Speak of the Devil

Abstract

Broadcast Transcript: In Chinese, when they want to say "speak of the devil" they say "shuo Cao Cao, Cao Cao jiu dao" "Speak of Cao Cao and he arrives." Cao Cao was a brilliant strategist in the late 2nd and early 3rd century. He established the Wei Dynasty and installed himself as king. He was also an accomplished poet and patron of writers. So why does Cao Cao appear in this idiom? Well, possibly because he was so cunning and had an omnipresent spy network, and it was thought that, even if you had a secret battle plan, CaoCao would find out about it, show up and quash it and you along with it. Almost as if he could be everywhere at once. A lot like the devil when you think about it. #ceas #china #hacker