Cao Bin | |
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 an illustration from Sancai Tuhui (1609) | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 931 modern Lingshou County, Hebei |
| Died | 999 (aged 67–68) modern Kaifeng, Henan |
| Children |
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| Father | Cao Yun (曹芸) |
| Mother | Lady Zhang (張氏) |
| Full name | Surname: Cáo (曹) Given name: Bīn (彬) Courtesy name: Guóhuá (國華) Posthumous name: Wǔhuì (武惠) |
| Cao Bin | |||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 曹彬 | ||||||||||||||
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Cao Bin (Chinese: 曹彬) (931–999) was a military general in imperial China. A nephew-in-law of Guo Wei, who founded the Later Zhou in 951, Cao first rose up through the ranks of the Later Zhou military. After the Song Dynasty replaced Later Zhou in 960, Cao participated in the conquest of the Later Shu state in 965, where he distinguished himself from the other generals for disciplining his troops from pillaging the area, and was promoted as a result. In 974, he was named the overall commander to invade the Southern Tang state, which he successfully conquered in 976, again taking careful measures to prevent unnecessary killing. However, in one last campaign in 986 against the northern Liao Dynasty, he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Yelü Xiuge.