The Three Kingdoms Period (220-280)

The Trilateral Struggles Made the Appearance of Numerous Household Names of Heroes and Their Stories

43 Cao Cao

A Household Name of Politician, Strategist and Poet

In the final years of East Han Dynasty there broke out a nationwide violence, many warlords set up their armed occupied areas and fought each other. The violence ended up with the appearance of three most powerful warlords confronting each other that symbolized the coming of the Three Kingdoms Period. Cao Cao (155-220) was the most powerful warlord, he rose up from the grassroots, fought from the east front to west and became the premier of Han Empire. He was famous for his “seizing the emperor and ruling the country in emperor’s name”. His son founded Wei State (the strongest state among the three, occupied vast central China area) then offered him an honorary title “Emperor Wudi of Wei State” or “Wei Wu Di”.

Cao Cao, firstly, was a great military strategist. He started up with only a small armed force, expanded quickly to 30,000 troops by beating and merging the peasant rebelling “Yellow Scarf” army. At the time, there was an all powerful warlord family surnamed Yuan that had ruled central China for generations, Cao Cao decided to attack them. He won a series of battles by plotting schemes such as “burning out enemy’s logistic supplies” “make sounds in east while attack in west”. In the decisive battle of Guan Du Campaign, famous for it’s the weaker beating up the stronger, Cao annihilated Yuan’s main elite force. Then, he conquered all the warlords in the region and unified central China.

Cao Cao was also a remarkable politician. He got together a galaxy of capable officials and valorous generals under his command. When he raided warlord Yuan’s office, he captured a batch of secret files in which there were letters written by Cao’s officials to keep undercover and illicit relations with the enemy. Cao, however, immediately put all the letters into the fire, said: “It’s reasonable for someone to do like that, given the situation I was weak, and the enemy was strong.”

Besides, Cao Cao was also one of the most spotlighting poets in history. His works boasted to have the unique style and taste of his own, featuring an unusual vehement passion and tremendous momentum.

But Cao Cao was a double-faced man with characters full of conspiracy and treacherousness. In the novel Tales of the Three Kingdoms, Cao’s dark side of character had been exaggeratedly described. As the novel had been so widely-read by people, Cao Cao won a household name of traitor and conspirator.