Cao Cao
Unified the north and introduced military farming colonies (tuntian), laying the foundation of Cao Wei.
Life
Raising troops in turbulent times
Cao Cao came from a family descended from a eunuch's adopted son. As a young man he served as commandant of the northern district of Luoyang and as chancellor of Jinan, known for his strict enforcement of the law. At the end of the Eastern Han, imperial in-laws and eunuchs fought for power, the Yellow Turbans rose up and Dong Zhuo tyrannized the court; central authority collapsed and the provinces and commanderies went their own way. He rose in revolt as part of the coalition against Dong Zhuo, absorbed the Qingzhou troops and took control of Yanzhou.
Unifying the north
In 196 CE he received Emperor Xian of Han at Xu and, holding the emperor hostage, issued orders to the lords in his name, while introducing military farming colonies to solve his army's grain supply. In 200 CE, at the Battle of Guandu, he defeated Yuan Shao with a smaller force, and within a few years he unified the north. In 208 CE, advancing south, he suffered a crushing defeat at Red Cliffs at the hands of the Sun-Liu coalition, and the threefold division of the realm gradually took shape. He appointed people solely on merit, issuing several edicts seeking talent.
Merits, faults and image
He valued agriculture, warfare and the rule of law, reorganizing household registers and curbing the powerful local families; he also pioneered the Jian'an spirit in poetry. His massacres of towns and killings of opponents are clearly recorded in history, and later novels and operas made him the archetypal treacherous hero. He never claimed the throne in his lifetime; after his death his son Cao Pi replaced Han and founded Wei, posthumously honoring him as Emperor Wu.
Legacy
Cao Cao was an outstanding statesman, military strategist and poet of the late Eastern Han. He ended the prolonged melee among warlords in the north, introduced military farming colonies (tuntian) and curbed the powerful local clans, laying the foundation for the unification under Wei and Jin; his poetry, impassioned and melancholy, inaugurated the Jian'an spirit. Chen Shou called him "an extraordinary man, a hero who surpassed his age," but deeds such as the massacres in Xu Province and the killing of Kong Rong have also drawn condemnation. From the Song dynasty onward, "exalting Liu Bei and denigrating Cao Cao" gradually became the mainstream view, and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms cast him as a cunning villain; in modern times Lu Xun, Guo Moruo and others wrote essays seeking to rehabilitate him.
Major works & achievements
- Welcomed Emperor Xian of Han and moved the capital to Xu, holding the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords
- Defeated Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu, unifying the north
- Introduced the military farming system (tuntian), restoring agricultural production
- Issued the Edict seeking talent, advocating promotion by talent alone
- "Song of Haoli," "Viewing the Sea," "Short Song"
Did you know? In 2009 a large tomb at Xigaoxue in Anyang, Henan, was announced as Cao Cao's Gaoling Mausoleum, and its authenticity sparked wide debate among scholars.
Key dates
- 184Helps suppress the Yellow Turban uprising
- 190Rises in revolt against Dong Zhuo
- 192Took Yanzhou and absorbed the Qingzhou troops
- 196Received Emperor Xian and made Xu the capital; introduced military farming colonies
- 200Defeats Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu
- 207Campaigned north against the Wuhuan and unified the north
- 208Defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs
- 213Made Duke of Wei
- 220Died of illness in Luoyang