Cao Cao 曹操
Cao Cao brought most of northern China under his control and continued to rule in the name of the Han emperor. Even with his army, he was never able to take his rivals' lands from them. Cao's own voice survives in his poems, and in the novel Romance of Three Kingdoms he became the adversary of Liu Bei, a rivalry that screen adaptations return to again and again.
Cao Cao (曹操) was born in 155. His father, Cao Song, was adopted by the court eunuch Cao Teng. Cao Cao himself served as an official in his youth, and in 184 he took part in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. By the end of the century the imperial court could barely control the provinces. In 196 Cao took in Emperor Xian and moved his court to Xu. Now Cao could issue orders in the emperor's name, even when they were backed above all by the strength of his own army.
In 200 Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao at Guandu. The victory helped him subdue the north, but a campaign to the south ended in defeat at Red Cliffs, where Sun Quan and Liu Bei joined forces against him. Later Cao received the title of King of Wei. He died in 220, still under the Han. The imperial throne passed to his son Cao Pi, who proclaimed the new dynasty.
Cao Cao wrote poetry in the yuefu style. His sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi also entered the history of Jian'an-era poetry. In Luo Guan-Zhong's Romance of Three Kingdoms, Cao stands out above all for his military and political grip. The novel shows what decisions he has to make and how easily he justifies cruelty. From there comes the scene in which he kills people, taking them for enemies, and then says he would rather deceive the whole world than let the world deceive him.
In the TV adaptation of Romance of Three Kingdoms (1994) Cao was played by Pao Guo-An, in the 2010 version by Chen Jian-Bin. Zhang Feng-Yi in the two-part Red Cliff (2008–2009) plays him during the campaign that is to decide the fate of the south. In The Assassins (2012) with Chow Yun-Fat, Cao faces different opponents. He is targeted by people who can get close to him at court.
