A child prodigy, Cao Chong is best known for his ingenious method of weighing an elephant using the principle of buoyancy.
[4] According to Joseph Needham, although no official treatise in the likes of Archimedes' principle was ever written regarding buoyancy in ancient China, there were observational precedents of it in the Rites of Zhou, compiled and edited in the early Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE).
Needham states: Empirical use, of course, was made of [Archimedes'] principle, as in the floating of arrows and vehicle wheels in water by the [Zhou] and Han technicians, in order to determine their equilibrium and add or remove material accordingly.In another incident, Cao Cao's saddle was chewed by rodents when it was kept in a store.
He used a knife to cut holes in his clothes, making it seem as though they had been damaged by rats, and then pretended to look upset.
When his father asked him, he replied, "There is a saying that a person whose clothes have been chewed by rats will encounter ill luck.
[6] When some hardworking officials landed themselves in trouble for making minor lapses, Cao Chong spoke up for them and managed to persuade his father to pardon them.
[7] Cao Chong's intelligence and compassionate attitude, coupled with his beautiful looks, made him very outstanding among his brothers and earned him the favor of his father.
He had Cao Chong buried together with a deceased woman from a certain Zhen (甄) family[11] and posthumously granted his son the appointment Cavalry Commandant (騎都尉).