Not Xiahou.
Cao Cao is undoubtedly a household name in China, but when it comes to his life, there are always different opinions. At present, the most popular saying is a sentence in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: When talking about the rebel army for the first time, "Sean and Zhang Bao disabled the sergeant and made way." "Suddenly, they saw a tiger, a wolf and an army horse, waving red flags and blocking the way." Who's the new comer? So is Cao Cao.
Then, the author Luo Guanzhong introduced Cao Cao in this way: "The first one appeared. It is seven feet long, with beautiful eyes and a long beard. The official worships Dewey. He is also from Peiguoqiao County. His surnames are Meng De and Cao. Fuck my father Cao Song, whose real name is Xiahou. Because he often served Cao Teng's adopted son, he changed his surname to Cao. Cao Yu was born, and his little role is aunt, a lucky person. "
According to this statement, Cao Cao's father Cao Song's original name was Xiahou. Somehow, eunuch Cao Teng adopted him and changed his surname to Cao. Nevertheless, the father changed his surname, and his son Cao Cao naturally changed his surname.
Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written in the early Ming Dynasty, but it didn't spread widely, but Cao Cao's surname Xiahou didn't begin in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. As early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when Pei Songzhi made a note for the history book "The History of the Three Kingdoms", he wrote such a note: "The Biography of Cao Bao and Guo" The World ",written by Wu people, said:' Song, son of Xiahou, uncle also. Mao and his brother.
It was written by Wu people during the hegemony of the Three Kingdoms, and the author was Jin people. Therefore, the statement that Cao Cao's real name is Xiahou probably originated from Cao Bao in the year of Biography of Cao Zhi, and later The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is worth noting that due to the hostile relationship between Wu and Cao Wei at that time, the title of Romance of the Three Kingdoms was obviously discriminatory and incredible.
According to historical records, Xiahou Xing was originally from Yu Xia. At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, descendants were sent to Qi. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Qi was destroyed by the State of Chu. Xia Tuo, the younger brother of Qi, fled to Lu. The monarch of Lu was named Hou because of his surname. Later generations took clan and official position as surnames, and Xiahou as compound surnames. Apart from genetic verification, there are at least two loopholes in Cao Cao's statement about the Xia Houshi family. First of all, Cao Teng, Cao Cao's grandfather, has four brothers' names, among which Cao Teng is the youngest, with the word auspicious. As his three brothers are unknown, their names cannot be verified. They only know that their roles are boxing, Zhongxing and Shuxing. When Cao Teng entered the palace, he was a eunuch and could not bear children. According to the ancient blood tradition, if Cao Teng wants to adopt a child, he should adopt his brother's child, not his own half child. Secondly, Cao Cao once betrothed his daughter qinghe princess to Xiahou _, the son of Xiahou _, and Cao Cao's younger brother betrothed his daughter to Xiahou Xing, the son of Xia. For example, the marriage of Cao Cao's surname Xiahou and Xiahou's family violated the custom of "intermarriage of different surnames" at that time, which began in the Zhou Dynasty.
This has nothing to do with Cao Can.
It is considered to be the most credible official history of the Three Kingdoms period. What is the story of Cao Cao? Judging from the wording in the book, it seems to be much more cautious: "Mao, Pei, surname."
The author is Chen Shou, who was born in the Western Jin Dynasty, not far from the Three Kingdoms period. He said that Cao Cao was a descendant of Cao Can in Han Dynasty, and his father Cao Song was the adopted son of eunuch Cao Teng. But Chen Shou couldn't tell the origin of Cao Song. He just faltered and said, "You can't tell the origin of it" and left the mystery to future generations.
Writers usually have a bad habit, that is, they like to find a prominent ancestor for celebrities to prove the genetic rationality of "Laozi's heroic nature", which seems not enough for fame. In Cao Bao Biography, Chen Shou said that Cao Cao was a "country chasing Han" and seemed to follow this tradition.
Cao Can, a native of Pei County, Jiangsu Province, was a founding hero of the Western Han Dynasty. Together with Liu Bang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he advocated anti-Qin justice and was later named Hou Pingyang. The historical allusion of "Cao Sui in the Grass" is this: After Cao Can took Xiao He as the prime minister, he did not overthrow all the rules and regulations of his predecessor, but set up another set to show that he was better than his predecessor. This shows that Cao Can is not only a soldier, but also a politician who knows right from wrong and understands the overall situation. However, these have nothing to do with Cao Cao, because even counting Cao Teng as Cao Can is far-fetched, and eunuchs will not have their own flesh and blood.
Later, Yuan Shao beat Cao Cao, and Chen Lin, the counselor, called Cao Cao "castration redundant, but ugly" and called Cao Cao's father Cao Song a beggar. "Beggar" is also called "beggar", which means that Cao Song is a beggar found by the roadside. Scholars have never done anything since ancient times. When they cursed, they cursed their ancestors for eight generations. However, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had close contact in their youth, and his understanding of Cao Cao seemed to have certain credibility.
As a prestigious prime minister family, why did Cao Can's descendants produce a big eunuch? This has also aroused the suspicion of historians. It is reported that the research team investigated families who claimed to be descendants of Cao Can. According to genealogy and dna test, it is found that five families are indeed descended from Cao Can. However, none of the descendants of these Cao Can families have the same Y chromosome as Cao Cao. Therefore, it is very likely that the powerful eunuch Cao Teng changed his life experience and attached himself to the Cao Can family. However, Chen Shou has no textual research, so he wrote it in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Li Ji, a genealogist and historian, also believes that Cao Can is descended from Cao Zhi, a descendant of Cao An and the sixth son of Lu Zhong. Because of his seal, he is a surname; After Cao Cao destroyed the Shang Dynasty, he took his brother Zhen Duo as his surname, his grandson Cao as his surname and Ji as his surname. Both Cao surnames are from Shandong, but they are not related by blood.
Descendants of Cao Cao
Some people say that Cao Cao is a descendant of Cao Cao. After the establishment of the Jin regime, the royal family of Cao Wei was madly killed, and Cao Cao changed his surname to Cao Cao. In this regard, scholars call Cao Shi a rare surname, which accounts for a small proportion of the total population of China. This surname appeared at least in the Han dynasty, and it was recorded in the literature that people used it. But the source of surnames is different, so it is difficult to determine. In ancient times, it was customary to take the ancestors' names as surnames. None of the surnames found in Fudan are descendants of Cao Cao, but other surnames may still be descendants of Cao Cao.
However, according to historical records, it seems that the descendants of Cao Cao changed their surnames because of persecution by Sima Qian. According to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao had 25 sons. Under the condition of polygamy at that time, these people should have a large number of children. For example, Cao Pi, who established the Cao Wei regime, has nine sons, and his brother's children can be imagined.
In 249 AD, Sima Yi took control of the state affairs in Gao Ping Ling through a coup. Cao Fang, the great grandson of Cao Cao, was abolished, and Cao Huan, the grandson of Cao Cao, was appointed as the new emperor. Then Sima Yi betrayed his Cao Shuang brothers and their henchmen and killed them. This case is usually considered as evidence that Sima Shi slaughtered Cao Wei's royal family. However, after careful investigation, it was found that although Cao Shuang was nominally Cao Cao's nephew, his father's original surname was Qin, and he was not related to Cao Wei's royal family.
In 265 AD, Sima Yan usurped political power and established the Western Jin Dynasty. For Cao Cao's descendants, this period of time is undoubtedly dark. It is said that many people were forced to flee anonymously after being expelled by Sima's family. However, this legend is just a legend. The royal family of Cao Wei did not perish, and the family continued to the Western Jin Dynasty. For example, the last emperor Cao Wei was named Chen Liuwang by Sima Yan, exiled to Yecheng and buried Cao Cao. At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, Cao Shi's family moved south and still maintained the status of Chen Liuwang. From then until the Tang Dynasty, Cao Shijia was chosen by the imperial court.
After the Five Dynasties, Cao Wei clans gradually moved to the south, and most of them settled in the Yangtze River valley and flourished. At this time, the once powerful Cao Shi family gradually disappeared in the history books, and there seems to be no trace of successors. Despite this, although there are no celebrities in literature, the blood of Cao Cao's family continues in the long river of history. After thousands of years of tempering and reflection by modern genetic technology and historical research, Cao Cao's descendants all over the country finally got rid of the haze and met their distant ancestors, which may be the charm of history.