生平

袁紹猜忌

董昭舉孝廉，就任癭陶縣縣長、柏人縣縣令；曾以癭陶縣長的身份接見新任冀州刺史賈琮。後袁紹封其為參軍。界橋之戰期間，巨鹿太守李邵欲投降公孫瓚。袁紹聽聞後指派董昭代領巨鹿太守。到任即用計誅殺當地豪強孫伉。附近數郡因此都歸順。碰巧魏郡太守賈攀為士兵所殺，袁紹以董昭代領魏郡太守。當時附近賊人以萬計，能夠互相遣使往來交易。董昭厚待賊人，用計離間賊寇之間，並乘虛討伐，大破賊寇。後來董昭弟弟董訪在與袁紹不和的張邈軍中，袁紹因讒言欲加罪於董昭，逼使董昭出逃。

張楊庇護

董昭欲往漢獻帝所在，到河內郡為張楊所留，被封為騎都尉。初平三年（192年）曹操遣使張楊欲借道長安迎接天子，張楊初期不許，為董昭說服。董昭為曹操寫作書信給與長安諸將李傕、郭汜等。曹操重金賄賂張楊後獲得准許遣使往天子所在安邑，董昭跟隨，封為議郎。

曹操部下

建安元年（196年）董昭奉承天子近臣楊奉，令楊奉支持封爵曹操為鎮東將軍，費亭侯。另外封董昭為符節令。同年董昭又獻計曹操誘騙楊奉領天子到許昌。後張楊被殺，董昭被派往招降張楊舊部薛洪、繆尚等人，董昭因此被封冀州州牧。

建安四年（199年）曹操派劉備攻袁術，董昭與程昱、郭嘉等都警告曹操放劉備必反，劉備叛變後為曹操攻破，董昭被封為徐州州牧。

次年官渡之戰董昭被派往魏郡作太守抵抗顏良。圍鄴城戰中，董昭寫書信勸降袁紹同族春卿。平定鄴城後，封董昭為諫議大夫。曹操攻烏丸蹋頓時命董昭開鑿平虜、泉州二渠幫助運糧。董昭因此被封千秋亭侯，後封司空軍祭酒。董昭期後向曹操建議恢復古代五等封建制，為日後篡漢鋪路。

建安十七年（212年），董昭獻計曹操受魏公。建安二十一年（216年），助曹操封魏王之號。建安二十四年（219年）關羽圍曹仁於樊城中，孫權答應夾攻但要求保密，董昭獻計曹操當面答應孫權保密，其實以箭矢射入城中通知城內以振奮士氣。

輔助魏帝

黃初元年（220年）曹丕即王位，拜董昭將作大匠。同年曹丕即帝位，遷董昭大鴻臚、右鄉候。次年（221年），賜董昭弟董訪爵關內候，董昭為侍中。

黃初三年（222年），曹休欲攻江南，曹丕擔心曹休冒進，董昭看穿曹休將軍如臧霸已經十分富貴，只希望安定退休而已，必定不會以命相摶，結果曹休不能如願南下。夏侯尚等攻江陵，以水淺，造浮橋攻城，董昭認為此舉脆弱，結果不久水漲，曹軍及時撤出。

黃初五年（224年），封成都鄉侯、太常。同年，徙光祿大夫、給事中。跟從曹丕東征，黃初七年（226年）曹丕歸來後拜董昭為太僕。同年曹叡即位，董昭進爵樂平侯、衛尉、一子爵關內侯。

太和四年（230年），董昭上陳流末之弊，令諸葛誕、鄧颺等被罷免。太和六年（232）七月任為司徒。青龍四年五月乙卯日（236年7月4日）病逝，享年81歲，諡定侯。

其他

黃初初年（221年-222年），董昭有一次躺在同任侍中的蘇則大腿上，蘇則反推開董昭並說：「我蘇則之膝，不是佞人的枕頭。」

家庭

• 董訪，弟弟

• 董胄，嗣子，歷任郡守、九卿

• 侄女董氏，司馬芝妻

評價

• 曹丕：「君論此事，何其審也！正使張、陳當之，何以複加。」

• 陳壽：「程昱、郭嘉、董昭、劉曄、蔣濟才策謀略，世之奇士，雖清治德業，殊於荀攸，而籌畫所料，是其倫也。」

• 郝經：「危哉！昭烈防不出數子之彀，操之遣拒袁術也，昱嘉昭皆以為不可遣，毒手莫施幸而颺去，料敵制勝卒使昭烈不得中原尺土。嗚呼！數子何讎漢之深也。當是之時，魏有荀彧、荀攸、賈詡、程昱、郭嘉、董昭、劉曄、蔣濟、司馬懿為之謀，吳有張昭、周瑜、魯肅、呂蒙、陸遜運其籌。」

• 胡三省：「昭人品不足稱，其謀略妙，不下二荀。」

• 王鳴盛：「諸人皆魏之謀主也，運籌決勝，功績卓然。」

漫畫

• 《火鳳燎原》（陳某）:尚未登場，於赤壁之戰後曾提及其奏請劉協封曹操為魏公。

Service under Yuan Shao

Dong Zhao was a xiaolian and served as a county official in his early years under the warlord Yuan Shao before being promoted to a military adviser. He was appointed as the governing official of several counties and commanderies in Yuan Shao's territories and governed them well. However, Yuan Shao listened to slanderous rumours and began to doubt Dong Zhao's loyalty towards him. Dong Zhao was fearful that Yuan Shao might kill him and he fled.

Service under Zhang Yang

Dong Zhao wanted to flee to where Emperor Xian was. On the way, he passed by Henei Commandery, which was governed by the warlord Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang let Dong Zhao join him and appointed him as an official. In 192, when Cao Cao wanted to seek permission to pass through Zhang Yang's territory to receive Emperor Xian from exile, Zhang Yang initially refused, but after Dong Zhao's persuasion he agreed. Dong Zhao followed Cao Cao to receive the emperor.

Service under Cao Cao

In 196, Emperor Xian met Cao Cao, who received him with all due respect after heeding Dong Zhao's suggestion. After the death of Zhang Yang, Dong Zhao went to persuade Zhang Yang's followers to join Cao Cao. By then, Dong Zhao had formally entered Cao Cao's service. In 199, after Cao Cao seized back Xu Province from Liu Bei, Dong Zhao was appointed as the Governor of Xu Province. Subsequently, Dong Zhao followed Cao Cao on the campaigns against Yuan Shao and the Wuhuan tribes and was promoted to even higher official positions. In 216, Dong Zhao aided Cao Cao by persuading Emperor Xian to confer on Cao Cao the title of a vassal king – King of Wei. In 219, while Guan Yu was attacking Fancheng, Sun Quan agreed to send reinforcements to help the entrapped Cao Ren. To keep things secret, Dong Zhao proposed a trick of tying the messages written on paper onto arrows which were fired into the city. When Cao Ren's troops heard that Sun Quan was willing to send reinforcements, the army's morale was boosted and eventually culminated in Guan Yu's defeat.

Service in Wei

In 220, Cao Pi usurped the throne from Emperor Xian and established the state of Cao Wei to replace the Han dynasty. Throughout the reign of Cao Pi and his successor Cao Rui, Dong Zhao played an important role in state affairs by providing suggestions and advice to the emperors. He managed to predict the movements and decisions of the enemy accurately a few times and saved the Wei armies from defeat, such as during a campaign against the rival state of Eastern Wu in which Dong Zhao predicted correctly that there would be an ambush. Highly recognised for his contributions to the state, Dong Zhao was promoted to even higher official positions. In 236, Dong Zhao died at the age of 81 (by East Asian age reckoning) and was given a posthumous title of a marquis.