Cao Cao (155 - 220), who named himself Mengde, was an outstanding statesman, strategist and man of letters of late Eastern Han Dynasty.

He was born in today's Anhui province. He built up a powerful army in the course of suppressing farmer uprising.

As a strategist, Cao Cao found great interest in studying military works and believed that one should act according to changing conditions in wars. Devoted to the theory of military strategy, Cao Cao had some resounding successes in warfare. At the battle of Guandu, he properly analyzed the situation between enemy and his own forces, thus, with only 20,000 soldiers, he soundly defeated Yuan Shao's force of 100,000 and strengthened his troops. A strong army needed more foods. Between compaigns, Cao Cao made his soldiers cultivate the land to supply themselves with food. This policy of "garrison fields" 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 late Eastern Han Dynasty as a threat to the unity of the country. Therefore, he paid much attention to the control of the powerful landlords. He once made the local authorities put some big rods in front of the government office and encouraged them to punish magnates who bullied the weak and gave government posts to anti-landlord elements. This was proved to be effective for strengthening his dominion.

In the placement of personel, Cao Cao held the principle of "employing whoever is a talent". In fact, Cao Cao insisted on promoting any person of talent, no matter what his background was. Therefore, under his domination, a lot of talented people found their position in the government. Those people contributed a lot to Cao Cao's unity of North China.

Because of these advantages, added to the fact that he had Han emperor Xiandi under his control, Cao Cao put down all the warlords one after another in the north after the battle of Guandu in 200 and ended the fissioning condition in North China. This not only was advantageous to the social economy restoration in the Central Plains, also built the foundation for the subsequent Western Jin Dynasty as a unified nation.

Then famous litterateur Xu Shao appraised Cao Cao as an able official in governing the country and an indidious hero in the tumultuous times. In traditional drama, Cao Cao continuously appeared as a disloyal image on the stage. Cao Cao once said, "In this chaotic time, without me, who knows how many people would want to dominate and claim to be the emperor!"

Cao Cao also attached importance to culture. As a multi-talented man, he wrote the "The Burial Ground", "Gazing at the Ocean", "Short Songs" and "Despite the Tortoise's Longevity", and many other immortal epics. His two sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were well-known writers as well.