Cao E () (130–143) was a young girl from

Shangyu District Shangyu District () is a district of the prefecture-level city of Shaoxing in the northeast of Zhejiang province, China. At the 2010 census, its population in the built-up (''or metro'') area was 779,412, up from 722,523 in the 2000 census. Shang ...

Shaoxing Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

Province in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. She was the daughter of the

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

Cao Xu. The girl died in the year 143 while trying to save her father from drowning. In the year 151 a temple was built for her and the river in which she and her father drowned, was named after her.

Life

Cao Xu (曹盱) was the father of Cao E. He was a

who led local

ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil (secular) ceremoni ...

Shangyu Shangyu District () is a district of the prefecture-level city of Shaoxing in the northeast of Zhejiang province, China. At the 2010 census, its population in the built-up (''or metro'') area was 779,412, up from 722,523 in the 2000 census. Shang ...

. At the ceremony of the

Dragon Boat Festival The Dragon Boat Festival ( zh, s=端午节, t=端午節, first=t, p=Duānwǔ jié, cy=Dyūnńgh jit) is a traditional Chinese holiday that occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or earl ...

in the year 143, Cao Xu fell into the Shun river. A large-scale search was launched that lasted 17 days, but yielded nothing. Cao E, his daughter of 13 years old, decided in the course of

filial piety Filial piety is the virtue of exhibiting love and respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors, particularly within the context of Confucian ethics, Confucian, Chinese Buddhism, Chinese Buddhist ethics, Buddhist, and Daoism, Daoist ethics. ...

(孝, ''xiao'') to search for her father in the river. After five days, she appeared above water with her father in her arms, both dead from drowning. This act made Cao E a very famous girl, a textbook example of filial piety. The veneration of the girl started right away; from that moment on, she received the courtesy name 曹孝女 (Cao Xiaonü; Cao, the filial piety daughter). Eight years later, in 151, a temple and a tomb were built in memory of Cao E in honor of her sacrifice to save her father. A stone

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

was made to honor her memory, but it has been lost. In 1093, Cai Bian (蔡卞) made a similar stele for her. The Shun River was renamed the Cao'e River in her honor.

Things named after Cao E

Cao'e River

The

Cao'e River The Cao'e River () is one of the largest rivers in Zhejiang Province of East China, named after Cao E, a Han dynasty girl venerated for her filial piety. Its main source is in Pan'an County in the Dapan Mountains, and the river empties into the ...

arises at an altitude of 870 meters on the Jiangongling mountain in the Dapan Mountains in the province of

in China. The river is 182.4 km long and flows into the

Hangzhou Bay Hangzhou Bay is a funnel-shaped inlet of the East China Sea on the middle eastern coast of Mainland China, bordered by the province of Zhejiang to the west and south, and the municipality of Shanghai to north. The bay extends westwards to its ...

. The river has had several names such as, Shun river, named after

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun ( zh, c=帝舜, p=Dì Shùn) was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 229 ...

and

river, named after the region it flows through. The name the river still bears today is from the girl Cao E (130-143), who drowned in that river along with her father.

Cao'e Temple

The

Cao'e Temple The Cao'e Temple () was built to honor Cao E, a young girl who was drowned when she tried to save her father in an act of filial piety. The temple was built for the first time in the year 151, and has been relocated, rebuild, restored and expan ...

was first built in 151, after which the temple was rebuilt many times. The last time the temple was rebuilt was after a major fire in 1929, the reconstruction then lasted until 1936. The construction was made with a lot of

wood carving Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculpture, ...

in addition to the

stone carving Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time. Work carried ...

. The temple stands in the

and its

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

faces east and overlooks the Cao'e-river, the other side has a view on the Phoenix mountain. The land on which the temple stands has an area of 6000 square meters, the temple has an area of 3840 square meters. Since 1989, the Cao'e-temple has been included in the list of protected national and cultural relics. Inside the temple, several wall paintings have been created describing the story of Cao E. Every year from May 15-22, there is a festival in the Cao'e-temple, with a Cao E

memorial service A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

at the temple on May 22. The temple is called the number one temple of

Jiangnan Jiangnan is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including the southern part of its delta. The region encompasses the city of Shanghai, the southern part of Jiangsu ...

Cao'e Tomb

The Cao'e Tomb has been destroyed and rebuilt a few times after its construction in 151. The current

tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...

is 2.7 meters high and measures 7 meters wide and deep and is placed in the northern part of the Cao'e-temple.

Cao'e Stele

The original Cao'e Stele () was lost but in 1093, Cai Bian (蔡卞) crafted another

for Cao E, this stele is over 2 meters high and 1 meter wide. The Cao'e Stele is set up in the Cao'e Temple. The stele has been titled "The stele of Cao E, the

daughter". This stele has become a historical monument.

Small Cao E town

Xiaocao'ezhen,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: "Small Cao E town" (), is named after Cao E and is part of

Yuyao Yuyao () is a county-level city in the northeast of Zhejiang province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the sub-provincial city of Ningbo. It is located west of central Ningbo, east of Hangzhou, bordering Hangzhou Bay in the north. Yuyao ...

(

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

) in the

province,

. Small Cao E town has an area of 33.4 square kilometers and a population of 40,400 (2017). There is a Cao'e-post-office, Cao'e-health-center, Cao'e-school and Cao'e-supermarket in the town. The town is located about 50 km away from the port of

and is known for its industry. Small Cao E town has a reputation for

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

and

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, small, round seeds of ...

. Small Cao E town has been chosen as one of the 1000 top towns in China.

Cao E tribute

* There are more than 30 steles donated by famous people and exhibited in the temple in honor of Cao E, some of these famous people are:

Mi Fu Mi Fu (Chinese language, Chinese: 米芾; 1051–1107)Barnhart: 373. He was born with the name 米黻, also pronounced Mi Fu. His courtesy name was Yuanzhang (元章) with several sobriquets: Nangong (南宮), Lumen Jushi (鹿門居士), Xiang ...

Tang Yin Tang Yin (; 6 March 1470 – 7 January 1524), courtesy name Bohu () and Ziwei (子畏), was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming dynasty period. Even though he was born during the Ming dynasty, many of his paintings, especially t ...

Zhu Yunming Zhu Yunming (; 1461 – 28 January 1527) was a Chinese calligrapher, poet, writer, and scholar-official of the Ming dynasty, known as one of the " Four Talents of Wu" (Suzhou). Most admired for his accomplishment in calligraphy, he is also a po ...

Wen Zhengming Wen Zhengming (28 November 1470 – 28 March 1559Wen Zhengming's epitaph by Huang Zuo indicate that he died on the 20th day of the 2nd month of the ''ji'wei'' year during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor. (嘉靖己未二月二十日，与严侍 ...

, Chiang Kai-shek. * Over time, a number of dignitaries have visit the temple of Cao E. * A number of dignitaries have invested in the temple, for example, in 1093 Emperor Song Zhezong had a main hall built in the temple. * Poems have been written for Cao E by famous people, including

Xu Wei Xu Wei (, 1521–1593), also known as Qingteng Shanren (), was a Chinese painter, playwright, poet, and tea master during the Ming dynasty. Cihai: Page 802.Barnhart: Page 232. Life Xu's courtesy names were Wenqing (文清) and then later Wenc ...

Yu Youren Yu Youren (; April 11, 1879 – November 10, 1964) was a Chinese educator, scholar, calligrapher, and politician. Early life He was born on April 11, 1879, in the town of Hedaogang (), Sanyuan County (north of Xi'an), Shaanxi Province, Qing Chin ...

Xiong Xiling Xiong Xiling, or Hsiung Hsi-ling (); 23 July 1870 – 25 December 1937) was a Chinese philanthropist and politician, who served as premier of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from July 1913 to February 1914. Biography

Bo ...

Ju Zheng Ju Zheng (; November 8, 1876 – November 23, 1951) né Ju Zhijun (居之骏), was a Chinese politician who was a leader in the Chinese Nationalist Party, or KMT, in the 1930s and 1940s. As president of the Judicial Yuan, he administered China's ...

, Liu Chunlin, Wang Ruan, Wang Zhen. * Several writers incorporated Cao E's story into their own works, including

Luo Guanzhong Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400, or c.1280–1360), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong (Mandarin pronunciation: ), was a Chinese novelist who lived during the Ming dynasty. He is also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (). Luo Guanzhon ...

Cao Xueqin Cao Xueqin ( ; 4 April 171010 June 1765Briggs, Asa (ed.) (1989) ''The Longman Encyclopedia'', Longman, ) was a Chinese novelist and poet during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of '' Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four G ...

. * Cao E is included in the

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

. * Cao E is included in the

Wu Shuang Pu ''Wu Shuang Pu'' () is a book of woodcut prints, first printed in 1694, early on in the Qing dynasty. This book contains the biographies and imagined portraits of 40 notable heroes and heroines from the Han dynasty to the Song dynasty, all ac ...

(無雙譜; Book of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang.

References

{{Authority control Deaths by drowning Deified Chinese women Legendary Chinese people