Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature
Myth is a literary genre that conveys the ancient people’s primordial understanding of the origin of the world, natural phenomena, and social life through narratives involving deities or divinized heroic figures.
In the chaotic final years of the Eastern Han dynasty, military discipline and public perception were as vital as battlefield prowess. One of the most enduring episodes illustrating this principle is “Cao Cao cuts his hair to substitute for his head”—a dramatic scene from Chapter 17 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.