or Ts'ao Ts'ao
born AD 155, Boxian, China
died 220, Luoyang
Chinese general who, at the end of the Han dynasty , assumed imperial prerogatives.
Cao Cao rose to prominence when he suppressed the Yellow Turban rebellion in the last years of the Han. Though the rebellion was suppressed, the dynasty was irreparably weakened, and in the ensuing chaos Cao Cao occupied the strategic northern section of China around the capital of Luoyang. His domain was known as the kingdom of Wei (see Three Kingdoms ). Confucian historians and popular legends alike describe him as the archetypal unscrupulous villain; he is portrayed as such in the famous 14th-century novel Sanguozhi yanyi ("Romance of the Three Kingdoms"). His son, Cao Pei, founded the Wei dynasty (220–265/266).