Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is a supplemental episode.

So this is a big one, both in length and significance.

We're going to bid farewell to Cao Cao, our favorite villain,

or, if you prefer, Machiavellian anti-hero. He is by far the most consequential character

to leave our narrative thus far. Given his importance in the novel, and in Chinese history and

culture, I'm going to do something more than just run down a series of differences

between the real-life Cao Cao and the fictional Cao Cao.

Instead, I'm going to give a more detailed accounting

of the historical Cao Cao's life and career,

point out some similarities and differences with the novel along the way,

and then talk about his historical and cultural legacy.

So Cao Cao was born in the year 155, which would put him at about 29 or 30 years old at the

start of the novel, which began with the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion

in the year 184.

He was born in the county of Chiao, which is located in the northwestern part of present-day

Anhui province, which lies in the mid-eastern part of present-day China.

In addition to Cao Cao, this area also produced a couple

other notable people. One was Hua Tuo, the renowned physician who lived around the same time as Cao Cao,

and, like in the novel, died by Cao Cao's hand. The other notable person from this area was Hua Mu Lan,

the basis for the Chinese legend that eventually became the Disney movie Mulan.

I'm still waiting for the Disney movie on Cao Cao, by the way.

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