身世爭議

曹嵩的本來身份一直存在爭議。《三國志》作者陳壽記載「莫能審其生出本末」。劉宋裴松之《三國志注》中引用的《曹瞞傳》和郭頒《世語》則記載曹嵩本姓夏侯，是夏侯惇的叔父。

關于曹嵩出自夏侯氏的記載，何焯提出夏侯惇的兒子夏侯楙娶了曹操的女兒清河公主，夏侯淵的兒子夏侯衡也娶了曹家的女子，所以這種說法是敵對方東吳的傳聞，不可採信。而潘眉和林國贊則認為陳壽將夏侯惇、夏侯淵、曹仁、曹洪、曹休、曹真、夏侯尚放在同一個列傳中，顯示夏侯氏是曹魏的宗室。晚清李景星認為「莫能審其生出本末」是陳壽揭露曹操家世的醜聞。復旦大學教授吳金華總結各家觀點，指出陳壽「莫能審其生出本末」是一種曲筆，他還提出曹嵩為夏侯氏的三個証據：

• 《三國志注·吳主傳》中引《魏略》記載了孫權寫給浩周的書信，當中有「今子當入侍，而未有妃耦，昔君念之，以為可上連綴宗室若夏侯氏」，此時孫權向曹魏稱臣，魏臣浩周以為孫權之子（孫登）可以如同夏侯氏一樣和曹魏宗室連結在一起，這已証明曹嵩出自夏侯氏並非敵對方的傳聞。

• 《三國志·文帝紀》記載夏侯惇去世的時候，裴松之引用《魏書》「王素服幸鄴東城門發哀」，又引孫盛的評價「在禮，天子哭同姓於宗廟門之外。哭於城門，失其所也。」孫盛是東晉時人，以「良史」著稱，他的這項評價以曹丕和夏侯惇為同姓，証明曹嵩出自夏侯氏這一點在孫盛時代仍為人所共知。

• 一九七四年至一九七九年安徽亳縣城南出土了曹氏墓磚，刻辭有「夏侯右」。

關于夏侯氏和曹氏世代通婚之事，周壽昌指出陳矯原為劉氏子孫，後成為舅舅家養子改姓陳，又娶了劉頌的女兒，劉頌與陳矯是近親，曹操因愛惜陳矯的才華，為他周全，特別下令禁止誹謗此事。周壽昌認為曹操禁止人們議論同姓通婚，也是為自己的私事提供方便。吳金華也提出曹魏時期同姓通婚毫不奇怪。此後朱子彥和韓昇仍舊以《曹瞞傳》和《世語》不可信，夏侯楙、夏侯衡、夏侯尚娶曹氏女來論証曹操不是夏侯氏的後裔。

2011年，複旦大學課題組來到曹氏宗族墓所在地——安徽亳州，並從上世紀70年代從曹氏宗族墓「元寶坑一號墓」出土的文物中找到兩顆牙齒，「經過現場挖掘人的口述和墓內中央位置的銘文等，最終確定兩個牙齒均來源于曹操叔祖父——河間相曹鼎。」有了數千年前曹操叔祖父的牙齒，通過古DNA測試，根據現代基因和古DNA的雙重驗証，課題組得出最終結論——100%確定曹操家族DNA。通過比對，安徽亳州的曹操祖輩墓葬元寶坑1號墓的遺骨與現代曹操後人緊密關聯；夏侯氏、曹參後人都不是該類型。故此，課題組認為曹操之父來自家族內部過繼，該家族並非曹參本族。目前找到的曹操後人有9支，分別來自安徽績溪、安徽舒城、安徽亳州、江蘇海門、廣東徐聞、江蘇鹽城、山東乳山、遼寧東港、遼寧鐵嶺。

生平

據傳曹嵩性情敦厚，為人忠孝，開始為司隸校尉，漢靈帝時，曾當大司農、大鴻臚，代崔烈為太尉，位列三公之一。

《後漢書》記載曹嵩曾因賄賂宦官而得到太尉這個職位，另一個說法是當時朝廷公開賣官，曹嵩出錢一億買下了這個官爵。

身亡

漢獻帝年間，曹操起兵參加董卓討伐戰，曹嵩不肯相隨，逃往徐州琅琊國躲避戰亂。曹操擔任兗州牧後，和徐州牧陶謙交戰並戰勝。興平元年（194年），曹嵩從徐州琅琊國進入兗州泰山郡時，徐州州牧陶謙因痛恨曹操攻打自己，派手下將曹嵩殺害（另有一說是陶謙手下張闓貪戀曹嵩財物而殺死曹嵩）。所以曹操才會以為父報仇為名義出兵攻打陶謙，並且在徐州屠城，作為報復。

220年（魏文帝黃初元年），曹嵩被他的孫子魏文帝曹丕追尊為太皇帝。

家人

妻

丁氏

子女

• 曹操：長子，即其子曹丕追尊為魏武帝

• 曹彬，追封為薊公，謚號恭，以曹操子樊安公曹均為嗣

• 海陽哀侯：名不詳，其女嫁夏侯衡

• 曹玉，郎陵哀侯，以曹操子東平王曹徽為嗣。有的《三國志》版本作曹嵩弟即曹操叔父

• 曹德：少子，《後漢書·宦者列傳》名疾，為陶謙士兵所殺

曹操有一弟為孫匡岳父，未知是否為以上三人中的一人

評價

• 陳琳：「父嵩，乞丐攜養，因臧買位，輿金替寶，輸貨權門，竊盜鼎司，傾覆重器。」（《後漢書·袁紹劉表列傳第六十四上》）

• 司馬彪：「質性敦慎，所在忠孝。」

藝術形象

《三國演義》

《三國演義》稱曹嵩往兗州曹操處的時候，張闓見財起意欲殺人，曹嵩和他的小妾想逃跑，卻因小妾身體肥胖爬不了牆，于是曹嵩和小妾躲進廁所，被亂軍所殺。

動漫形象

• 《蒼天航路》（王欣太）

• 《火鳳燎原》（陳某）:並無登場，於劇情交代前往甄城途中病故，但郭嘉視為謀財害命，勸曹操出兵徐州，而釀成「奉孝殺戮」亦為日後「濮陽練兵」埋下伏線。

影視形象

• 2014年電視劇《曹操》：李文波飾演曹嵩

• 2021年電影《真·三國無雙》：由王志華飾演曹嵩。

註釋參考

Career

Cao Song was known to be honest, sincere and of good moral conduct. He served as the Colonel-Director of Retainers (司隸校尉) in the Han imperial court. During the reign of Emperor Ling, he served consecutively as the Minister of Finance (大司農) and Minister Herald (大鴻臚) before replacing Cui Lie (崔烈) as the Grand Commandant (太尉). However, it was alleged that Cao Song obtained the post of Grand Commandant by bribing eunuchs, who were deeply trusted by the emperor. Another account stated that Cao Song purchased those official posts because Emperor Ling introduced a practice of selling political offices for money.

Death

Around 193, Cao Song retired and returned to his hometown in Qiao County (譙縣; present-day Bozhou, Anhui). Along the way, he was murdered while passing through Langya State (琅玡國; present-day Linyi, Shandong) in Xu Province. At the same time, Cao Song's eldest son, the warlord Cao Cao, had established a base in Yan Province (covering present-day southwestern Shandong and eastern Henan).

There are three different accounts of Cao Song's death:

• The Shiyu (世語) mentioned that Cao Song was in Hua County (華縣; north of present-day Fei County, Shandong) at the time. Cao Cao ordered Ying Shao, the Administrator of Taishan Commandery (泰山郡; east of present-day Tai'an, Shandong), to escort his father and family to Yan Province. However, before Ying Shao's men arrived, Xu Province's governor Tao Qian secretly sent a few thousand riders to attack Cao Song and his family. Cao Song thought that Ying Shao had come to receive him, so he was unprepared and completely taken by surprise. Tao Qian's men killed Cao De (曹德), one of Cao Song's sons. Cao Song became afraid and brought one of his concubines with him as they tried to squeeze through a crack in a wall to escape. However, Cao Song's concubine was too fat and could not squeeze through, so they hid in the latrine. Tao Qian's men found them eventually and killed Cao Song and all his family members who were with him at the time.

• Another account from Wei Zhao's Wu Shu (吳書) stated that Cao Song had with him more than 100 carts full of his personal belongings. Tao Qian sent one of his officers, Zhang Kai (張闓), and 200 horsemen to escort Cao Song and his family to Yan Province. At Hua County, Zhang Kai murdered Cao Song, seized his riches and fled to Huainan.

• The Houhanshu wrote that Cao Song was travelling to Langya Commandery to evade chaos. Along the way, he passed by Yinping County (陰平縣; southwest of present-day Zaozhuang, Shandong), where Tao Qian had garrisoned some troops. Tempted by greed, Tao Qian's men killed Cao Song and seized his wealth.

All the accounts agree that Cao Cao held Tao Qian responsible for the murder of his father regardless of the degree of Tao Qian's involvement in the incident. This led to Cao Cao launching an invasion on Xu Province between 193 and 194 to punish Tao Qian for his role in Cao Song's death.

Posthumous honour

In 220, Cao Cao's son and successor, Cao Pi, ended the Eastern Han dynasty and established the state of Cao Wei, marking the start of the Three Kingdoms period. Cao Pi granted his grandfather the posthumous title "Emperor Tai" (literally "Grand Emperor").

Family background

Cao Song's family background is a mystery. Chen Shou wrote in the Sanguozhi that Cao Song's origin could not be determined. The Cao Man Zhuan (曹瞞傳) and the Shiyu (世語), two sources used by Pei Songzhi in his annotations to the Sanguozhi, mentioned that Cao Song's original family name was Xiahou (夏侯) and that he was an uncle of Xiahou Dun. Therefore, Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun were cousins.

The Qing dynasty scholar He Zhuo (何焯; 1661–1722) refuted the claim in the Cao Man Zhuan and Shiyu that Cao Song was from the Xiahou clan and dismissed it as a rumour started by people from Eastern Wu, a state founded by Cao Cao's rival, Sun Quan. This was because Xiahou Dun's son Xiahou Mao married Cao Cao's daughter Princess Qinghe (清河公主), and Xiahou Yuan's son Xiahou Heng (夏侯衡) married Cao Cao's niece, so the Xiahous and Caos could not have shared the same lineage.

On the other hand, the Qing dynasty historians Pan Mei (潘眉; 1771–1841) and Lin Guozan (林國贊) believed it was true that Cao Song was a Xiahou, as evident from the fact that Chen Shou placed the biographies of Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Shang, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen in the same volume (volume 9) in the Sanguozhi.

Li Jingxing (李景星; 1876–1934), a scholar who lived in the late Qing dynasty, speculated that when Chen Shou wrote that Cao Song's origin could not be determined, his intention was to expose a scandal behind Cao Cao's family background.

Wu Jinhua (吳金華), a history professor from Fudan University, believed that Chen Shou employed a writing technique to distort facts when he wrote that Cao Song's origin could not be determined. Wu consolidated all the earlier differing viewpoints and pointed out three pieces of evidence to prove that Cao Song was from the Xiahou family:

• The Weilüe recorded a letter written by Sun Quan to the Wei official Hao Zhou (浩周) sometime between 220 and 222, when Sun was nominally a vassal of the Wei regime. The letter mentioned that Hao Zhou suggested that Sun Quan's son could establish marital ties with the Cao family in the same way as how the Caos and Xiahous were connected by marriages. This proved that the claim that Cao Song was a Xiahou was not a rumour spread by people from Wu because a person from Wei already spoke of it sometime between 220 and 222.

• The Wei Shu (魏書) mentioned that when Xiahou Dun died, Cao Pi dressed in plain clothing and mourned at the eastern gate of Ye (in present-day Handan, Hebei). The Eastern Jin dynasty historian Sun Sheng commented that it was still within traditions for an emperor to mourn his kinsmen outside of an ancestral temple, and that Cao Pi had clearly lost his composure when he cried for Xiahou Dun at the city gate. As Sun Sheng lived during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420), not long after the Three Kingdoms period ended in 280, his remark gave an impression that the people in his time were already aware that Cao Song was from the Xiahou clan.

• Between 1974 and 1979, parts of a tombstone from Cao Cao's family ancestral tomb were unearthed in Bozhou, Anhui (the ancestral home of Cao Cao's clan). The Chinese characters "xia hou you" (夏侯右) were inscribed on it.

The late Qing dynasty writer Zhou Shouchang (周壽昌; 1814–1884) explained in Sanguozhi Zhu Zheng Yi (三國志注證遺) about the inter-clan marriages between the Caos and Xiahous. He cited Chen Jiao (陳矯) as an example – Chen Jiao's original family name was "Liu" (劉). He was raised by his uncle (his paternal aunt's husband), whose family name was "Chen" (陳), and adopted "Chen" as his family name. Chen Jiao later married the daughter of Liu Song (劉頌), a close relative. Cao Cao appreciated Chen Jiao's talent and wanted to protect Chen's reputation, so he gave an order forbidding any dissent about Chen's personal life. Zhou Shouchang felt that when Cao Cao banned people from speaking against marriages between those who share the same family name, he was actually making it convenient to cover up his own family background.

Wu Jinhua also pointed out that in the late Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, it was not uncommon to find married couples who shared the same family name. For example, one of Cao Cao's foster sons, He Yan, married Cao's daughter Princess Jinxiang (金鄉公主), who was possibly his half-sister (born to the same mother), even though the identity of the princess's mother is not confirmed. Wu Jinhua mentioned that a person will have no doubts that Cao Song was from the Xiahou clan as long as he/she understands that inter-clan marriages were not unusual in that era.

Others such as history professors Zhu Ziyan (朱子彥) and Han Sheng (韓昇) argue that the accounts from the Cao Man Zhuan and Shiyu are not reliable, and the fact that Xiahou Mao, Xiahou Heng and Xiahou Shang married women from Cao Cao's clan proved that Cao Song was not a Xiahou.