Cao Shen or Cao Can (died 190 BC),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

Jingbo (), was a chancellor of the

Western Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...

. He participated in the Chu–Han Contention on Liu Bang ( Emperor Gaozu of Han)'s side and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dynasty.

Early life

Cao Shen was from

Pei County Pei County, or Peixian (), is under the administration of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China, bordering the Shandong prefecture-level cities of Jining to the northwest and Zaozhuang to the northeast and sitting on the western shore of Nansi Lake. ...

in present-day

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

and he served as a prison warden in his early days. He was a close friend of

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Empe ...

. Once, Liu Bang was tasked with escorting some convicts to

Mount Li Mount Li () is a mountain located in the northeast of Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, China. The mountain is part of the Qinling mountain range and rises to a height of 1302 metres above sea level. It is one of the eight scenic spots of the Guanzhong ...

to become labourers, but some prisoners escaped and Liu was forced to become a fugitive. He sought refuge with his followers on

Mount Mangdang Mount Mangdang ( zh, s=芒砀山, t=芒碭山) is a hill in Yongcheng, Henan, China, best known for being the spot where the Emperor Gaozu of Han started his rebellion against the Qin dynasty. History The region near Mount Mangdang played an imp ...

(in present-day

Yongcheng Yongcheng () is county-level city in Henan province, China, and is the easternmost county-level division of the province, bordering Anhui province on all sides except the northwest and due north. Yongcheng has significant coal deposits and some ins ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

) and maintained secret contact with Cao Shen and

Xiao He Xiao He (257 BC–193 BC) was a Chinese politician of the early Western Han dynasty. He served Liu Bang (Emperor Gao), the founder of the Han dynasty, during the insurrection against the Qin dynasty, and fought on Liu's side in the Chu–Han C ...

. In 209 BC, after the

Dazexiang Uprising The Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising (), July–December 209 B.C., was the first uprising against the Qin dynasty following the death of Qin Shi Huang. Led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the uprising helped overthrow the Qin and paved the way for t ...

broke out, the magistrate of Pei County considered rebelling against the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

as well, so he heeded Cao Shen and Xiao He's advice to invite Liu Bang back to support him. However, the magistrate changed his mind later and denied Liu Bang entry into the city. He was worried that Xiao He and Cao Shen might open the city gates for Liu Bang so he planned to have them killed, but Xiao and Cao managed to escape and join Liu. The townsfolk rebelled against the magistrate and killed him and allowed Liu Bang and his men to enter. Liu Bang built up his rebel army in Pei County and Cao Shen served as one of his advisors.

Insurrection against the Qin dynasty

Cao Shen defeated the Qin armies led by Xue Guo, Hu Ling and Fang Yu, and was promoted to a high rank by Liu Bang for his contributions. Cao Shen defeated Zhang Han's army and drove Zhang towards

Puyang Puyang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Located on the northern shore of the Yellow River, it borders Anyang in the west, Xinxiang in the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Hebei ...

. He returned to help Liu Bang, who was trapped at Yongqiu, and defeated Li You, the Qin general defending Sanchuan. By then, Cao Shen had conquered two fiefs and 122 counties in total. In the following battles against Qin, Cao Shen defeated the Qin generals Wang Li and Zhao Ben and captured the Wu and Yao passes leading to

Xianyang Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...

(the Qin capital).

Chu–Han Contention

After the fall of the Qin dynasty, Liu Bang received the title of "King of Han" from Xiang Yu, and was relocated to

Hanzhong Hanzhong (; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gansu to the west. The founder of the Han dynasty, Liu Bang, was once enfeoffed as th ...

. Liu Bang granted Cao Shen the title of "Marquis of Jiancheng" () and promoted him to a general rank. Cao Shen helped Liu Bang conquer the

Three Qins The Three Qins () refer to three of the Eighteen Kingdoms, the short-lived power-sharing arrangement formed in 206 BC after the collapse of the Qin Dynasty. The three kingdoms were located in Guanzhong Plain (in present-day central Shaanxi), t ...

. During the Chu–Han Contention, a power struggle between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, Cao Shen joined

Han Xin Han Xin (; 231/230–196 BC) was a Chinese military general and politician who served Liu Bang during the Chu–Han Contention and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dynasty. Han Xin was named as one of the "Three Heroes of the ea ...

's army in the campaigns on the northern front. They scored victories against

Wei Bao Wei Bao (died 204 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Western Wei () of the Eighteen Kingdoms during the Chu–Han Contention, an interregnum between the Qin and Han dynasties of China. Life Wei Bao was a descendant of the royal family of ...

's forces, the Zhao army at the

Battle of Jingxing The Battle of Jingxing (), also known as the Battle of Tao River (), was fought in October 205 BC between the army of Han, commanded by Han Xin, and a Zhao army. The Zhao were led by Prince Zhao Xie () of Zhao and Chen Yu (), also known as the Lor ...

, and the combined forces of Qi and Chu at the Battle of Wei River. During this time, Cao Shen was appointed as acting-Left Chancellor of Liu Bang's Han kingdom, and subsequently promoted to Right Chancellor. After the conquest of the Qi kingdom, Cao Shen left Han Xin and returned to Liu Bang's side to join him in resisting Xiang Yu. Liu Bang later sent Cao Shen to suppress the remnants of Qi. In 202 BC, Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu at the

Battle of Gaixia The Battle of Gaixia was a last stand fought in December 203 BC during the Chu–Han Contention between the forces of Liu Bang (later Emperor Gaozu of Han) and Xiang Yu. The battle concluded with victory for Liu Bang, who proclaimed himself Emp ...

and unified China under his rule. Liu Bang became the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and his dynasty was named " Han". He was historically known as "Emperor Gao" (or Emperor Gaozu). When rewarding his subjects, Gaozu named Cao Shen as the person who made the most contributions in battle. However, Cao Shen resigned from his post as Right Chancellor. In 201 BC, Cao Shen was appointed as chancellor of Qi Kingdom, which was then ruled by Liu Fei (Gaozu's eldest son). He was also conferred the title of "Marquis of Pingyang" () and given 10,630 households in his marquisate.

As chancellor

While serving as chancellor, Cao Shen sought the help of

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

scholars in governing Qi but was not impressed by their ideas. After discussing with a scholar called Gai Gong, Cao Shen was influenced by the Huang-Lao () school of thought, which used a mix of persuasion and coercion. Cao Shen followed Gai Gong's advice to implement policies to restore social stability and frequently consulted Gai Gong on how to govern Qi. In 196BC, he commanded the Qi forces that assisted the emperor in suppressing Chen Xi's rebellion. in Dai (present-day northern Shanxi and northwestern

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

). In 193 BC, the chancellor

died and was succeeded by Cao Shen. Cao Shen spent his time drinking and feasting, and maintained well Xiao He's system of governance but did not implement any new changes. When Emperor Hui asked him why he did not change the system, Cao Shen replied that he was not as good as Xiao He and did not want to make changes for fear of negatively affecting the system left behind by Xiao. This became the origin of a Chinese idiom, ''Xiao Gui Cao Sui'' (萧规曹随; lit. "Cao following Xiao's rules"), which is used to describe the continuation of the work of one's predecessor.

Appraisal

The historian Sima Qian commented in ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' that he felt that among all of Liu Bang's subjects, Cao Shen's contributions in battle was second only to

. Commenting on Cao Shen's role as chancellor, Sima Qian mentioned that Cao had done well in preserving

's system of governance and achieved the peace and stability desired by the people.

Family and descendants

Cao Shen's son, Cao Zhu (曹窋; died 161 BC), inherited his father's marquis title "Marquis of Pingyang". Cao Zhu was in turn succeeded by his son, Cao Qi (曹奇; died 153 BC), who helped Emperor Jing suppress the

Rebellion of the Seven States The Rebellion of the Seven States or Revolt of the Seven Kingdoms () took place in 154 BC against the Han dynasty of China by its regional semi-autonomous kings, to resist the emperor's attempt to centralize the government further. Background ...

. Cao Qi's son, Cao Shi (曹時; died 131 BC), married

Princess Pingyang Princess Pingyang (, formally Princess Zhao of Pingyang (, 590s–623) was the daughter of Li Yuan (later enthroned as Emperor Gaozu), the founding emperor of the Tang dynasty. She helped him to seize power and eventually take over the throne f ...

, one of Emperor Jing's daughters. Cao Shi's son, Cao Xiang (曹襄; died 115 BC), married Princess Wei (a daughter of Emperor Wu and Empress Wei Zifu) and served as a general in the Han campaigns against the Xiongnu. Cao Xiang's son, Cao Zong (曹宗; died 91 BC), was implicated in a plot to overthrow Emperor Wu in 91 BC and was stripped of the marquis title he inherited from his ancestor. He and his family also lost their inherited marquisate as a consequence.

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

warlord Cao Cao claimed to be a descendant of Cao Shen. However this has been rebuked through genetic evidence.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Ban Gu et al. ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. ...

'', vol. 39. * . * Sima Qian. ''

'', vols. 8, 54. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Shen 190 BC deaths Han dynasty prime ministers Chu–Han contention people Year of birth unknown Politicians from Xuzhou Han dynasty politicians from Jiangsu