Cao Ren 曹仁

When men of mettle rose up, Cao Ren secretly gathered over a thousand young men and roamed between the Huai and Si rivers, then followed Cao Cao, becoming a Major of Separate Command (biebu sima) and acting Colonel of Sharp Vanguard (lifeng xiaowei). When Cao Cao crushed Yuan Shu, those Cao Ren beheaded or captured were very many, and in the campaign against Xu Province he regularly led the cavalry as the army's vanguard and defeated Tao Qian's general Lü You. In the campaign against Lü Bu he separately took Juyang and captured Lü Bu's general Liu He alive. Records, Wei 9 §30–31

After Cao Cao welcomed the Son of Heaven and established the capital at Xu, Cao Ren rendered repeated service and was made Administrator of Guangyang, but Cao Cao, valuing his courage and strategy, did not let him go to the commandery and had him supervise the cavalry as a Court Gentleman-Consultant. On the way back from the campaign against Zhang Xiu the army was pursued and the soldiers lost heart, but Cao Ren roused the officers and men with great vigor, and Cao Cao admired him for it. In the 4th month of the 4th year of Jian'an (199) he crossed the Yellow River with Shi Huan, defeated Sui Gu and beheaded him. Records, Wei 9 §31–32Records, Wei 1 §51

When Cao Cao faced Yuan Shao at Guandu, Yuan Shao sent Liu Bei to overrun the counties of Yinqiang, and the region south of Xu grew restless. Cao Ren said that Liu Bei had only just taken command of Yuan Shao's troops and could not yet make proper use of them, so he could be defeated if attacked. With cavalry he defeated Liu Bei and put him to flight, and recovered all the counties that had rebelled. He then crushed Yuan Shao's detached commander Han Xun at Mount Jiluo, so that Yuan Shao no longer dared to send out divided forces, and together with Shi Huan and others he raided Yuan Shao's supply wagons and burned his grain. Records, Wei 9 §33–34

At the siege of Huguan, Cao Cao ordered that when the city fell everyone in it be buried alive, but for months the city did not fall. Cao Ren said that when besieging a city one must show the defenders a gate through which they may live, but since they had been told they would surely die, every man would fight to hold it. Cao Cao heeded him and the city surrendered, and for his merits before and after, Cao Ren was enfeoffed as Marquis of a Chief Village (duting hou). Records, Wei 9 §35

After the pacification of Jing Province he stayed at Jiangling as acting General Who Conquers the South (zhengnan jiangjun) to hold off Zhou Yu, general of Wu. When Zhou Yu's vanguard arrived, Cao Ren recruited 300 men and sent his retainer commander Niu Jin to meet them in battle, but Niu Jin's force was surrounded. Though the Chief Clerk Chen Jiao and others held him back, Cao Ren rode out of the city with several dozen stalwart horsemen of his own command, plunged straight into the encirclement and freed Niu Jin and the others, then charged in again to rescue the rest. Chen Jiao and the others sighed, "The general is truly a man from Heaven!", and Cao Cao transferred his enfeoffment to Marquis of Anping Village. Records, Wei 9 §36–38

When Zhou Yu sent Gan Ning to seize Yiling, Cao Ren divided his forces and surrounded Gan Ning, but Zhou Yu, following Lü Meng's plan, rescued him. Hearing that Zhou Yu had been struck in the right side by a stray arrow in battle and was bedridden, Cao Ren drew up his troops in battle array, but withdrew when Zhou Yu rose and encouraged his officers and men. The Biography of the Lord of Wu records that in the 14th year of Jian'an (209), after Zhou Yu and Cao Ren had faced each other for more than a year, Cao Ren abandoned the city and fled. Cao Ren's biography does not mention this. Records, Wu 9 §17–18Records, Wu 2 §15Records, Wei 9 §29–43

In the campaign against Ma Chao he held Tong Pass as acting General Who Pacifies the West and defeated Ma Chao at Weinan, and as acting General of Valiant Cavalry he put down the rebellion of Su Bo and Tian Yin. Again as acting General Who Conquers the South and granted the tally of authority (jiajie), he garrisoned Fan and kept Jing Province in order. When Hou Yin, the commander defending Wan, rebelled in the 10th month of the 23rd year of Jian'an (218), in the 1st month of the following year Cao Ren massacred Wan and beheaded Hou Yin, and he was then and there appointed General Who Conquers the South. Records, Wei 9 §39Records, Wei 1 §164–165

In the 24th year of Jian'an (219), when Guan Yu attacked Fan, the Han River flooded and the seven armies of Yu Jin, General of the Left, and others were submerged, and Yu Jin surrendered. Cao Ren held the city with several thousand men and horses; only a few planks' height of the wall remained above the water, Guan Yu surrounded it several layers deep with boats, and food was running out. When someone proposed escaping by boat at night, Man Chong argued that if they left now, the land south of the Yellow River would no longer belong to the state, and Cao Ren said, "Well said." As Cao Ren showed his resolve to fight to the death, his officers and men harbored no thought of defecting. When Xu Huang's relief army arrived and the water fell a little, Cao Ren broke out of the encirclement and Guan Yu withdrew. Records, Wei 9 §40Records, Wei 26 §6–8

In his youth Cao Ren did not attend to his conduct, but as a general he was strict and upheld the laws and ordinances, always keeping the regulations at his side and acting in accordance with them. While Cao Pi was in the Eastern Palace as heir, he wrote to Cao Zhang, "In upholding the law as a general, should one not be like the General Who Conquers the South?" The Biography of Xu Chu records that when Cao Ren came from Jing Province to attend court and called Xu Chu, who was outside the hall, into a side room, Xu Chu said, "The king is about to come out," and went back inside, and Cao Ren resented it. Records, Wei 9 §41Records, Wei 18 §55

When Cao Pi became king, Cao Ren became General of Chariots and Cavalry, commanding the military affairs of Jing, Yang and Yi provinces, and was advanced to Marquis of Chen. When Sun Quan's general Chen Shao seized Xiangyang, he defeated him together with Xu Huang and entered Xiangyang. According to the Annals of Emperor Wen, he became General-in-Chief in the 4th month of the 2nd year of Huangchu (221) and Grand Marshal in the 10th month of that year. Later he occupied Wujiang, then returned to garrison Hefei. Records, Wei 9 §41–42Records, Wei 2 §26–27

Jiang Ji, who attacked Wu with Cao Ren in the 3rd year of Huangchu (222), tried to dissuade him when Cao Ren meant to attack the sandbar island at Ruxu, saying it would be walking into hell of his own accord. Cao Ren did not listen and was indeed defeated. According to the Biography of Zhu Huan, Cao Ren had his son Cao Tai attack Ruxu Fortress and his general Chang Diao raid Zhongzhou with oiled boats, while he himself stayed at Tuogao with 10,000 men; Zhu Huan drove back Cao Tai and beheaded Chang Diao. Cao Ren died in the 3rd month of the 4th year of Huangchu (223) and received the posthumous title Marquis Zhong, and in the 1st year of Qinglong (233) he was honored with sacrifices in the temple courtyard of Cao Cao together with Xiahou Dun and Cheng Yu. Records, Wei 14 §121Records, Wu 11 §51–52Records, Wei 2 §42Records, Wei 9 §43Records, Wei 3 §28

In his assessment, Chen Shou wrote that because the Xiahou and Cao clans had intermarried for generations, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong and others were all honored and valued in their time as close kin and old friends, and that all of them assisted in the great enterprise at the ruler's side and rendered meritorious service. Records, Wei 9 §132