Cao Cao was King of Wei, Prime Minister of the Han, and self styled warlord of the Three Kingdoms era of China. Modern historians view him as a brilliant politician and a skillful general.
Cao was initially a minor garrison commander who rose to prominence as a general when he suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The Yellow Turbans were a Chinese secret society whose members’ uprising, called the Yellow Turban Rebellion threatened the last years of Han rule. The rebellion weakened the country, and is divided it into three kingdoms. Cao Cao took the emperor with him, and moved the capital to Xuxian. By invoking the emperor’s name, he took command of the other generals, and gradually assumed all imperial powers. His domain was known as the Kingdom of Wei.
Cao became one of the most popular figures of Chinese legend and folklore, with various evil magic powers ascribed to him.