Cao Ren

Cao Ren
A Qing dynasty illustration of Cao Ren
General of Cao Wei
Born	168
Died	223 (aged 55)
Names
Traditional Chinese	曹仁
Simplified Chinese	曹仁
Pinyin	Cáo Rén
Wade–Giles	Ts'ao Jen
Courtesy name	Zixiao (Chinese: 子孝; pinyin: Zǐxiào; Wade–Giles: Tzu-hsiao)
Posthumous name	Marquis Zhong (Chinese: 忠侯; pinyin: Zhōng Hóu; Wade–Giles: Chung Hou)

Cao Ren (168–223),courtesy name Zixiao, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei – founded by Cao Cao's son and successor, Cao Pi – during the Three Kingdoms period. He played a significant part in assisting Cao Cao in the civil wars leading to the end of the Han dynasty. He was appointed as the Grand Marshal (大司馬) when Cao Pi ascended the throne, and was also credited by the latter for the establishment of Wei. However, Cao Ren was also once derided as a mediocre commander by Zhu Huan, a general from Wei's rival state Eastern Wu.

Cao Ren was a younger second cousin of Cao Cao. His grandfather Cao Bao (曹襃) and father Cao Chi (曹熾) served in the government of the Eastern Han dynasty. As a youth, Cao Ren was fond of horse-riding, archery and hunting. When chaos broke out in China towards the end of the Han dynasty, Cao Ren rallied a militia of over 1,000 men and they wandered around the region near the Huai and Si rivers. Cao Ren and his followers eventually joined Cao Cao around 190 when the latter was raising an army to join the campaign against Dong Zhuo. Cao Ren held the rank of a Major of Separate Command (別部司馬) under Cao Cao but he was actually an acting Sharp Edge Colonel (厲鋒校尉).

Throughout the 190s, Cao Ren followed Cao Cao on various campaigns against rival warlords in central China. He made great contributions in the campaign against Yuan Shu between 197 and 199. When Cao Cao invaded Xu Province from 193–194 to attack the provincial governor Tao Qian, Cao Ren was in charge of the cavalry and he led the vanguard. He defeated Tao Qian's general Lü You (呂由) and led his force to rendezvous with Cao Cao's main army at Pengcheng (彭城; present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu), where they scored a major victory over Tao Qian's forces. Cao Ren and his cavalry later defeated Tao Qian's subordinates in various battles at the counties in Xu Province. During the conflict between Cao Cao and Lü Bu, Cao Ren attacked Lü Bu's subordinate Liu He (劉何) at Gouyang (勾陽) and captured the enemy commander alive.