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Cao Cao (155–220 CE) was a statesman, military strategist, and poet of the late Eastern Han dynasty. His courtesy name was Mengde, and his childhood nickname was Aman. He was born in Qiao County, Pei Commandery (present-day Bozhou, Anhui). At age 20, he was recommended as a “Filially Pious and Incorrupt” official and appointed…
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— Bai Juyi The departing sunbeams pave a way on the river; Half of its waves turn red and the other half shiver. How I love the third night of the ninth moon aglow! The dewdrops look like pearls, the crescent like a bow.
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After three long years of terror under Dong Zhuo’s tyrannical rule, the Han Dynasty finally breathed free. In 192 AD, Wang Yun, the loyal minister, and Lü Bu, the mighty warrior, succeeded in their daring plot to assassinate the warlord Dong Zhuo.
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In the chaotic narrative of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the encounter, companionship, and eventual separation of Cao Cao and Chen Gong resemble a brief yet profound intertwining of fate.