At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos. In the name of Liu Xie, the son of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao conquered all directions, wiped out the separatist forces of Er Yuan, Lu Bu, Liu Biao, Ma Chao and Han Sui at home, surrendered to Xiongnu, Wuhuan and Xianbei in the south, unified the northern part of China, and implemented a series of policies to restore economic production and social order, expanding reclamation, building water conservancy projects, rewarding agriculture and mulberry, attaching importance to handicrafts, and resettling refugees.
In the 18th year of Jian 'an (2 13), Cao Cao was named Wang Wei, established the State of Wei, made its capital in Yecheng, Hebei Province, and was later promoted to Wang Wei. After his death, his son, Cao Pi, proclaimed himself emperor, and respected Cao Cao as Emperor Wu, whose temple name was Mao.
Cao Cao likes to express his political ambitions and reflect the sufferings of people's livelihood with poems. He is a representative figure of Wei and Jin literature, and Lu Xun praised him as "the founder of reforming articles". At the same time, Cao Cao is good at calligraphy, and Zhang Huaiguan's Broken Tang Book rated Cao Cao's Cao Zhang as a "wonderful work".