China’s Real Life “Game of Thrones”

The ongoing battle between the Cao and Sima families during China’s Three Kingdoms Period was as complex and unpredictable as HBO’s hit TV series Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin’s book series A Song of Ice and Fire. The Cao and Sima conspiracies and betrayals of China’s third century contributed to the most well-known, history-based Chinese epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The two families started off with sufficient trust and goodwill. Cao Cao as a warlord had proved his mili...