Cao Xiu  Cao Xiu (died 228), courtesy name Wenlie, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. A distant younger relative of the warlord Cao Cao, Cao Xiu started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty as a military officer under Cao Cao. In the early stages of the Hanzhong Campaign of 217–219, he outwitted and defeated two enemy generals, Zhang Fei and Ma Chao. Later in his career, he became a provincial-level military commander and fought in various battles against Wei's rival state, Eastern Wu. He died in 228 shortly after the Wei defeat at the Battle of Shiting. Cao Xiu was a distant younger relative of Cao Cao. When the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in the late Eastern Han dynasty, the Cao clan left their ancestral home in Qiao County (譙縣; present-day Bozhou, Anhui) and went in different directions throughout the Han Empire to avoid getting caught up in the chaos. When Cao Xiu was around 10 years old, his father died and he only had one person to help him arrange for his father to be properly buried. Cao Xiu and his mother crossed the Yangtze to southern China and settled down in Wu Commandery (around present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu). Cao Xiu's grandfather, Cao Chang (曹嘗), had previously served as the Administrator of Wu Commandery. One day, after seeing a portrait of his grandfather in the Administrator's office, Cao Xiu became so overwhelmed by emotions that he knelt down and cried. Everyone present at the scene felt touched when they saw him crying. In 190, Cao Cao was raising an army to join the Guandong Coalition against the warlord Dong Zhuo, who controlled the Han central government and held Emperor Xian hostage. When Cao Xiu heard about it, he adopted a fake identity and travelled via Jing Province to Cao Cao's base in Chenliu Commandery (陳留郡; around present-day Kaifeng, Henan). Cao Cao was pleased to see him and he remarked, "This is the thousand-"li" horse of my clan." Cao Cao treated Cao Xiu like a son and even allowed him to live with his own son, Cao Pi. Cao Xiu fought on Cao Cao's side in the various battles against rival warlords throughout the late Eastern Han dynasty.