1. Main deeds
1. Origin - Cao Cao was born in a family of officials. His adoptive grandfather was the eunuch Cao Teng. He served four generations of emperors and had a certain reputation. During the reign of Emperor Huan of Han, he was He was named Fei Tinghou. Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, was Cao Teng's adopted son. He was a Taiwei during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty. "Three Kingdoms" records that Cao Cao's distant ancestor (actually the distant ancestor of his adoptive grandfather) was Cao Shen, the Prime Minister of the early Han Dynasty.
The Cao family has a close relationship with the Xiahou family. "The Xiahou and Cao families have been married for generations." There is no exact statement about Cao Song's family background. "Three Kingdoms" records that "no one can judge the origin of his birth." The "Biography of Cao Man" cited in the annotation "Three Kingdoms" by Pei Songzhi, a historian of the Southern Song Dynasty, records that Cao Song's original surname was Xiahou, and he later became Cao Teng's adopted son, so he changed his surname to Cao. Cao Cao was actually Xiahou's family, and Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Cao were cousins. There is also a theory that Cao Song is the son of Cao Teng's cousin, and Cao Teng may have adopted his step-nephew as his adopted son. There is no definite evidence to support these two theories.
2. Cao Cao offered his sword - In order to get rid of Dong Zhuo, who was causing harm to the country and the people, Wang Yun and Cao Cao made a plan to assassinate Dong. Cao Cao was holding a seven-star sword to assassinate Dong Zhuo, but was unexpectedly discovered. Cao Cao adapted to the situation and offered the sword. He hid it for the sake of his name. Then, he hurriedly escaped from Dong Xiang's mansion, thus saving his life.
3. Cutting off his beard and discarding his robe - Cao Cao led his army to fight with Ma Chao at Tongguan. After Cao Cao's army was defeated, when Ma Chao pursued Cao Cao, Cao Cao cut off his beard and discarded his robe in order not to be recognized. .
4. Cut off hair and replace robes - Cao Cao was walking on horseback when suddenly a bird frightened his horse. His horse suddenly jumped into the field and trampled a wheat field. He asked the law enforcement officer to convict him, but the law enforcement officer refused. Cao Cao was about to commit suicide with his sword, but everyone stopped him. So, he cut off his hair with a sword and said: "Then, I will cut off my hair and replace it with my head."
5. Chasing the Central Plains - Qingzhou in the third year of Chuping (192) A million-strong Yellow Turban army invaded Yanzhou. Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, refused to listen to the dissuasion of Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, and fought with the Yellow Turban Army, and was killed. Bao Xin and others secretly sent people to Dongjun to meet Cao Cao and recommended him to the post of Yanzhou Shepherd. Later, he fought with the Yellow Turban Army east of Shouzhang. After a hard battle, Bao Xin died in the battle and finally defeated the enemy. Cao Cao pursued all the way to Jibei, and finally forced the Yellow Turban Army to surrender. He recruited more than 300,000 surrendered soldiers and more than a million men and women, and selected elites from them, known as the "Qingzhou Soldiers." At this time, Cao Cao gradually became a powerful force.
Later Yuan Shao joined forces with Liu Biao of Jingzhou, while Yuan Shu joined forces with Gongsun Zan of Youzhou and Tao Qian of Xuzhou to resist. At this time, Cao Cao was an ally of Yuan Shao's faction. Liu Bei and Sun Jian also submitted to Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shu respectively, and were guest generals under their orders. While Cao Cao was assisting Yuan Shao and defeating Yuan Shu everywhere, Tao Qian took the opportunity to attack Taishan County in the east of Yanzhou, resulting in the death of Cao Cao's father, Cao Song.
In response to this incident, Cao Cao attacked Tao Qian for the second time from 193 to 194, and launched a shoot-to-kill massacre in Xuzhou. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" describes this incident: "Hundreds of thousands of men and women were brutally killed. Even chickens and dogs were not spared, and the Surabaya River was blocked as a result." In this incident, Cao Cao showed the cruelty and bloodlust caused by his violent temper, which made him His cruel nature exploded.
From the first year of Xingping (194) to the second year (195), Cao Cao fought with Lu Bu, Zhang Miao and others in Yanzhou. Both sides won and lost, and the land of Yanzhou also changed hands repeatedly. Cao Cao ordered Xun Yu and Cheng Yu to defend Juancheng and use it as a base to finally defeat Lu Bu and pacify Yanzhou. The imperial court also officially recognized Cao Cao's status as Yanzhou Shepherd at this time.
2. Literary deeds
Cao Cao was not only an outstanding politician and military strategist in Chinese history, but also an outstanding litterateur. Military works such as "The Art of War" and immortal poems such as "Hao Li Xing", "Guan Cang Hai", "Xie Lu", "Dan Ge Xing", "Bitter Cold Xing", "Jieshi Pian", "Turtle Though Longevity". Later generations also compiled the Collection of Cao Cao.
There was great chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, and Cao Cao went south and north to conquer. He came into contact with a wide range of society, so many people have personal experience and understanding. For example, "Hao Li Xing" describes the tragedy of the war at the end of the Han Dynasty, and saw the misery of the people. Also see the poet's mixed emotions when he is hurt.
Therefore, later generations call Cao Cao's Yuefu "a true record of the late Han Dynasty and a true history of poetry."
A generation of heroes may be glorious for a lifetime, but sometimes their stars will fall and perish. Cao Cao also felt helpless about this and could only write poems and lament, but he had no choice but to do so. For example, the sentimentality of "Like the morning dew, the passing days will be more bitter" in "Dan Ge Xing", the low mood in "Autumn Hu Xing", and his negative mood can be seen in Youxian's works such as "Mo Shang Mulang".
Cao Cao’s poetry form is very innovative. He is especially good at writing five-character and four-character styles. "Hao Li Xing" was originally composed of miscellaneous words, but Cao Cao rewrote it in five words, which was very successful. In terms of four-character poetry, it has declined since the "Book of Songs" and there are few excellent works. However, Cao Cao inherited the traditions of "Guofeng" and "Xiaoya" to reflect reality and express emotions.
For example, "Dan Ge Xing" and "Stepping out of Xiamen Xing" are all excellent works of four-character poetry, which reborn four-character poetry and made it shine again. Cao Cao's poems are simple in diction, expressing his feelings directly, generous and sad, yet melancholy and vigorous. Gorgeous words are not common, but the images are vivid. For example, in the poem "Viewing the Sea": "The autumn wind is bleak, the waves are rising, and the journey of the sun and the moon, if you get out of it, The stars are brilliant, if they come out of it. "With just a few strokes, the poet's mind can be expressed with a vast sea scene without any embellishment.
Extended information
Cao Cao (155-March 15, 220), whose courtesy name was Mengde, whose last name was Jili, and whose nickname was Amo, was born in Qiao County, Peiguo (now Bozhou, Anhui). people. He was an outstanding statesman, militarist, writer and calligrapher in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and the founder of the Cao Wei regime in the Three Kingdoms.
Cao Cao served as the prime minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty and was later granted the title of King of Wei, laying the foundation for the founding of Cao Wei. After his death, his posthumous title was King Wu. After his son Cao Pi became emperor, he was honored as Emperor Wu, with the temple name Taizu.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos. In the name of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao conquered all directions, internally eliminated the separatist forces such as Yuan, Lu Bu, Liu Biao, Ma Chao, and Han Sui, and externally surrendered the Southern Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Xianbei, etc. , unified northern China, and implemented a series of policies to restore economic production and social order, expand farmland, build water conservancy projects, reward farmers and mulberry trees, attach importance to handicrafts, resettle the exiled population, and implement "rent modulation", thus gradually stabilizing the society and economy of the Central Plains. There's a turning point.
Under the rule of Cao Cao, the politics of the Yellow River Basin gradually became clearer, the economy gradually recovered, class oppression was slightly alleviated, and the social atmosphere improved. Some of the measures taken by Cao Cao in the name of the Han Dynasty had a positive effect. ?
Cao Cao was proficient in the art of war in the military and valued talents. For this reason, he would take the potential members under his command at all costs. In life, he was good at poetry to express his political ambitions and reflect the people of the late Han Dynasty. His suffering life is majestic, generous and desolate; his prose is also clear and neat, which opened up and prospered Jian'an literature and left precious spiritual wealth to future generations. Lu Xun evaluated him as "the ancestor of reforming articles". At the same time, Cao Cao was also good at calligraphy. Zhang Huaiguan of the Tang Dynasty rated Cao Cao's calligraphy as "wonderful" in "Shujuan".
Cao Cao was born into a family of officials. After Cao Shen, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, was called in "Three Kingdoms", Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, was the adopted son of the eunuch Cao Teng. Cao Teng served four emperors and had a certain reputation. During the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, he was With the title of Marquis Feiting, Cao Song inherited Cao Teng's title of Marquis and became a Taiwei during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty. ?
When he was young, Cao Cao was smart and alert, with the ability to adapt to changes. He was also willful, chivalrous and bohemian. He did not cultivate his character or study academically, so people at the time did not think he had any special talents. Only Qiao Xuan and others from the Liang Kingdom thought he was extraordinary. Qiao Xuan said to Cao Cao: "The world is about to be in chaos, and it cannot be saved unless the talents of the world are destined to save it. Who can bring peace to peace belongs to you?" He Yong of Nanyang said to him: " The Han Dynasty is about to perish and the one who can bring peace to the world must be this man!" Xu Shao of Nanyang was famous for his knowledge of people. He once said to Cao Cao: "The traitor who is in peace is the hero in troubled times."
Cao Cao showed his interest and talent in martial arts in his early years. He read a lot of books, especially the art of war. He copied the strategies of various ancient schools of war, and also wrote the "Wei Wu Zhu Sun Tzu" annotation of "The Art of War". handed down from generation to generation. These laid a solid foundation for his later military career.
Reference material: Cao Cao (the founder of the Wei regime in the Three Kingdoms) - Baidu Encyclopedia