Cao Bao

Cao Bao
Officer of Liu Bei
Born	(Unknown)
Died	196
Names
Traditional Chinese	曹豹
Simplified Chinese	曹豹
Pinyin	Cáo Bào
Wade–Giles	Ts'ao Pao

Cao Bao (died 196) was an officer serving under Tao Qian, the Governor (牧) of Xu Province, in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He became a subordinate of Tao Qian's successor, Liu Bei, after Tao's death in 194. He was killed by Zhang Fei in 196 after a quarrel.

The only known information about Cao Bao in history comes from Pei Songzhi's annotations to Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi), which recorded the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

An annotation from the Yingxiong Ji (英雄記) in the Sanguozhi recorded:

Liu Bei left Zhang Fei behind to defend Xiapi (下邳; Xu Province's capital) and led his troops to battle Yuan Shu at Shiting (石亭) and Huaiyin (淮陰). Cao Bao, a former officer under Tao Qian, remained in Xiapi. Zhang Fei wanted to kill Cao Bao (for reasons unknown). Cao Bao fled back to his own camp and strengthened his defences while sending a messenger to request aid from Lü Bu (who was taking shelter under Liu Bei then). Lü Bu attacked Xiapi and defeated Zhang Fei and drove him away.

Another annotation, also from the Yingxiong Ji, in the Sanguozhi, recorded a different account:

[...] Xu Dan (許耽), who was from Danyang (丹楊) and was serving as a General of the Household (中郎將) under Liu Bei, sent a Major (司馬) Zhang Kuang (章誑) to meet Lü Bu at night. Zhang Kuang told Lü Bu, "Zhang Yide (Zhang Fei) quarrelled with Cao Bao, the Chancellor (相) of Xiapi, and then killed him. The city is now in a state of chaos. [...]"

Sima Guang used the second account when he compiled the Zizhi Tongjian.

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