Cao Song (died 193), courtesy name Jugao, was an official who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China.
[2] However, it was alleged that Cao Song obtained the post of Grand Commandant by bribing eunuchs, who were deeply trusted by the emperor.
[3] Another account stated that Cao Song purchased those official posts because Emperor Ling introduced a practice of selling political offices for money.
[16] 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 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.
[21] 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.
[22] 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.