TS'AO TS'AO

born AD 155, Po-hsien [in modern Anhwei province], China died 220, Lo-yang [in modern Honan province] Pinyin Cao Cao, courtesy name (tzu) Meng-te one of the greatest of the generals at the end of the Han dynasty (206 BCAD 220) of China. Ts'ao's father was the adopted son of the chief eunuch of the imperial court. Ts'ao was initially a minor garrison commander and rose to prominence as a general when he suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion, which threatened the last years of Han rule. The dynasty, however, was greatly weakened by the rebellion, and in the ensuing chaos the country was divided among the major generals into three kingdoms. Ts'ao occupied the strategic northern section around the emperor's capital at Lo-yang and gradually assumed all imperial prerogatives. His domain was known as the kingdom of Wei. Ts'ao's large armiesat one time he is said to have had a million men under armsand his skillful maneuvering have long been notorious in Chinese history. He was described by Confucian historians and in popular legends as the archetypal shrewd, bold, unscrupulous villain. He was portrayed in this role in the great 14th-century historical novel San Kuo chih yen i (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), and since then he has been one of the most popular figures of Chinese legend and folklore, with various evil magic powers ascribed to him. Modern historians tend to view Ts'ao as a skillful general and pragmatic politician. After Ts'ao's death the last Han ruler, Hsien-ti, ceded the throne to Ts'ao's son Ts'ao P'ei, who proclaimed the Wei dynasty (220265/266).