Cao Cao's cousin, holding Fancheng against the flood. Bailed the walls and would not go; the siege broke around him, not through him.
The flood is swift and will not last; but to quit Fancheng would be to quit everything south of the Yellow River.The counsel that steadied Cao Ren's defence of Fancheng; Man Chong's words, Sanguozhi, Wei shu 26
Appears in
Relations
- Cao Cao cousin & general — Held the north bank of the Han at Fancheng while the flood rose inside the walls; Cao Cao bailed him with Yu Jin's seven armies and Xu Huang's relief.
- Guan Yu opponents — Besieged by him through the autumn of 219; bailed the walls by hand and refused the counsel to leave the city to the river.
- Yu Jin allies — Yu Jin's seven armies came south to raise his siege; the rains drowned them before they reached the walls.
Myth vs record
The story you may know
Fancheng was saved by Xu Huang's relief army — Cao Ren was only the man being besieged.
What the sources say
The water rose inside the walls and there was counsel to abandon the city; Cao Ren bailed the walls by hand and would not go. Xu Huang broke the siege from without and desertion broke it from within, but the city stood because he held.