Cao Song (died 193),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Jugao, was an official who lived during the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

of China. He was the foster son of the

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

Cao Teng and the father of the warlord

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

, who rose to prominence in the final years of Eastern Han and laid the foundation of the state of

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

in the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period. Cao Song was posthumously honoured as "Emperor Tai" ("Grand Emperor") by his grandson

Cao Pi Cao Pi () (late 187 – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the ...

in 220 when the latter ended the Han dynasty and founded the Cao Wei regime.

Career

Cao Song was known to be honest, sincere and of good moral conduct. He served as the Colonel-Director of Retainers () in the Han imperial court. During the reign of Emperor Ling, he served consecutively as the Minister of Finance () and Minister Herald () before replacing Cui Lie ( 崔烈) as the Grand Commandant (). However, it was alleged that Cao Song obtained the post of Grand Commandant by bribing eunuchs, who were deeply trusted by the emperor. Another account stated that Cao Song purchased those official posts because Emperor Ling introduced a practice of selling political offices for money.

Death

Around 193, Cao Song retired and returned to his hometown in Qiao County (譙縣; present-day

Bozhou Bozhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Huaibei to the northeast, Bengbu to the southeast, Huainan to the south, Fuyang to the southwest, and Henan to the north. Its population was 4,996,844 at ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

). Along the way, he was murdered while passing through Langya State (琅玡國; present-day

Linyi Linyi ( zh, s=临沂 , t=臨沂 , p=Línyí) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the eas ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

) in Xu Province. At the same time, Cao Song's eldest son, the warlord

, had established a base in Yan Province (covering present-day southwestern

and eastern

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

). There are three different accounts of Cao Song's death: * An account from Wei Zhao's ''Wu Shu'' () stated that Cao Song had with him more than 100 carts full of his personal belongings. Tao Qian sent one of his officers, Zhang Kai (), and 200 horsemen to escort Cao Song and his family to Yan Province. At Hua County, Zhang Kai murdered Cao Song, seized his riches and fled to Huainan. * Tao Qian's biography in '' Houhanshu'' wrote that Cao Song was travelling to Langya Commandery to evade chaos. Along the way, he passed by Yinping County (陰平縣; southwest of present-day Zaozhuang, Shandong), where Tao Qian had garrisoned some troops. Tempted by greed, Tao Qian's men killed Cao Song and seized his wealth. * The ''Shiyu'' () mentioned that Cao Song was in Hua County (華縣; north of present-day Fei County,

) at the time. Cao Cao ordered Ying Shao, the Administrator of Taishan Commandery (泰山郡; east of present-day Tai'an, Shandong), to escort his father and family to Yan Province. However, before Ying Shao's men arrived, Xu Province's governor Tao Qian secretly sent a few thousand riders to attack Cao Song and his family. Cao Song thought that Ying Shao had come to receive him, so he was unprepared and completely taken by surprise. Tao Qian's men killed Cao De (), one of Cao Song's sons. Cao Song became afraid and brought one of his concubines with him as they tried to squeeze through a crack in a wall to escape. However, Cao Song's concubine was too fat and could not squeeze through, so they hid in the latrine. Tao Qian's men found them eventually and killed Cao Song and all his family members who were with him at the time. All accounts agree that Cao Cao held Tao Qian responsible for the murder of his father regardless of the degree of Tao Qian's involvement in the incident. This led to Cao Cao launching an invasion on Xu Province between 193 and 194 to punish Tao Qian for his role in Cao Song's death.

Posthumous honour

In 220, Cao Cao's son and successor,

, ended the Eastern Han dynasty and established the state of

, marking the start of the

period. Cao Pi granted his grandfather the posthumous title "Emperor Tai" ("Grand Emperor") on 13 December.

Family background

Cao Song's family background is a mystery.

Chen Shou Chen Shou ( zh , t = 陳壽 ; 233–297), courtesy name Chengzuo (), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is best known for his most celebrated work, the ...

wrote in the '' Sanguozhi'' that Cao Song's origin could not be determined. The ''Cao Man Zhuan'' () and the ''Shiyu'' (), two sources used by

Pei Songzhi Pei Songzhi (372–451), courtesy name Shiqi, was a Chinese historian and politician who lived in the late Eastern Jin dynasty and the Liu Song dynasty. His ancestral home was in Wenxi County, Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanizati ...

in his annotations to the ''Sanguozhi'', mentioned that Cao Song's original family name was Xiahou () and that he was an uncle of

Xiahou Dun Xiahou Dun () (died 13 June 220), courtesy name Yuanrang, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.''Sanguozhi'' vol.9. He served for a few months under Cao Cao ...

. Therefore, Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun were cousins. The

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

scholar He Zhuo ( 何焯; 1661–1722) refuted the claim in the ''Cao Man Zhuan'' and ''Shiyu'' that Cao Song was from the Xiahou clan and dismissed it as a rumour started by people from

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

, a state founded by Cao Cao's rival,

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

. This was because

's son Xiahou Mao married Cao Cao's daughter Princess Qinghe (), and

Xiahou Yuan Xiahou Yuan () (died February 219), courtesy name Miaocai, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is known for his exploits in western China (in parts of prese ...

's son Xiahou Heng () married Cao Cao's niece, so the Xiahous and Caos could not have shared the same lineage. On the other hand, the Qing dynasty historians Pan Mei (潘眉; 1771–1841) and Lin Guozan () believed it was true that Cao Song was a Xiahou, as evident from the fact that Chen Shou placed the biographies of Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Shang,

Cao Ren Cao Ren () (168 – 6 May 223), courtesy name Zixiao, was a military general serving during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China under the warlord Cao Cao, who was also his older second cousin. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei � ...

, Cao Hong, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen in the same volume (volume 9) in the ''Sanguozhi''. Li Jingxing (李景星; 1876–1934), a scholar who lived in the late Qing dynasty, speculated that when Chen Shou wrote that Cao Song's origin could not be determined, his intention was to expose a scandal behind Cao Cao's family background. Wu Jinhua (), a history professor from

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

, believed that Chen Shou employed a writing technique to distort facts when he wrote that Cao Song's origin could not be determined. Wu consolidated all the earlier differing viewpoints and pointed out three pieces of evidence to prove that Cao Song was from the Xiahou family: * The '' Weilüe'' recorded a letter written by

to the Wei official Hao Zhou () sometime between 220 and 222, when Sun was nominally a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

of the Wei regime. The letter mentioned that Hao Zhou suggested that Sun Quan's son could establish marital ties with the Cao family in the same way as how the Caos and Xiahous were connected by marriages. This proved that the claim that Cao Song was a Xiahou was not a rumour spread by people from Wu because a person from Wei already spoke of it sometime between 220 and 222. * The ''Wei Shu'' () mentioned that when

died, Cao Pi dressed in plain clothing and mourned at the eastern gate of Ye (in present-day

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

). The Eastern Jin dynasty historian Sun Sheng commented that it was still within traditions for an emperor to mourn his kinsmen outside of an ancestral temple, and that Cao Pi had clearly lost his composure when he cried for Xiahou Dun at the city gate. As Sun Sheng lived during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420), not long after the Three Kingdoms period ended in 280, his remark gave an impression that the people in his time were already aware that Cao Song was from the Xiahou clan. * Between 1974 and 1979, parts of a tombstone from Cao Cao's family ancestral tomb were unearthed in

(the ancestral home of Cao Cao's clan). The Chinese characters "xia hou you" () were inscribed on it. The late

writer Zhou Shouchang ( 周壽昌; 1814–1884) explained in ''Sanguozhi Zhu Zheng Yi'' () about the inter-clan marriages between the Caos and Xiahous. He cited Chen Jiao ( 陳矯) as an example – Chen Jiao's original family name was " Liu" (). He was raised by his uncle (his paternal aunt's husband), whose family name was " Chen" (), and adopted "Chen" as his family name. Chen Jiao later married the daughter of Liu Song (), a close relative. Cao Cao appreciated Chen Jiao's talent and wanted to protect Chen's reputation, so he gave an order forbidding any dissent about Chen's personal life. Zhou Shouchang felt that when Cao Cao banned people from speaking against marriages between those who share the same family name, he was actually making it convenient to cover up his own family background. Wu Jinhua also pointed out that in the late Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, it was not uncommon to find married couples who shared the same family name. For example, one of Cao Cao's foster sons,

He Yan He Yan ( 195 – 9 February 249), courtesy name Pingshu, was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a grandson of He Jin, a general and regent of the Eastern Han dynasty. His ...

, married Cao's daughter Princess Jinxiang (), who was possibly his half-sister (born to the same mother), even though the identity of the princess's mother is not confirmed. Wu Jinhua mentioned that a person will have no doubts that Cao Song was from the Xiahou clan as long as he/she understands that inter-clan marriages were not unusual in that era. Others such as history professors Zhu Ziyan () and Han Sheng () argue that the accounts from the ''Cao Man Zhuan'' and ''Shiyu'' are not reliable, and the fact that Xiahou Mao, Xiahou Heng and Xiahou Shang married women from Cao Cao's clan proved that Cao Song was not a Xiahou.

Notes

References

(3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * * Fan Ye (5th century). ''

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 ...

'' (''Houhanshu''). *

(5th century). ''

Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms ''Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms'' () by Pei Songzhi (372–451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After the fall of the Eastern Jin ...