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The fall of the dragon-slayer: Cao Cao vs Ji Ping [Three Kingdoms]
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In Chapter 23 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a haunting scene unfolds: Imperial Physician Ji Ping, determined to rid the Han court of its greatest threat, attempts to poison Cao Cao. But Cao Cao, ever vigilant, has already uncovered the plot. He feigns ignorance, lures Ji Ping into action—and catches him red-handed.
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The Road to Guandu: How Cao Cao secured his flanks before the decisive clash with Yuan Shao [Three Kingdoms]
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In the winter of 199 AD, Yuan Shao stood at the zenith of his power. Having annihilated Gongsun Zan at Yi County and crushed the Heishan bandits who came to his aid, Yuan Shao now controlled four northern provinces: Jizhou, Qingzhou, Bingzhou, and Youzhou. With this vast territory and immense manpower, he was poised…
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Commuting [Poems]
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— anonymous Bicycles bid farewell to the setting sun, Subways seek for the spring breeze. Ten thousand miles over three years, Yet never stepping out of Beijing.
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Was Cao Cao’s war against Tao Qian really about revenge? [Three Kingdoms]
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Popular memory—shaped heavily by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms—portrays Cao Cao’s invasion of Xu Province in 193 AD as a brutal act of filial vengeance: his father, Cao Song, was murdered in Tao Qian’s territory, so Cao Cao launched a merciless campaign to avenge him.
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Why the Yuan brothers turned against each other? [Three Kingdoms]
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At first glance, it seems paradoxical: Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, sons of the same illustrious family, heirs to the prestigious Yuan clan of Runan—one of the most powerful gentry lineages of the Eastern Han—should have stood united against the chaos engulfing the empire.