The primary antagonist of the classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Cao Xueqin (c. 1715-c. 1764), accepted author of A Dream of Red Mansions (Honglou Meng)

Cao Zhi (192-232), son of Cao Cao [[曹操|曹操|Cao2 Cao1]], noted poet and calligrapher

Cao Gangchuan (1935-), former artillery officer, senior PRC politician and army leader

Cao Yu (1910-1997), PRC dramatist

Cao Pi (187-226), second son of Cao Cao, first emperor of Cao Wei (r. 220-226), posthumously known as Emperor Wen of Wei, also a noted calligrapher and poet.

The most powerful of the Three Kingdoms, established as a dynasty in 220 by Cao Pi, replaced by the Jin dynasty in 265.

Cao county in Heze, Shandong

Cao Kun (1862-1938), one of the Northern Warlords

second chancellor of the Han Dynasty (-190 BC) who contributed to its founding by fighting for Liu Bang during the Chu-Han Contention

to be physically present in one location while one's thoughts or heart are longing to be somewhere else

the realm of the dead or netherworld in Chinese mythology and folk religion

the underworld or the realm of the dead in Chinese mythology and folk religion

Cao Chong (196-208), son of the warlord Cao Cao [[曹操|曹操|Cao2 Cao1]]

To strictly adhere to the policies, rules, or established patterns of a predecessor.

Cao Jinghua (1897-1987), translator from Russian, professor of Peking University and essayist

a vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty, ruled by the Ji family, located in present-day Dingtao, Shandong.

cobia or black kingfish (Rachycentron canadum)

a public marketplace, especially one used as an execution ground in ancient China

archaic plural second-person pronoun; equivalent to [[你们|你們|ni3 men5]] (you all, you lot)

to bind up and take to the market for execution (idiom); to take a prisoner to the town center for execution

Božena Němcová (1820-1862), Czech writer

A proverbial expression used when someone appears unexpectedly just as they are being talked about.

to enter hell

the Three Caos (Cao Cao and his sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi), noted poets and calligraphers of the Cao Wei dynasty

Caofeidian, a district of Tangshan City, Hebei

Cao Yuzhang (1924-1996), modern writer and publisher, author of Tales from 5000 Years of Chinese History [[上下五千年|上下五千年|Shang4 xia4 Wu3 Qian1 nian2]]

the Chinese herring (Ilisha elongata), a species of fish also known as the white herring or slender shad

Cao Buxing (active c. 210-250), famous semilegendary painter, one of the Four Great Painters of the Six Dynasties [[六朝四大家|六朝四大家|Liu4 Chao2 Si4 Da4 jia1]]

Internet slang used as a substitute for [[我肏|我肏|wo3 cao4]] (wǒ cào) to express shock, anger, or frustration