and performing and winning three awards at the 2007 Metro Showbiz Music Awards, before returning to Taiwan. Tsai again ended off the year performing hits in Taiwan to celebrate the end of 2007. For the second year in a row, Tsai had the best-selling album in Taiwan. According to g-music, sales of Agent J accounted for 3.08% of all album sales in Taiwan and 5.96% of Chinese albums for the year, even higher than the numbers for Dancing Diva a year ago.^[19] Agent J also topped the year-end album charts according to Five Music, while The Acquired Talent was the best-selling music DVD of the year.^[20][21][22]

Like the previous year, Tsai also topped the Hito Top 100 Singles chart for the year. This time her song "Sun Will Never Set" was voted Top Song of the Year by over 340,000 voters.^[23]

In April 2008, Tsai incorporated newly learned skills such as flying rings and pole dance in addition to her usual multi-style dances in her concert in Beijing's Workers' Gymnasium.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

Cao Cao
Ming Dynasty block print portrait of Cao Cao from Sancai Tuhui
King of Wei
Born	155 Bozhou, Anhui, China
Died	March 15, 220 (aged 64–65) Luoyang, Henan, China
Successor	Cao Pi
Names
Simplified Chinese	曹操
Traditional Chinese	曹操
Pinyin	Cáo Cāo
Wade-Giles	Ts'ao2 Ts'ao1
Style name	Mengde (孟德)
Posthumous name	King Wu (武王) Emperor Wu (武帝)
Temple name	Taizu (太祖)
Other names	Infant names A'man (阿瞞) Jili (吉利)

Cao Cao (Mandarin pronunciation: [tsʰɑ̌ʊ tsʰɑ́ʊ]; 155 – March 15, 220)^[1] was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled Emperor Wu of Wei. Although often portrayed as a cruel and merciless tyrant, Cao Cao has also been praised as a brilliant ruler and military genius who treated his subordinates like his family. He was also skilled in poetry and martial arts and wrote many war journals.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Cao was born in the county of Qiao (present day Bozhou, Anhui) in 155. His father Cao Song was a foster son of Cao Teng, who in turn was one of the favorite eunuchs of Emperor Huan. Some historical records, including the Biography of Cao Man, claim that Cao Song's original family name was Xiahou.

Cao was known for his craftiness as an adolescent. According to the Biography of Cao Man, Cao's uncle complained to Cao Song about Cao Cao's indulgence in hunting and music with Yuan Shao. In retaliation, Cao Cao feigned a fit before his uncle, who immediately rushed to inform Cao Song. When Cao Song went to see his son, Cao Cao behaved normally. When asked, Cao Cao replied, "I have never had a fit, but I lost the love of my uncle, and therefore he deceived you." Afterwards, Cao Song ceased to believe his brother regarding Cao Cao, and thus Cao Cao became even more blatant and perseverant in his wayward pursuits.

At that time, a man living in Runan named Xu Shao was famed for his ability to evaluate one's potentials and talents. Cao paid him a visit in hopes of receiving an evaluation that would help him politically. At first, Xu refused to make a statement; however, under persistent questioning, he finally said, "You would be a capable minister in peaceful times and an unscrupulous hero in chaotic times."^[2] Cao laughed and left. It is worth noting that there are two other versions of the comment in other unofficial historical records: "capable minister in peaceful times, unrighteous hero in chaotic times" and "sinister foe in peaceful times, great hero in chaotic times."^{[citation needed]}

Statue of Cao Cao

At the age of 20, Cao was appointed district captain of Luoyang. Upon taking up the post, Cao placed rows of multicolored stakes outside his office and ordered his deputies to flog those who violated the law, regardless of their status. An uncle of Jian Shuo, one of the most powerful and influential eunuchs under Emperor Ling, was caught walking in the city after the evening curfew by Cao's men and was flogged. This prompted Jian Shuo and other higher authorities to ostensibly promote Cao to the post of governor of Dunqiu County while actually moving him out of the imperial capital. Cao remained in this position for little more than a year, being dismissed from office in 178 for his distant family ties with the disgraced Empress Song.^[3] Around 180, Cao Cao returned to court as a Consultant (議郎) and presented two memoranda against the eunuchs' influence in court and government corruption during his tenure, to limited effect.^[4]

When the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in 184, Cao was recalled to Luoyang and appointed "Captain of the Cavalry" (騎都尉) and sent to Yingchuan to suppress the rebels. He was successful and was sent to Ji'nan (濟南) as Chancellor (相) to prevent the spread of Yellow Turban influence there. In Ji'nan, Cao Cao aggressively enforced the ban on unorthodox cults, destroyed shrines, and supported state Confucianism. He offended the local leading families in the process, and resigned on grounds of poor health around 187, fearing that he had put his family in danger.^[5] He was offered the post of Administrator of Dong Commandery (東郡), but he declined and returned to his home in Pei county. Around that time, Wang Fen (王芬) tried to recruit Cao Cao to join his coup to replace Emperor Ling with the Marquis of Hefei, but Cao Cao refused. The plot came to nothing, and Wang Fen killed himself.^[6]

Alliance against Dong Zhuo[link]

After eighteen months in retirement, Cao Cao returned to the imperial capital in 188. That year, he was appointed Colonel Who Arranges the Army (典軍校尉), fourth of eight heads of a newly established imperial army, the corps of the Western Garden (西園軍). The effectiveness of this new force never became known, since it was disbanded the next year.^[7]

In 189, Emperor Ling died and was succeeded by his eldest son (Emperor Shao), although state power was mainly in the hands of Empress Dowager He and others. The empress dowager's brother, General-in-Chief He Jin, plotted with Yuan Shao to eliminate the Ten Attendants (a group of influential eunuchs in the imperial court). He Jin summoned Dong Zhuo, a seasoned general of Liang Province, to lead his army into Luoyang to pressure the empress dowager to surrender power, despite accusations of Dong's "infamy". Before Dong arrived, He Jin was assassinated by the eunuchs and Luoyang was thrown into chaos as Yuan Shao's supporters fought the eunuchs. Dong's army easily rid the palace grounds of opposition. After he deposed Emperor Shao, Dong placed the puppet Emperor Xian on the throne, as he deemed that Emperor Xian was more capable than the original puppet Emperor Shao.

After rejecting Dong Zhuo's appointment, Cao left Luoyang for Chenliu (southeast of present day Kaifeng, Henan, Cao's hometown), where he built his army. The next year, regional warlords formed a military alliance under Yuan Shao against Dong. Cao joined them, becoming one of the few actively fighting members of the coalition. The coalition fell apart after months of inactivity, and China fell into civil war while Dong was killed in 192 by Lü Bu.

Securing the emperor[link]

Through short-term and regional-scale wars, Cao continued to expand his power. In 193, Cao massacred thousands of civilians in Xu Province to avenge his father's death.

In 196, Cao joined Emperor Xian and convinced him to move the capital to Xuchang as suggested by Xun Yu and other advisors, as Luoyang was ruined by war and Chang'an was not under Cao's military control, and he was appointed chancellor. Cao became commander-in-chief (大將軍) and Marquis of Wuping (武平侯), though both titles had little practical implication. While some viewed the emperor as a puppet under Cao's control, Cao adhered to a strict personal rule to his death that he would not usurp the throne. Later, when he was approached by his advisors to overthrow the Han Dynasty and start his own dynasty, he replied, "If heaven bestows such a fate upon me, let me be King Wen of Zhou."^[8]

To maintain a good relationship with Yuan Shao, who had become the most powerful warlord in China when he united the northern four provinces, Cao lobbied to have Yuan appointed Minister of Works. However, this had the opposite effect, as Yuan believed that Cao was trying to humiliate him, since Minister of Works technically ranked lower than Commander-in-chief, and thus refused to accept the title. To pacify Yuan, Cao offered his own position to him, while becoming Minister of Works himself. While this temporarily resolved the conflict, it was the catalyst for the Battle of Guandu later.

Uniting the North[link]

In 200, Yuan Shao amassed more than 100,000 troops and marched southwards on Xuchang in the name of rescuing the emperor. Cao gathered 20,000 men in Guandu, a strategic point on the Yellow River. The two armies came to a standstill as neither side was able to make much progress. Cao's lack of men did not allow him to make significant attacks, and Yuan's pride forced him to meet Cao's force head-on. Despite his overwhelming advantage in terms of manpower, Yuan was unable to make full use of his resources because of his indecisive leadership and Cao's position.

Besides the middle battleground of Guandu, two lines of battle were present. The eastern line with Yuan Tan of Yuan Shao's army against Zang Ba of Cao's army was a one-sided battle in favor of Cao, as Yuan Tan's poor leadership was no match for Zang's local knowledge of the landscape and his hit-and-run tactics. On the western front, Yuan Shao's nephew, Gao Gan, performed better against Cao's army and forced several reinforcements from Cao's main camp to maintain the western battle. Liu Bei, then a guest in Yuan Shao's army, suggested that he instigate rebellion in Cao's territories as many followers of Yuan were in Cao's lands. The tactic was initially successful but Man Chong's diplomatic skills helped to resolve the conflict almost immediately. Man had been placed as an official there for this specific reason, as Cao had foreseen the possibility of insurrection prior to the battle.

Finally, a defector from Yuan Shao's army, Xu You, informed Cao of the location of Yuan's supply depot. Cao broke the stalemate by sending a special group of soldiers to burn all the supplies of Yuan's army, thus winning a decisive and seemingly impossible victory. Yuan Shao fell ill and died shortly after the defeat, leaving two sons – the eldest son, Yuan Tan and the youngest son, Yuan Shang. As he had designated the youngest son, Yuan Shang, as his successor, rather than the eldest as tradition dictated, the two brothers fought each other, as they fought Cao. Cao used the internal conflict within the Yuan clan to his advantage and defeated the Yuans easily. Cao assumed effective rule over all of northern China. He sent armies further out and expanded his control across the Great Wall into present-day Korea, and southward to the Han River.

The Three Kingdoms[link]

Traditional site of the Red Cliffs, north of Wulin

However, Cao's attempt to extend his domination south of the Yangtze River was unsuccessful. He received an initial success when Liu Biao, Governor of Jing Province, died, and his successor, Liu Cong surrendered to Cao without resistance. Delighted by this, he pressed on despite objections from his military advisors and hoped the same would happen again. His forces were defeated by a coalition of his arch-rivals Liu Bei and Sun Quan (who later founded the states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu respectively) at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208.

In 213, Cao was titled "Duke of Wei" (魏公), given the nine bestowments, and given a fief of ten cities under his domain, known as Wei. In 216, Cao was promoted to "King of Wei" (魏王). Over the years, Cao, as well as Liu Bei and Sun Quan, continued to consolidate their power in their respective regions. Through many wars, China became divided into three powers – Wei, Shu and Wu, which fought sporadic battles without the balance tipping significantly in anyone's favor.

In 220, Cao died in Luoyang at the age of 65, having failed to unify China under his rule. His will instructed that he be buried near Ximen Bao's tomb in Ye without gold and jade treasures, and that his subjects on duty at the frontier were to stay in their posts and not attend the funeral as, in his own words, "the country is still unstable".

Cao's eldest surviving son Cao Pi succeeded him. Within a year, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate and proclaimed himself the first emperor of Cao Wei. Cao Cao was then posthumously titled "Grand Ancestor Emperor Wu of Wei" (魏太祖武皇帝)

Cultural legacy[link]

A mask of Cao Cao in Chinese opera.

While historical records indicate Cao as a brilliant ruler, he was represented as a cunning and deceitful man in Chinese opera, where the character of Cao is given a white facial makeup to reflect his treacherous personality. When writing the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong took much of his inspiration from the opera.

As a result, unscrupulous depictions of Cao have become much more popular among the common people than his real image. There have been attempts to revise this depiction.^[9][10]

As the Romance of the Three Kingdoms has been adapted to modern forms of entertainment, so has its portrayal of Cao. Given the source material upon which these adaptations are founded, Cao continues to be characterised as a prominent villain.

Through to modern times, the Chinese equivalent of the English idiom "speak of the Devil" is "Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives." (Chinese: 說曹操，曹操到; pinyin: Shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo dào).

After the Communists won the Chinese Civil War in 1949, many people in China began to believe that there were many similarities between Cao Cao and the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong. Because of this perceived similarity, Party propagandists began a long-term, sustained effort to improve the image of Cao Cao in Chinese popular culture. In 1959, Marshal Peng Dehuai wrote a letter to Mao in which he compared himself to Zhang Fei: because of Mao's popular association with Cao, Peng's comparison implied that he had an intuitively confrontational relationship with Mao. Mao had the letter widely circulated in order to make Peng's attitude clear to other Party members, and proceeded to purge Peng, eventually ending Peng's career.^[11]

Agriculture and education[link]

While waging military campaigns against his enemies, Cao did not forget the bases of society – agriculture and education.

In 194, a locust plague caused a major famine across China. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, the people ate each other out of desperation. Without food, many armies were defeated without fighting. From this experience, Cao saw the importance of an ample food supply in building a strong military. He began a series of agricultural programs in cities such as Xuchang and Chenliu. Refugees were recruited and given wasteland to cultivate. Later, encampments not faced with imminent danger of war were also made to farm. This system was continued and spread to all regions under Cao as his realm expanded. Although Cao's primary intention was to build a powerful army, the agricultural program also improved the living standards of the people, especially war refugees.

By 203, Cao had eliminated most of Yuan Shao's force. This afforded him more attention on construction within his realm. In autumn of that year, Cao passed an order decreeing the promotion of education throughout the counties and cities within his jurisdiction. An official in charge of education was assigned to each county with at least 500 households. Youngsters with potential and talents were selected for schooling. This prevented a lapse in the output of intellectuals in those warring years and, in Cao's words, would benefit the people.

Poetry[link]

Cao Cao was an accomplished poet, as were his sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. Cao Cao was also a patron of poets such as Xu Gan.^[12] Of Cao's works only a remnant remain today. His verses, unpretentious yet profound, helped to reshape the poetic style of his time and beyond, eventually contributing to the poetry styles associated with Tang Dynasty poetry. Cao Cao and his sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are collectively known as the "Three Caos". Together with certain other poets, their poetry formed the backbone of what is known as the Jian'an style. Jian'an is the era name for the period from 196 to 220, the final era of the Han Dynasty; however, poets, such as of the Cao family continued to write and develop poetry in this style after the end of the Han and after the founding of the Cao Wei dynasty: these are the "Jian'an" poets. Poetry was affected by civil strife towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, contributing to the Jian'an poems' often solemn yet heart-stirring tone, frequently lamenting the ephemeral nature of life. From the early folk songs characteristic of Han poetry, the Jian'an poetry represents a transition towards a more scholarly poetry characteristic of Six Dynasties poetry. Cao Cao and other Jian'an poets were specifically noted for developments to the characteristic Han fu (or yuefu), while keeping some features, the uneven line lengths derived from the folksong or ballad tradition were eliminated, or changed into a regular five-character line-length style—very similar and inspirational to the regular five-character line shi poetry of the Tang Dynasty. Cao Cao himself also was noted for his ballad style verse, which he apparently set to music.^[13]

Cao Cao also wrote verse in the older four-character per line style characteristic of the Shijing "Classic Odes". Burton Watson describes Cao Cao as: "the only writer of the period who succeeded in infusing the old four-character meter with any vitality, mainly because he discarded the archaic diction associated with it and employed the ordinary poetic language of his time."^[14] One of Cao's most celebrated poems is in the old four-character line style: written during the Battle of White Wolf Mountain against the northern Wuhuan in 207, it is titled Though the Tortoise Lives Long (龜雖壽).

Another of Cao Cao's most well known poems, written right before the Battle of Red Cliffs in the winter of 208 AD, is Short Song Style. (短歌行)

Purported discovery of Cao Cao's tomb[link]

The discovery of Cao's tomb in Xigaoxue Village (西高穴村) in Anyang County, Henan was reported by archaeologists in December 2009. Legends tell that the tomb was protected by 72 decoys to keep its location secret, though the recent discovery casts doubt on that legend.^[15] The tomb was unearthed by workers of a nearby kiln when they were digging mud for making bricks, but the discovery was not initially reported to the authorities. Tomb raiding had been carried on since the tomb's initial discovery, until local authorities seized stone tablets carrying inscriptions of "King Wu of Wei" (魏武王) — Cao's posthumous reference — from tomb raiders and brought the tomb to light. Archaeologists began excavating the tomb in December 2008.^[16]

The 740-square-meter tomb, a size appropriate for a king, was determined to have been built at the time of Wei and to be that of Cao. Within the tomb were stone tablets identifying Cao as the owner of the tomb, 250 artifacts including weapons, armour, and pottery,^[17] the remains of a man in his 60s, and the bones of two women in their 50s and 20s.^[15] No luxury items were found in the tomb, which is in accordance to Cao's will that he should be buried simply.^[17] The bodies are believed to be Cao and his wife, along with her female servant.^[15]

Since its discovery, there have been many skeptics and experts who pointed out problems with the discovery and doubt about the tomb's authenticity. For instance, Professor Yuan Jixi of Renmin University's Faculty of Ancient Chinese Study suggests that because this tomb had been greatly disturbed by tomb raiders, the items found in the tomb cannot be guaranteed as original, and the most important evidence carrying inscriptions of "King Wu of Wei" may have been created by modern antique traders.^[18] A total of 23 experts and scholars from across China presented evidence at the National High-Level Forum on Culture of the Three Kingdoms Period held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in August 2010 to argue that the findings and the artifacts of the tomb were faked.^[19]

In fiction[link]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, was a romanticization of the events that occurred during the Three Kingdoms period. While adhering to historical facts most of the time, the novel inevitably re-shaped Cao dramatically to some extent, so as to portray him as a cruel and suspicious villain. In some chapters, Luo created fictional or semi-fictional events involving Cao. They include:

Planned assassination of Dong Zhuo[link]

While in reality Cao did leave Dong Zhuo, the tyrannical warlord who held Emperor Xian hostage in 190 to consolidate power, Luo Guanzhong took a step further in describing Cao's attempted assassination on Dong:

Dong deposed Emperor Shao, the successor of the late Emperor Ling, and placed Emperor Xian on the throne. His autocratic behavior and acts of brutality against his political opponents and the common people incurred the anger of various court officials. One of them, Wang Yun, called for a secret meeting of the officials under the pretext of his birthday celebration. During the feast, Wang cried upon recalling the cruel deeds of Dong. His colleagues felt the same anguish and joined him in tears.

Cao, however, laughed and said, "All the officials of the court – crying from dusk till dawn and from dawn till dusk – can you make Dong Zhuo die by crying?" Wang met him in private later and lent him the Seven Gems Sword (七星劍) after Cao promised to assassinate Dong Zhuo personally.

The next day, Cao brought the precious sword to see Dong. Having much trust in Cao, Dong received the guest in his bedroom. Lü Bu, Dong's foster son, left the room for the stable to select a better horse for Cao, who complained about his slow ride. When Dong turned away, Cao prepared to unsheathe the sword. However, Dong saw Cao's action through a reflection in the mirror and hastily turned to question Cao's intention. Coincidentally, Lü Bu returned at that moment as well. In desperation, Cao knelt down and claimed that he wanted to present the sword to Dong. Cao seized the opportunity to escape from Luoyang under the pretext of trying a ride on the new horse. Dong realized later that Cao had intended to assassinate him and sent his men to summon Cao back to see him. However, Cao had already escaped and Dong issued an order for Cao's arrest.

Murder of Lü Boshe[link]

Following the escape from Dong Zhuo is a legendary episode aimed at illustrating Cao's near-Machiavellian tendencies for later characterizations of him as a villain. Though never exactly proven, it is said that Cao escaped with Chen Gong, a county magistrate who arrested him earlier and released him out of admiration for Cao's sense of righteousness later. They sought shelter at the home of Lü Boshe, a close friend of Cao's father. Lü promised to protect him and left to purchase some materials in preparation for a feast. Cao and Chen overheard a conversation between Lü's servants about a murder plot. Cao's suspicious nature caused him to jump to the conclusion that Lü Boshe had deceived him and intended to kill him and hand over his corpse to Dong Zhuo for a reward. Cao and Chen burst in and killed everyone in the house, including Lü's wife and children. They discovered later that the servants were actually discussing how to "murder" (slaughter) a pig for the feast.

Cao and Chen fled immediately and ran into Lü Boshe, who had just returned from his errand. When questioned, Cao provided an excuse, saying that he was afraid of being followed, as the reason for his abrupt departure. Cao then asked Lü, "Who's that behind you?" When Lü turned around, Cao stabbed and killed him from behind. Chen was shocked and asked him why he committed that atrocity. Cao explained that it was for their safety, because if Lü went home and saw the ghastly sight, he would report the murder to the authorities and hence create serious trouble for them. Cao then raised his sword and famously said, "I'd rather let the world down than to allow the world to let me down." (寧教我負天下人，休教天下人負我). According to Cao's biography in Records of the Three Kingdoms, Cao said "I'd rather let others down than to allow others to let me down." (寧我負人，毋人負我) with a sense of regret and remorse.^[20] The exact quote was altered in Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, with "world" (天下人; literally: people under Heaven) replacing "others" (人; literally: people). Historian Yi Zhongtian speculated that Cao was probably trying to console himself after mistakenly killing Lü Boshe, by speaking with a sense of remorse. Yi believed that Luo had changed the quote to reflect that Cao had no sense of remorse (because "world" carries greater weight than "others"), so as to enhance Cao's image as a villain in his novel.^[21]

Portrait of Cao Cao from a Qing Dynasty edition of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the hunched figure clearly portraying him as a villain

Strict disciplinarian[link]

Du Mu's account of Cao's life states that he was such a strict disciplinarian. He cited the example of an incident, in which Cao condemned himself to death for having allowed his horse to stray into a field of grain, violating a military law that dictates any soldier who damages commoners' crops would be executed. However, in lieu of losing his head, he was persuaded to satisfy his sense of justice by cutting off a lock of his hair. "When you pass a law, see that it is not disobeyed; if it is disobeyed, the offender must be punished."^{[citation needed]}

Death of Cao Cao and Hua Tuo[link]

In 220, Cao died in Luoyang due to an unknown illness. Legends contain explanations for the cause of his death. Romance of the Three Kingdoms included some of these legends, as well as Luo Guanzhong's own story about the involvement of Hua Tuo, a renowned Chinese physician.

When Cao started complaining about splitting headaches in the last days of his life, his subjects recommended Hua Tuo, a physician with remarkable healing skills. Upon examination, Hua diagnosed Cao's illness to be a form of rheumatism in the skull. He suggested giving Cao a dose of hashish and then splitting open his skull with a sharp axe to extract the pus within.

Due to an earlier incident with another physician called Ji Ping, who attempted to poison him, Cao grew suspicious of any physician. Cao believed that Hua intended to kill him to avenge the death of Guan Yu. He had Hua imprisoned and Hua died a few days later. Without proper treatment, Cao died soon as well. In another account of Cao's cause of death, it was said that a curse befell him when he tried to cut down a sacred tree and use its wood to build a lavish villa.

Family[link]

• Foster grandfather: Cao Teng, eunuch official, descendant of Cao Shen

• Father: Cao Song, served as Grand Commandant during the reign of Emperor Ling

• Spouses:
  • Lady Bian, Cao Cao's official spouse, bore Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi, Cao Xiong and Cao Jie
  • Lady Ding (丁夫人), Cao Cao's first wife, fell out with him after Cao Ang's death
  • Lady Liu (劉夫人), Lady Ding's servant, later became Cao Cao's concubine, died of illness at a young age, bore Cao Ang and Cao Shuo
  • Lady Huan (環夫人), bore Cao Chong, Cao Ju (曹據) and Cao Yu
  • Lady Du (杜夫人), bore Cao Lin, Cao Gun and Princess Jinxiang
  • Lady Qin (秦夫人), bore Cao Xuan and Cao Jun (曹峻)
  • Lady Yin (尹夫人), bore Cao Ju (曹矩)
  • Lady Wang (王昭儀), bore Cao Gan
  • Consort Sun (孫姬), bore Cao Shang, Cao Biao and Cao Qin
  • Consort Li (李姬), bore Cao Cheng, Cao Zheng and Cao Jing
  • Consort Zhou (周姬), bore Cao Jun (曹均)
  • Consort Liu (劉姬), bore Cao Ji
  • Consort Song (宋姬), bore Cao Hui
  • Consort Zhao (趙姬), bore Cao Mao
  • Laiying'er (來鶯兒), a prostitute from Luoyang, later fell in love with Cao Cao's bodyguard Wang Tu (王圖)
  • Consort Chen (陳妾)

• Children:
  • Sons:
    • Cao Ang, raised by Lady Ding, killed in action at the Battle of Wancheng
    • Cao Pi, became the first emperor of Cao Wei after forcing Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate. See Cao Pi#Family for details on Cao Pi's family.
    • Cao Zhang, instated as Prince of Rencheng in 223. Fathered Cao Kai (曹楷).
    • Cao Zhi, instated as Prince of Chen in 225. See Cao Zhi#Family for details on Cao Zhi's family.
    • Cao Xiong, died at a young age. Fathered Cao Bing (曹炳).
    • Cao Shuo (曹鑠), died at a young age, posthumously granted title of Prince of Shang by Cao Rui. Fathered Cao Qian (曹潛). Cao Qian fathered Cao Yan (曹偃).
    • Cao Chong, died at a young age
    • Cao Ju (曹據), instated as Prince of Pengcheng in 232. Fathered Cao Cong (曹琮), Cao Fan (曹范) and Cao Chan (曹闡).
    • Cao Yu (曹宇), instated as Prince of Yan in 232. Fathered Cao Huan.
    • Cao Lin (曹林), instated as Prince of Pei in 232. Fathered Cao Wei (曹緯).
    • Cao Gun (曹袞), instated as Prince of Zhongshan in 232. Fathered Cao Fu (曹孚).
    • Cao Xuan (曹玹), instated as Marquis of Xixiang in 211. Fathered Cao Heng (曹恒).
    • Cao Jun (曹峻), instated as Prince of Chenliu in 232. Fathered Cao Ao (曹澳).
    • Cao Ju (曹矩), died at a young age
    • Cao Gan (曹幹), instated as Prince of Zhao in 232
    • Cao Shang (曹上), died at a young age
    • Cao Biao (曹彪), instated as Prince of Chu in 232. Forced to commit suicide in 251 after staging a rebellion with Wang Ling. Fathered Cao Jia (曹嘉).
    • Cao Qin (曹勤), died at a young age
    • Cao Cheng (曹乘), died at a young age
    • Cao Zheng (曹整), instated as Marquis of Mei in 217
    • Cao Jing (曹京), died at a young age
    • Cao Jun (曹均), instated as Marquis of Fan in 217. Fathered Cao Wan (曹琬), Cao Min (曹敏) and Cao Kang (曹抗). Cao Wan fathered Cao Lian (曹廉); Cao Min fathered Cao Kun (曹焜); Cao Kang fathered Cao Chen (曹諶).
    • Cao Ji (曹棘), died at a young age
    • Cao Hui (曹徽), instated as Prince of Dongping in 232. Fathered Cao Xi (曹翕).
    • Cao Mao (曹茂), instated as Prince of Quyang in 232
    • Cao Ping (曹平), instated as Marquis of Wu in 232
  • Daughters:
    • Cao Jie (曹節), empress of Emperor Xian
    • Cao Hua (曹華), concubine of Emperor Xian
    • Princess Anyang (安陽公主), personal name unknown, married Xun Yu's son Xun Yun (荀惲)
    • Princess Jinxiang (金鄉公主), personal name unknown, married He Yan
    • Princess Qinghe (清河公主), personal name unknown, married Xiahou Mao
    • Princess Linfen (臨汾公主), personal name unknown
  • Foster children:
    • Cao Zhen, distant nephew
    • Cao Xian (曹憲), daughter of Lady Huan and her ex-husband Bian Rang (邊讓), concubine of Emperor Xian
    • Qin Lang, son of Lady Du and her ex-husband Qin Yilu (秦宜祿)
    • He Yan (何晏), son of Lady Yin and her ex-husband He Wei (何威)

Appointments and titles held[link]

• Filial and Incorrupt (孝廉) - nominated candidate to be a Gentleman Cadet
• Gentleman Cadet (郎)
• Captain of the North District of Luoyang (洛陽北部尉)
• Prefect of Dunqiu (頓丘令)
• Consultant (議郎)
• Commandant of Cavalry (騎都尉)
• Chancellor of Jinan (濟南相)
• Colonel Who Arranges the Army (典軍校尉)
• Colonel of Valiant Cavalry (驍騎校尉)
• General Who Uplifts the Military (奮武將軍)
• Governor of Yan Province (兗州牧)
• General Who Builds Virtue (建德將軍)
• General Who Guards the East (鎮東將軍)
• Marquis of Fei Village (費亭侯)
• General-in-Chief (大將軍)
• Marquis of Wuping (武平侯)
• Excellency of Works (司空)
• General of Chariots and Cavalry (車騎將軍)
• Imperial Chancellor (丞相)
• Duke of Wei (魏公)
• King of Wei (魏王)

The following two titles were granted to Cao Cao posthumously

• King Wu (武王)
• Grand Ancestor Emperor Wu (太祖武皇帝) - sometimes shortened to "Emperor Wu"

Modern references[link]

Film and television[link]

The "Father of Hong Kong cinema", Lai Man-Wai, played Cao Cao in The Witty Sorcerer, a 1931 comedy film based on the story of Zuo Ci playing tricks on Cao Cao. In the Shaw Brothers film The Weird Man, Cao Cao was seen in the beginning of the film with Zuo Ci. Zuo Ci was playing tricks on him by giving him a tangerine with no fruit inside. This was later referenced in another film titled Five Element Ninjas. Other notable actors who have portrayed Cao Cao in film and television include Bao Guo'an (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), Damian Lau (Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon), Zhang Fengyi (Red Cliff), Chen Jianbin (Three Kingdoms), Jiang Wen (The Lost Bladesman), and Chow Yun-fat (The Assassins).

Video games[link]

Cao Cao appears in all 11 installments of Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms video game series. He is also featured as a playable character in Koei's Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi series. He also features in Koei's Kessen II as a playable main character.

Other appearances[link]

As with most of the other relevant generals of the period, Cao is portrayed as a young female character in the Koihime Musō franchise. He is also the central character in the Japanese manga series Sōten Kōro. Barry Hughart's novel The Story of the Stone mentions the Seven Sacrileges of Tsao Tsao, most of which involve family.^[22]

See also[link]

Poetry portal

• List of Dynasty Warriors characters
• List of people of the Three Kingdoms

Notes[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2010)

References[link]

• Chen Shou (2002). Records of Three Kingdoms. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80665-198-5. 
• Domes, Jurgen. Peng Te-huai: The Man and the Image, London: C. Hurst & Company. 1985. ISBN 0-905838-99-8.
• A. R. (Albert Richard) Davis, Editor and Introduction (1970). The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse. Penguin Books. 
• de Crespigny, Rafe (2010). Imperial warlord : a biography of Cao Cao 155-220 AD. Leiden Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-18522-7. 
• Luo Guanzhong (1986). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80520-013-0. 
• Lo Kuan-chung; tr. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor (2002). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-3467-9. 
• Sun Tzu (1983). The Art of War. Delta. ISBN 0-440-55005-X. 
• Burton Watson (1971). CHINESE LYRICISM: Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-03464-4. 
• Yi Zhongtian (2006). Pin San Guo (品三國; Analysis of the Three Kingdoms). Joint Publishing (H.K.) Co., Ltd.. ISBN 978-962-04-2609-4. 

External links[link]

• Cao Cao and the Three Kingdoms: A George Ernest Morrison lecture in Ethnology

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