Cao Bin () (931 - 999) was a military general in

imperial China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

. A nephew-in-law of

Guo Wei Guo Wei () (10 September 904 – 22 February 954According to Guo Wei's biography in "Old Histories of the Five Dynasties", he died between 9am and 11 am on the ''renchen'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Xiande'' era of his reign ...

, who founded the Later Zhou in 951, Cao first rose up through the ranks of the Later Zhou military. After the Song Dynasty replaced Later Zhou in 960, Cao participated in the conquest of the Later Shu state in 965, where he distinguished himself from the other generals for disciplining his troops from pillaging the area, and was promoted as a result. In 974, he was named the overall commander to invade the Southern Tang state, which he successfully conquered in 976, again taking careful measures to prevent unnecessary killing. However, in one last campaign in 986 against the northern Liao Dynasty, he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Yelü Xiuge.

Early life

Cao Bin's father Cao Yun () was a military commander of Chengde Commandery (成德軍; centered in modern Zhengding County, Hebei) under the

Later Han Later Han (後漢) may refer to two dynastic states in imperial China: *Eastern Han (25–220), the second period of the Han dynasty, also called Later Han * Later Han (947–951), a dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period See al ...

. Before the age of 20, Cao Bin served under his father as a minor general, and Wu Xingde (), the military governor of Chengde Commandery, was reportedly very impressed by him. At that time his maternal aunt Lady Zhang () was married to

, another military governor. In 950, she was killed by Later Han emperor Liu Chengyou as Guo rebelled. Guo eventually overthrew Later Han to found the Later Zhou.

Career under Later Zhou

He was known for instilling discipline in his army, and for his disregard for anything material. Once, a messenger refused to believe he was the general, saying "how could the emperor's relative dress in modest clothing and sleep on a commoner's bed?" In 958, he was sent to

Wuyue Wuyue (; ), 907–978, was an independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Haiyan Qian clan (海盐钱氏), whose family name remains widespread in t ...

Kingdom as a convoy and adamantly refused all bribes from

. After Later Zhou was overthrown by the Song Dynasty, Cao Bin was part of Song's conquest of Later Shu. After victories, some of the Song generals suggested massacre to show Song's power but Cao Bin prevented it. When the other generals robbed the territory of its wealth, Cao Bin was only interested in books and the traditional clothing. Returning to the capital, Cao Bin reported the other generals, and was named '' jiedushi''. In 974 Cao Bin commanded the army that conquered Southern Tang, and after a few other battles against

Northern Han The Northern Han () was a dynastic state of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded by Liu Min (), formerly known as Liu Chong (), and lasted from 951 to 979. Founding of the Northern Han The short-lived state of Later Ha ...

and Liao Dynasty, he was given control over the entire Song Dynasty's army. His granddaughter was

Empress Cao 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), ...

, married to

Emperor Renzong of Song Emperor Renzong of Song (30 May 1010 – 30 April 1063), personal name Zhao Zhen, was the fourth emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned for about 41 years from 1022 to his death in 1063, and was the longest reigning Song dynasty empe ...

Notes and references

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Bin 931 births 999 deaths Later Zhou people Song dynasty generals People from Shijiazhuang Generals from Hebei