Cao Cao
- The background to Cao Cao, including an overview of Later Han dynasty society and the imperial bureaucracy, and the rise of Cao Cao (AD 155-220) as founder of the Wei kingdom
The nature of the sources most relevant to the interpretations and representations of Cao Cao, including his poems and autobiography (AD 211)
The different interpretations and representations of Cao Cao and how these have changed (from the ancient past, to the more recent past, to today), including his portrayals as a usurper, a brilliant but flawed tyrant, a military leader and hero, and as the ‘man from the margins’ (Rafe de Crespigny)
The historical context of the interpretations and representations of Cao Cao, including the interpretations of his rise to power at the imperial court, the Chinese tradition of the heroes of the Three Kingdoms, the Battle of Red Cliff (AD 208) and the Battle of Guandu (AD 200)
The reliability and contestability of the interpretations and representations of Cao Cao, including Cao Cao as a ‘tyrant’ versus a ‘good administrator’; the accuracy of the portrayal of Cao Cao as a villain in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms; issues of political slander and propaganda, and the influence of contemporary circumstances on reassessments of Cao Cao; and the significance of source selection, omission, emphasis and gaps in evidence