Cao Cao Cao Cao ( ; Old Chinese IPA : zluː shaːws or zluː shaːw ; 155 – 15 March 220 ) , 孟德 , modern Chinese pronunciation is Mengde while for Old Chinese its IPA was mraːŋs tɯːɡ ) was a warlord and the penultimate of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power in the final years of the dynasty . 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 honoured as " Emperor Wu of Wei " . Although he is 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 . Early life . Cao Cao was born in 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 favourite 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 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 insistent in his wayward pursuits . At that time , there was a man named Xu Shao who lived in Runan and was famous for his ability to evaluate a person ' s potentials and talents . Cao Cao paid him a visit in hopes of receiving an evaluation that would help him politically . At first , Xu Shao 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 . " Cao Cao laughed and left . There are two other versions of this 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 . " At the age of 20 , Cao Cao was appointed district captain of Luoyang . Upon taking up the post , he 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 Cao ' s men and was flogged . This prompted Jian Shuo and other higher authorities to ostensibly promote Cao Cao to the post of governor of Dunqiu County while actually moving him out of the imperial capital . Cao 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 . 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 . When the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in 184 , Cao Cao was recalled to Luoyang and appointed Captain of the Cavalry ( 騎都尉 ) and sent to Yingchuan in Yu Province 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 . 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 . Alliance against Dong Zhuo . After 18 months in retirement , Cao Cao returned to the capital Luoyang 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 Army of the Western Garden . The effectiveness of this new force never became known , since it was disbanded the next year . 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 Zhuo arrived , He Jin was assassinated by the eunuchs and Luoyang was thrown into chaos as Yuan Shao ' s supporters fought the eunuchs . Dong Zhuo ' s army easily rid the palace grounds of opposition . After he deposed Emperor Shao , Dong Zhuo 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 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 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 Zhuo was killed in 192 by Lü Bu . Securing the emperor . Through short - term and regional - scale wars , Cao Cao continued to expand his power . In 193 , Cao massacred thousands of civilians in Xu Province to avenge his father , whom Cao Cao believed to have been murdered by Xu Province ' s governor , Tao Qian . In 196 , Cao 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 . Cao Cao became General - 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 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 . " 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 Cao lobbied to have Yuan appointed Minister of Works . However , this had the opposite effect , as Yuan Shao believed that Cao Cao was trying to humiliate him , since Minister of Works technically ranked lower than General - in - Chief , and thus refused to accept the title . To pacify Yuan Shao , Cao 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 northern China . In 200 , Yuan Shao amassed more than 100 , 000 troops and marched southwards on Xuchang in the name of rescuing the emperor . Cao 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 Cao ' s lack of men did not allow him to make significant attacks , and Yuan Shao ' s pride forced him to meet Cao ' s force head - on . Despite his overwhelming advantage in terms of manpower , Yuan Shao was unable to make full use of his resources because of his indecisive leadership and Cao 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 Cao ' s army was a one - sided battle in favour 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 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 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 Chong had been placed as an official there for this specific reason , as Cao Cao had foreseen the possibility of insurrection prior to the battle . Finally , a defector from Yuan Shao ' s army , Xu You , informed Cao Cao of the location of Yuan ' s supply depot . Cao Cao broke the stalemate by sending a special group of soldiers to burn all the supplies of Yuan Shao ' 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 . Cao Cao used the internal conflict within the Yuan clan to his advantage and defeated the Yuans easily . Cao 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 . However , Cao Cao ' s attempt to extend his domination south of the Yangtze River was unsuccessful . He received an initial success when Liu Biao , the Governor of Jing Province , died , and his successor , Liu Cong surrendered to Cao 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 Cao received the title " Duke of Wei " ( 魏公 ) and was given the nine bestowments and a fief of ten cities under his domain , known as Wei . In 216 , Cao Cao was promoted to the status of a vassal king - " King of Wei " ( 魏王 ) . Over the years , Cao 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 favour . In 220 , Cao 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 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 the state of Cao Wei . Cao Cao was then posthumously titled " Grand Ancestor Emperor Wu of Wei " ( 魏太祖武皇帝 ) Cultural legacy . While historical records indicate Cao Cao as a brilliant ruler , he was represented as a cunning and deceitful man in Chinese opera , where his character is given a white facial makeup to reflect his treacherous personality . When Luo Guanzhong wrote the historical novel " Romance of the Three Kingdoms " , he took much of his inspiration from Chinese opera . As a result , unscrupulous depictions of Cao Cao have become much more popular among the common people than his real image . There have been attempts to revise this depiction . As the novel " Romance of the Three Kingdoms " has been adapted to modern forms of entertainment , so has its portrayal of Cao Cao . Given the source material upon which these adaptations are founded , Cao 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 " ( ) . 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 Mao Zedong . Because of this perceived similarity , propagandists began a long - term , sustained effort to improve the image of Cao Cao in Chinese popular culture . In 1959 , 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 . Agriculture and education . While waging military campaigns against his enemies , Cao Cao did not forget the bases of society – agriculture and education . In 194 , a locust plague caused a major famine across China . The people resorted to cannibalism out of desperation . Without food , many armies were defeated without fighting . From this experience , Cao 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 Cao as his realm expanded . Although Cao 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 Cao had eliminated most of Yuan Shao ' s forces . This afforded him more attention on construction within his realm . In autumn of that year , Cao 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 Cao ' s words , would benefit the people . Poetry . Cao Cao was an accomplished poet , as were his sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi . He was also a patron of poets such as Xu Gan . Of Cao 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 , Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are known collectively as the " Three Caos " . The Three Caos ' poetry , together with additional poets , became known as the " Jian ' an " style , which contributed eventually to Tang and later poetry . Cao Cao also wrote verse in the older four - character per line style characteristic of the " Classic of Poetry " . Burton Watson describes Cao Cao as : " the only writer of the period who succeeded in infusing the old four - character metre with any vitality , mainly because he discarded the archaic diction associated with it and employed the ordinary poetic language of his time . " Cao Cao is also known for his early contributions to the Shanshui poetry genre , with his 4 - character - per - line , 14 - line poem " View of the Blue Sea " ( as translated by Wai - lim Yip ) . Cao Cao Mausoleum . On 27 December 2009 , the Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau reported the discovery of Cao Cao ' s tomb in Xigaoxue Village , Anyang County , Henan . The tomb , covering an area of 740 square metres , was discovered in December 2008 when workers at a nearby kiln were digging for mud to make bricks . Its discovery was not reported and the local authorities knew of it only when they seized a stone tablet carrying the inscription ' King Wu of Wei ' — Cao Cao ' s posthumous title — from grave robbers who claimed to have stolen it from the tomb . Over the following year , archaeologists recovered more than 250 relics from the tomb . The remains of three persons — a man in his 60s , a woman in her 50s and another woman in her 20s — were also unearthed and are believed to be those of Cao Cao , one of his wives , and a servant . Since the discovery of the tomb , there have been many skeptics and experts who pointed out problems with it and raised doubts about its authenticity . In January 2010 , the State Administration of Cultural Heritage legally endorsed the initial results from research conducted throughout 2009 suggesting that the tomb was Cao Cao ' s . However , in August 2010 , 23 experts and scholars presented evidence at a forum held in Suzhou , Jiangsu to argue that the findings and the artefacts of the tomb were fake . In September 2010 , an article published in an archaeology magazine claimed that the tomb and the adjacent one actually belonged to Cao Huan ( a grandson of Cao Cao ) and his father Cao Yu . In 2010 , the tomb became part of the fifth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level in China . , it has been announced that the local government in Anyang is constructing a museum on the original site of the tomb which will be named ' Cao Cao Mausoleum Museum ' ( 曹操高陵博物馆 ) . In fiction . " Romance of the Three Kingdoms " , a historical novel by Luo Guanzhong , was a romanticisation of the events that occurred in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period . While adhering to historical facts most of the time , the novel inevitably reshaped Cao Cao 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 Cao . See the following for some fictitious stories in " Romance of the Three Kingdoms " involving Cao Cao : Modern references . Film and television . 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 : Card games . In the selection of hero cards in the Chinese card game " San Guo Sha " ( 三国杀 ) , there is also a Cao Cao hero that players can select at the beginning of the game . Cao Cao is also referenced in " " , as the card " Cao Cao , Lord of Wei " . This card is black , the colour representing ruthlessness and ambition , though not necessarily evil . It was first printed in " Portal Three Kingdoms " and again in " " . Video games . Cao Cao appears in all 12 instalments 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 . As with most of the other relevant generals of the period , Cao 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 .