Cao Cao (pronunciationⓘ; [tsʰǎʊ tsʰáʊ]; Chinese: 曹操; c. 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation for the state of Cao Wei (220–265 AD), established by his son and successor Cao Pi, who ended the Eastern Han dynasty and inaugurated the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). Beginning in his own lifetime, a corpus of legends developed around Cao Cao which built upon his talent, his cruelty, and his perceived eccentricities.
Cao Cao began his career as an official under the Han government and held various appointments including that of a district security chief in the capital and the chancellor of a principality. He rose to prominence in the 190s during which he recruited his own followers, formed his own army, and set up a base in Yan Province (covering parts of present-day Henan and Shandong). In 196 AD, he received Emperor Xian, the figurehead Han sovereign who was previously held hostage by other warlords such as Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, and Guo Si. After he established the new imperial capital in Xuchang, Emperor Xian and the central government came under his direct control, but he still paid nominal allegiance to the emperor. Throughout the 190s, Cao Cao actively waged wars in central China against rival warlords such as Lü Bu, Yuan Shu, and Zhang Xiu, eliminating all of them. Following his triumph over the warlord Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu in 200 AD, Cao Cao launched a series of campaigns against Yuan Shao's sons and allies over the following seven years, defeated them, and unified much of northern China under his control. In 208 AD, shortly after Emperor Xian appointed him as the Imperial Chancellor, he embarked on an expedition to gain a foothold in southern China, but was defeated by the allied forces of the warlords Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Liu Qi at the decisive Battle of Red Cliffs.
His subsequent attempts over the following years to annex the lands south of the Yangtze River never proved successful. In 211 AD, he defeated a coalition of northwestern warlords led by Ma Chao and Han Sui at the Battle of Tong Pass. Five years later, he seized Hanzhong from the warlord Zhang Lu, but lost it to Liu Bei by 219. In the meantime, he also received many honours from Emperor Xian. In 213 AD, he was created Duke of Wei and granted a fief covering parts of present-day Hebei and Henan. In 216 AD, he was elevated to the status of a vassal king under the title "King of Wei" and awarded numerous ceremonial privileges, of which some used to be reserved exclusively for emperors. Cao Cao died in Luoyang in March 220 and was succeeded by his son Cao Pi who accepted the abdication of Emperor Xian in November 220 AD and established the state of Cao Wei to replace the Eastern Han dynasty— an event commonly seen as an usurpation. This marked the transition from the Eastern Han dynasty to the Six Dynasties period. After taking the throne, Cao Pi granted his father the posthumous title "Emperor Wu" ("Martial Emperor") and the temple name "Taizu" ("Grand Ancestor").
Apart from being lauded as a brilliant political and military leader, Cao Cao is celebrated for his poems. Opinions of him have remained divided from as early as the Jin dynasty (266–420 AD) that came immediately after the Three Kingdoms period. There were some who praised him for his achievements in poetry and his career, but there were also others who condemned him for his cruelty, cunning, and allegedly traitorous ways. In traditional Chinese culture, Cao Cao is stereotypically portrayed as a sly, power-hungry, and treacherous tyrant who serves as a nemesis to Liu Bei, often depicted in contraposition as a hero trying to revive the declining Han dynasty.
Historical sources
The authoritative historical source on Cao Cao's life is his official biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou in the third century. His sources for his work on the Wei portion of his book (魏志; Wei Zhi) included the Dongguan Ji (東觀記; now lost), the Book of Wei, and possibly other records. Chen Shou worked in the history bureau and had access to a variety of sources, but followed the traditional method of incorporating information into a single synthesis without citing his sources, so it is not clear how broad a pool of documentation he drew upon.
In the fifth century, Pei Songzhi annotated the Sanguozhi by incorporating information from other sources to Chen Shou's original work and adding his personal commentary, as well as commentary from other historians.
One of the major sources for information on Cao Cao's life employed by Pei Songzhi was the official history of the Wei dynasty, the Book of Wei, largely composed during the Wei dynasty itself by Wang Chen, Xun Yi, and Ruan Ji. It was completed by Wang Chen and presented to the court during the opening years of the succeeding Western Jin dynasty. This work is understandably typically very favourable to Cao Cao as the founding figure of the dynasty under which the initial compilation was performed.
As a counterpoint, another significant source for Cao Cao's life as cited by Pei Songzhi was the Cao Man zhuan (曹瞞傳), an anonymous collection of anecdotes said to have been compiled by a person from Eastern Wu, a rival kingdom to Cao Cao's own. This work is overall very hostile to Cao Cao, depicting him as cruel and untrustworthy, although not every anecdote is negative. Cao Man zhuan has been characterised as "hostile propaganda", and certain contents as "slanderous". Such a work cannot be considered a reliable source, but informs an exaggerated perspective contraposed to the glowing portrait painted by his own dynasty's official history.
For much of his career, Cao Cao hosted and controlled the final Han emperor, whose doings and correspondence it was standard to record. Especially useful for noting things like official appointments, three titles of this type were used by Pei Songzhi to add detail to Chen Shou's account: Xiandi Ji (獻帝記; Records of Emperor Xian) compiled by Liu Ai (劉艾), Xiandi Qiju zhu (獻帝起居注; Notes on Emperor Xian's Daily Life), and Shanyang Gong zaiji (山陽公載記; Records of the Duke of Shanyang [Emperor Xian's post-usurpation title]) by Yue Zi (樂資).
Other early sources for Pei Songzhi included Yu Huan's privately composed histories Dianlüe (典略; Authoritative Account) and Weilüe, written prior to Chen Shou's own work; and Sima Biao's Annals of the Nine Provinces (九州春秋), also from the 3rd century.
Later sources included works by the moralistic historian Sun Sheng, most saliently his Chronicles of the Clans of Wei (魏氏春秋), but also his more critical Yitong Ping (異同評; Commentary on Similarities and Differences) and Yitong Zayu (異同雜語; Miscellaneous Words on Similarities and Differences), which may have been parts of the same work. Although Pei Songzhi sometimes pointed out flaws in Sun Sheng's methods, he often cites him as an authority. Other Jin dynasty historians he gave less credence to, while still including parallel passages from their work, such as Jiangbiao zhuan (江表傳), by Yu Pu (虞溥), and Wei Jin Shiyu (魏晉世語; Tales of the Worlds of Wei and Jin) by Guo Ban (郭頒), a work which Pei Songzhi denigrated in very strident terms.
The official standard history of the Eastern Han dynasty, the Book of the Later Han by Fan Ye, was not available to Pei Songzhi. He and Fan Ye were contemporaries, but Fan Ye did not begin work on his history until a few years after Pei Songzhi completed his. The Book of the Later Han does not contain a full biography of Cao Cao, but records of him and his actions can be found scattered in disparate locations in the book.
Some of Cao Cao's own writing – both literary and in the form of government edicts – has been preserved in later collectanea. His commentary on The Art of War is extant, but offers little insight into his life.
Background and early life (155–184)
Cao Cao's ancestral home was in Qiao County (譙縣), Pei State, which is present-day Bozhou, Anhui. He was purportedly a descendant of Cao Shen, a statesman of the early Western Han dynasty. His father, Cao Song, served as the Grand Commandant during the reign of Emperor Ling (r. 168–189), buying his way into high government office for an exorbitant sum, and serving less than half a year. Cao Song was a foster son of Cao Teng, a eunuch who served as a Central Regular Attendant and the Empress's Chamberlain under Emperor Huan (r. 146–168), and held the peerage of Marquis of Fei Village (費亭侯).
In his youth, Cao Cao was known to be perceptive and manipulative. He liked to hunt, idle, roam about freely, and play vigilante so he was not as highly regarded as his more studious peers. From the time Cao Cao was fifteen until he turned thirty, widespread epidemic diseases ravaged China on average one out of every three years.
Despite Cao Cao's loafing ways and unimpressive behaviour, Qiao Xuan and He Yong recognised his potential and extraordinary talents. Upon visiting the famous commentator and character evaluator Xu Shao, Cao Cao was assessed as being "a treacherous villain in times of peace, and a hero in times of chaos". Another source recorded that Xu Shao told Cao Cao, "You will be a capable minister in times of peace, and a jianxiong in times of chaos."
Early career (184–189)
As the Commandant of the North District in Luoyang
Cao Cao started his career as a civil service cadet after he was nominated as a xiaolian around the age of 19. He was later appointed as the Commandant of the North District (北部尉) of the imperial capital Luoyang and put in charge of maintaining security in that area. Later that year, he was transferred to the position of Prefect of Dunqiu County (頓丘縣; near present-day Qingfeng County, Henan). This represented a horizontal career move to a position of greater authority in a smaller jurisdiction with less political importance.
As a Consultant
Cao Cao's cousin married Song Qi (宋奇), a relative of Empress Song. In 178, when Emperor Ling deposed Empress Song in the aftermath of a political scandal, the empress's family and relatives got into trouble as well. Because of his relationship with Song Qi, Cao Cao was implicated in the scandal and dismissed from office. However, he was pardoned later and recalled to Luoyang to serve as a Consultant (議郎) under the Minister of the Household because of his expertise in history. The general Dou Wu and senior minister Chen Fan plotted to get rid of the Ten Attendants, a eunuch faction— their plan failed and they lost their lives. Cao Cao wrote a memorial to Emperor Ling to defend Dou Wu and Chen Fan, and point out that the imperial court was full of corrupt officials and that advice from loyal officials had been ignored. Emperor Ling did not listen to him.
Emperor Ling later issued a decree, ordering the Three Ducal Ministers to report and dismiss commandery and county officials who performed badly in office. However, the Ministers protected the under-performing officials and accepted bribes, resulting in a situation where evildoers were not punished while the poor and weak were oppressed. Cao Cao felt frustrated when he saw this. When natural disasters occurred, Cao Cao was summoned to the imperial court to discuss the problems in the administration. During this time, he wrote another memorial to Emperor Ling, accusing the Three Ducal Ministers of siding with the nobles and elites, and helping them to cover up their misdeeds. Emperor Ling was stunned after reading the memorial. He admonished the Ministers for their conduct, reinstated the officials who had been wrongly dismissed, and appointed them as Consultants. However, corruption worsened over time and became rampant throughout all levels of the government. Cao Cao stopped speaking up when he realised that his efforts to restore order were futile.
As Chancellor of Jinan
In 184, when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, the Han central government commissioned Cao Cao as a Cavalry Commandant (騎都尉) and ordered him to lead imperial forces to attack the rebels in Yingchuan Commandery (around present-day Xuchang, Henan). He was later appointed as the Chancellor of Jinan State (濟南郡; around present-day Jinan, Shandong), a principality in Qing Province which had over 10 counties under its jurisdiction. Many senior officials in Jinan State had connections with the nobles and engaged in corrupt practices, so Cao Cao proposed to the imperial court to dismiss about 80 percent of them. As Cao Cao had a reputation for being a strict law enforcer, when news of his arrival reached these corrupt officials, they were so fearful that they fled to nearby commanderies. Cao Cao governed Jinan State well and maintained peace in the area.
In the early days of the Western Han, nearly four hundred years previously, Liu Zhang, the Prince of Chengyang State (around present-day Ju County, Shandong), felt that he had made great contributions to the Han Empire, so he built temples in his principality for the people to worship him. Many other commanderies in Qing Province also followed this practice. In Jinan State alone, there were over 600 such temples. Wealthy merchants could even borrow the servants and personal carriages of officials for their own leisure activities. This resulted in greater inequality between the rich and poor. The senior officials did not dare to interfere. When Cao Cao assumed office in Jinan State, he destroyed all the temples and banned such idolatrous practices. He upheld the laws sternly and eliminated unorthodox customs and cult-like activities.
Brief resignation
After serving as chancellor for a brief time, Cao Cao was reassigned to be the Administrator of Dong Commandery (around present-day Puyang County, Henan), but he declined the appointment on the grounds of poor health, and resigned and went home. The Book of Wei recorded that around the time, corruption had deteriorated to the point where influential officials dominated the imperial court and blatantly abused their powers. Cao Cao was unable to stop them and feared that he might bring trouble to his family because he had been interfering with their activities, so he requested to serve in the Imperial Guards. His request was rejected and he was appointed as a Consultant (議郎) instead. He then claimed that he was ill and resigned and went home. He built a house outside the city and lived there, spending his time reading in spring and summer, and going on hunting excursions in autumn and winter.
Wang Fen (王芬), the Inspector of Ji Province, along with Xu You, Zhou Jing (周旌) and others, plotted to overthrow Emperor Ling and replace him with the Marquis of Hefei (合肥侯). They contacted Cao Cao and asked him to join them but he refused. Wang Fen's plan ultimately failed.
When Bian Zhang, Han Sui and others started a rebellion in Liang Province, Cao Cao was appointed as Colonel Who Arranges the Army (典軍校尉) and summoned back to Luoyang to serve in the Army of the Western Garden.