Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 04-10-12 08:18
中國姓氏故事 - 曹姓
留得五湖明月在,---Liu2 de2 wu3 hu2 ming2 yue4 zai4,
不愁無處下金鉤.---Bu4 chou2 wu2 chu3 xia4 jin gou.
If all the lakes are still around,
You should not worry about where to cast you golden hook.
只要有五湖﹐就會有魚釣﹐
意思是保住了根本就好。
A Chinese proverb
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Surname - CAO (曹)
Cao means: "a company; a class; a generation".
The surname Cao is about 2,400 years old
The surname Cao originated in an area referred to during the Han Dynasty
(漢朝 206BC to 220AD) as the Qiao prefecture (譙郡). The present day location
of Qiao prefecture is in Bo county (亳縣 115.8 degree East and 33.8 degree
North, on the world map) in Anhui province (安徽省).
After the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 1134BC to 256BC) Zhou
King Wu, the founder of the Zhou Dynasty, gave his 13th younger brother
Ji Zhenduo (姬振鐸) the authority to rule a district called Cao (曹 present
day Dingtao county 定陶縣 in Shandong province 山東省). Zhou King Wu also
bestowed upon him the inheritable title of Bo (伯) or Count. Ji Zhenduo renamed
the district of as the State of Cao (曹國).
During the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時代 722BC to 481BC), in 523BC,
the title of Bo was eventually passed down to Ji Wu (姬午), who was installed
as the ruler of Cao. In 515BC, Ji Wu went to the State of Song (宋國 present
day Shangqiu county 商邱縣 in Henan province 河南省), for an official visit.
Ji Wu was imprisoned by Zi Touman (子頭曼), the 26th ruler of the State
of Song for no apparent reason. Ji Wu subsequently died in prison in Song.
Ji Ye (姬業) the younger brother of Ji Wu, became the new ruler of Cao.
In 510BC, Ji Ye was murdered by his uncle Ji Tong (姬通) who then proclaimed
himself the new ruler of Cao. In 506BC, Ji Lu (姬露), the younger brother
of Ji Ye took revenge of his elder brother's death and had his uncle assassinated.
Ji Lu subsequently installed himself as the new ruler.
For the next 20 years, the State of Cao was in a constant state of political
unrest, with power struggles constantly being fought. In 487BC, Zi Touman,
the ruler of the State of Song, took advantage of the turmoil in the State
of Cao and had Ji Yangbo (姬陽伯), the ruler of Cao killed in 501BC. Zi
Touman annexed the state of Cao. No political observers commented on these
events; even the Zhou Court, the central authority in the land did not comment.
Some of the descendants of Ji Zhenduo adopted CAO (曹) as their surname
in remembrance of their extinct State.
The couplet of surname Cao is:
借得山川秀,
添來氣象新.
..........................................
The historical prominent persons produced by the Cao Clan:
(1) 曹植 (Cao Zhi 192AD to 232AD)
It was during the reign of Emperor Xian Di (獻帝皇帝劉協 190AD to 220AD)
of the Later Han Dynasty (東漢朝 25AD to 220AD) that Cao Cao (曹操) was
the Prime Miniser who was regarded by the people as the man of:
治世之能臣,---Zhi4 shi4 zhi neng2 chen2,
亂世之奸雄.---Luan4 shi4 zhi jian xiong2.
A good official during the times of peace and prosperity,
An unscrupulous schemer during troubled times.
Cao Cao had twenty five sons. The most five famous five sons were. Cao Ang
(曹昂), Cao Pi (曹丕), Cao Zhang (曹彰), Cao Zhi (曹植) alias Cao Zi Jian
(曹子健) and Cao Xiong (曹熊). Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang died in Wan
Cheng (宛城). Cao Zhi was an alcoholic. Yet Cao Cao loved Cao Zhi the most.
Cao Zhang was a brave man but without much brian. Cao Xiong was a sick man
and Cao Cao believed that Cao Xiong would not live long. Cao Pi was much
closer, more polite to Cao Cao and due to this Cao Cao inducted him as his
heir apparant. In 211AD Cao Cao appointed Cao Pi the Deputy Prime Minister.
In 216AD, the 21st year reign of Xian Di, Cao Cao proclaimed himself the
Wei Wang (魏王) or the Prince of Wei. Cao Cao adopted a phrase from the
book "Yi Yun Qi 易運期“ as his title. The phrase was:「鬼在山﹐禾女連﹐
王天下. Cao Cao arranged the three words of 「鬼女禾」to form the word 魏
(Wei). 王天下 meant to rule the whole world (the country).Cao Cao believed
that eventually Wei, that was he and his offspring, would rule the whole
world (the Han empire).
The following year Cao Cao inducted Cao Pi the Crown Prince of Wei as well
as his heir apparent. Cao Cao died in 220AD in Luoyang (洛陽), aged 66,
and Cao Pi became the Prince of Wei and the Prime Minister.
Cao Zhi, who was a brilliance scholar particularly in composing poems. Cao
Pi was jealous of his talent and was contemplating an excuse to kill him.
When Cao Cao died Cao Zhi was in Linzi (臨淄 in the present day province
of Shandong 山東省) and he did not attend Cao Cao's funeral. Cao Pi was
angry and he dispatched an officier called Xu Chu (許褚) with an army to
Linzi to arrest Cao Zhi. Eventually Cao Zhi was arrested and brought to
Luoyang to face Cao Pi. Before he killed his younger brother Cao Pi wanted
to test his talent. Cao Pi told his younger brother that if he could, after
pacing seven steps, compose a poem about two brothers without using the
word brothers he would be spared.
After he had paced seven steps Cao Zhi said:
煮豆特作羹,---Zhu3 dou4 te zuo4 geng
漉鼓以為汁.---Lu4.gu3 yi3 wei2 zhi.
萁在釜下燃,---Qi2 zai4 fu3 xia4 ran2,
豆在釜中泣.---Dou4 zai4 fu3 zhong qi4.
本是同根生,---Ben3 shi4 tong2 gen sheng
相煎何太急.---Xiang jian he2 tai4 ji2.
Boiling beans in a caldron to make bean curd and juice,
It requires fire to heat the caldron.
The fire under the caldron is from the burning of the dry beanstalks,
The sizzling in the caldron is from the beans.
Since the beans and beanstalks are from the same roots,
Why should it be in such a hurry to burn the beanstalks
and boil the beans?
Cao Zhi was using the way of cooking beans to make bean juice (萁豆相煎)
to compare why brothers should not kill brother - fratricide (骨肉相殘).
It was an excellent poem and Cao Pi was greatly moved. It would be a great
waste to get rid of such a talented brother. So Cao Pi spared his brother's
life and Cao Zhi was banished to Anxiang (安鄉 in present day Anxiang county
in Hunan province 湖南省).
In the tenth month of that year Cao Pi abolished the Emperorship of Xian
Di and he established the Wei Dynasty (魏朝 221AD to 265AD). Cao Pi ascended
the throne as Emperor Wen (文帝), the first Emperor of the Wei Dynasty.
.....................................
(2) Cao San (曹參 ?? to 190BC)
Cao San was born in Pei county (沛縣) in Jiangsu province (江蘇省). He was
a prison warden in Pei county. The time was towards the end of the Qin Dynasty
(秦朝 221BC to 207BC). The ruler of the Qin Empire was the Qin Second Emperor
(秦二皇帝). The vast majority of the people suffered greatly under the rigid
and severe rule of the Qin Government. Riots erupted throughout the empire,
soldiers mutinied and the people were in open revolt. Liu Bang (劉邦) was
a peasant who joined the Qin army as an ordinary soldier. He rose to the
rank of an officer in charge (亭長) of a town called Sishang (泗上 in present
day Jiangsu province 江蘇省).
One day, Liu Bang was ordered to escort a group of fifty conscripted workers
to the north to help in building the tomb for the Qin First Emperor (秦始
皇帝). En route to the tomb site, it rained cats and dogs and many conscripted
workers ran away, leaving very few workers to escort. He thought that by
the time he reached the north all of them would have run away, and the Qin
Government would punish him. If he could not reach the destination on time
he would also be punished for insubordination. Since he would most probably
be punished one way or another, he decided to rebel against the Qin Government.
Liu Bang told the remaining men that he was not going north but head for
the hills to become a bandit and rob government offices. Fourteen men accepted
his invitation and formed a brigand which soon grew to more than one hundred
men.
Xiao He (蕭何) and Cao San (曹參) were the assistants to the district officer
of Pei county (沛縣). They joined Liu Bang's armed brigand which had by
then grown to an armed group of a few hundred strong. Xiao He and Cao San
became the advisers of Liu Bang. With his followers, Liu Bang joined Xiang
Yu (項羽) who had raised an army with the intention of overthrowing the Qin
Government.
Hoping to destroy the Qin Authority as quickly as possible, Liu Bang marched
westward and occupied Xianyang (咸陽, in present day Shaanxi province 陜
西省), the capital of the Qin. While officers and soldiers were scrambling
for pretty girls, gold and jewellry, Xiao He was collecting the government
records about the country written by scholars. Xiao He studied the Qin official
records and from which he learned how the The Emperor ruled his empire.
After the collapse of the Qin Government in 207BC, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu
started a civil war that waged for five years. Eventually Liu Bang defeated
Xiang Yu who committed suicide. Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty (漢
朝 206BC to 220AD) and was crowned Gaozu Emperor (高祖皇帝). Liu Bang appointed
Xiao He as the Prime Minister.
Since Xiao He had studied diligently well the records of the preceding Qin
Empire he had a good knowledge of the topography, condition of the people,
custom, number of households and total population of the Qin Empire and
many other topics regarding the country. Armed with this knowledge Xiao
He made laws and regulations, enacted decrees and institutions, formulated
policy and government system etc. The fledgling Han Empire consolidated its
rule over the vast empire.
In the fourth month of 195BC Liu Bang died. He was succeeded by his ekdest
son Liu Ying (劉盈) who was crowned Emperor Hui (惠皇帝).
Xiao He died in 193BC. Before he died Xiao He recommemded that Cao San should
succeed him. According to the will of Xiao He Emperor Hui appointed Cao
San the next Prime Minister. When Cao San became the Prime Minister he did
not change or correct any of the laws, decrees, institutions, rules and
regulations etc laid down by Xiao He.
There is a Chinese Saying about Xiao He and Cao San
蕭規曹隨 ---Xiao gui Cao sui
When Cao San became the Prime Minister after Xiao He's death he followed
the rules set by Xiao He. The moral of this saying is that we must follow
the established rules.
....................................................................
(3) Cao Xueqin (曹雪芹1724AD to 1763AD)
Cao Xueqin, the author of the great classical Chinese novel, "Hong Lou Meng
(紅樓夢) or A Dream of Red Mansions, was born into a Manzhou (滿州) aristocrat
family. His grandfather, father and uncle were the directors for 44 years
of the textiles factories that belonged to the Manzhou Royal Family. The
textiles factories were in Nanjing city (南京市).
In 1727AD, the Cao family were charged with the crime of embezzling public
funds, their estates were confiscated and they fell into disgrace. After
this the Cao family moved from the south to Beijing (北京). Later, Cao Xueqin,
a young man aged 23 moved to live in the western suburb in Beijing. Cao
Xueqin was so poor that his family had nothing to eat than porridge. It was
in these poverty-stricken circumstances that he started to write his novel.
Then his beloved son died. He was so sad that he fell ill. Unable to afford
medical treatment he died in 1763AD without having finished his novel.
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Posted to asiawin.com
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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