Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

Eastern 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 warr ...

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

in the

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 Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period of China. According to historical sources, Cao Cao killed Lü Boshe's family in 189 or 190 when he passed by Lü's house on his way home to Chenliu (陳留; around present-day

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

,

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 ...

) after escaping from the imperial capital,

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

. Cao Cao's motive behind the murders remains ambiguous. One source claimed that he killed Lü Boshe's family in self-defence while two other texts stated that he suspected that Lü's family were plotting to harm him so he killed them preemptively. This event was dramatised in the 14th-century historical novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'', in which Lü Boshe himself also died at the hands of Cao Cao.

In historical records

There are three accounts of the murders of Lü Boshe's family. The ''Wei Shu'' (魏書) recorded: The ''Shiyu'' (世語) recorded: The ''Zaji'' (雜記) recorded:

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

The incident was dramatised in Chapter 4 of the 14th-century historical novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

''. In the novel, Lü Boshe is a

sworn brother Blood brother can refer to two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand or ...

of

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

's father,

Cao Song Cao Song (died 193), courtesy name Jugao, was an official who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the foster son of the eunuch Cao Teng and the father of the warlord Cao Cao, who rose to prominence in the final years of Easte ...

, so Cao Cao regards him as an uncle. Cao Cao and

Chen Gong Chen Gong () (died 7 February 199), courtesy name Gongtai, was an adviser to the warlord Lü Bu in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. However, he had started his career under another warlord, Cao Cao, before defecting to Lü Bu. He was exe ...

pass by Lü Boshe's house while they are on their way to Cao Cao's home after Cao Cao escaped from

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

following his failed attempt on

Dong Zhuo Dong Zhuo () (died 22 May 192), courtesy name Zhongying, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han, Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minist ...

's life. Lü Boshe gives them a warm reception and instructs his family and servants to treat the guests well while he travels to town to purchase more items for a feast. During their stay in Lü Boshe's house, Cao Cao overhears the sharpening of knives and a conversation among Lü Boshe's servants about whether to "kill or to tie up first". He suspects that Lü Boshe is pretending to be hospitable towards him while actually plotting to harm him. He and Chen Gong dash out and indiscriminately kill everyone in Lü Boshe's household. Later, they discover that the servants were actually talking about slaughtering a pig for the feast and that they had killed innocent people. As it is too late for regrets, Cao Cao and Chen Gong immediately pack their belongings and leave the house. Along the way, they meet Lü Boshe, who is returning from his errand. When Lü Boshe asks them to stay, Cao Cao asks him: "Who is that behind you?" When Lü Boshe turns around, Cao Cao stabs him from behind and kills him. A shocked Chen Gong asks Cao Cao: "Just now, you made a genuine mistake when you killed those people. But what about now?". Cao Cao replies: "If Lü Boshe goes home and sees his family members all dead, do you think he will let us off? If he brings soldiers to pursue us, we will be in deep trouble." Chen Gong says: "It is a grave sin to kill someone with the intention of doing so." Cao Cao remarks: "I'd rather do wrong to the world than allow the world to do wrong to me." (寧教我負天下人，休教天下人負我) Chen Gong does not respond and he leaves Cao Cao that night.''Sanguo Yanyi'' ch. 4.

Analysis

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

, who wrote the 14th-century historical novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'', distorted the exact words Cao Cao said after he killed Lü Boshe's family. The most significant change is the replacing of "others" (人; literally "people") with "world" (天下人; literally "people under Heaven").

Yi Zhongtian Yi Zhongtian (born 8 February 1947) is a Chinese writer and historian. He is also a professor and Ph.D. supervisor at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Xiamen University's School of Humanities. Life and career Yi's grandfather ...

, a

Xiamen University Xiamen University (; Southern Min: ''Ē-mn̂g-toā-o̍h''), colloquially known as Xia Da (; Southern Min: ''Hā-tāi''), is a national public research university in Xiamen, Fujian, China. Founded in 1921 by Tan Kah Kee, a Chinese patriotic exp ...

history professor, speculated that Cao Cao was probably trying to console himself after mistakenly killing Lü Boshe's family by speaking in a regretful tone ("heartrendingly remarked"). Yi believed that Luo Guanzhong had deliberately changed the words in the quote to reflect that Cao Cao had no sense of remorse because "world" carries greater weight than "others", so as to enhance Cao's image as a villain in his novel.

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'' (''Sanguo Yanyi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to 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 leaving his native land, Pei ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). * {{cite book, last=Yi, first=Zhongtian, title=''品三國'' in San Guoyear=2006, publisher=Joint Publishing (H.K.) Co., Ltd., location=Hong Kong, isbn=978-962-04-2609-4, authorlink=Yi Zhongtian, editor=Huang, Tingting, language=Chinese, url-access=registration, url=https://archive.org/details/pinsanguo0000yizh Han dynasty warlords

In historical records

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

Analysis

See also

References