Cao Cao

Cao Cao (155-220 AD) was an outstanding statesman, strategist and man of letters of the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

He was born in today’s Anhui Province. He built up a powerful army in the course of suppressing peasant uprisings.

Devoted to the theory of military strategy, Cao Cao had some resounding successes in warfare. At the Battle of Guandu, with only 20,000 men, he soundly defeated Yuan Shao’s force of 100,000. A strong army needed more food. Between campaigns, Cao Cao made his soldiers cultivate the land to supply themselves with food. This not only solved the army’s food supply problem, it also improved the economy in the north.

On the political stage, Cao Cao saw the rise of powerful landlords in the late Eastern Han Dynasty as a threat to the unity of the country. Therefore, he encouraged the local authorities to punish magnates who bullied the weak, and gave government posts to anti-landlord person. In fact, Cao Cao insisted on promoting any person of talent, no matter what his background was.

Because of these advantages, in addition to the fact that he had the emperor Xian under his control, Cao Cao put down all the warlords one after another in the north after the Battle of Guandu in 200.Cao Cao also attach great importance to culture. He was not only talented in politics and military affairs; he was also a man of cultured tastes, so were his two sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.