Cao Song

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Cao Song (?-194) was the father of Cao Cao. Cao Cao normally began with the surname "Xiahou", but since Song fathered him, he was forced under his last name.

Another theory is that Xiahou Yuan's wife was a sister-in-law to Cao Cao. Both theories may be true, no one is positive.

By AD 194, China had been divided into various ruling states as a result of the decaying of the Han Dynasty. One such ruling lord was Cao Cao, whose father, Cao Song, had previously held rank in the Han. Cao Cao had arranged for his father to travel to his own province of Yanzhou, and while passing through Xuzhou province, Cao Song had been invited to rest by its governor. Xuzhou’s governor, Táo Qiān (陶謙), was known throughout China for being kind and gentle. To ensure Cao Song’s safe passage to Yanzhou, Tao Qian had assigned five hundred of his troops under Commander Zhang Kai, but Kai, a former Yellow Turban, had instead killed Cao Song and his entire clan for the goods they were carrying. Cao Cao, blaming Tao Qian for the loss of his family, launched a full scale invasion against Xuzhou upon learning what had happened.

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The third paragraph was taken almost word for word from kongming.net's forums