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Name： Jonathan Kos-ReadChinese Name： Cao CaoNationality： AmericanOccupation： Actor， TV HostTime in China： 10 yearsA handsome American young man by thename of Cao Cao， has been hosting “The SeventhDay” program at Beijing TV station， andhe has turned the show into a big screen hit. Hehas also played many roles in movies and TVdramas， and is well received by Chinese audiencebecause of his sunny appearance， pureChinese with a typical Beijing accent， his sly buthonest facial expressions and offhand jests. Andmost importantly， he has impressed his audiencebecause he has a unique known-to-all Chinesename which he picked out from Chinese history.
Yes， he has greatly benefited from his connectionwith the historical Cao Cao.
38 Jonathan Kos-Read intentionally picked out the well-knownhistorical Chinese name “Cao Cao” （pronounced ts’ao ts’ao） for himself.
It seems just a little bit odd to the Chinese. Looking at this youngAmerican， who wore the trace of a sly smile during our interview，I felt there was something improper about his choice of name， butcouldn’t say what. Anyhow I had to admit that he was very clever touse this exalted name picked from China’s history to impress people.
Cao Cao （A.D. 155-22 0） was a renowned statesman， strategistand poet of the Three Kingdoms Period （220-280） of Chinese history.
With his great strategic talent and far-famed literary genius， Cao Caoenjoyed a mixed reputation as being “a capable minister in an age oftranquility， a treacherous pretender in an age of chaos”。 Characterizedvividly but somewhat distortedly in the classic novel Romance of theThree Kingdoms written during the Ming Dynasty （136 8-1644 ）， thename Cao Cao has ever since been synonymous with a crafty arch careerist，a capricious man capable of being base as well as being great，a man whose personality mixes vehemence and wantonness with cunningand suspicion. The English idiom “Speak of the devil and he willappear”， when translated to the equivalent Chinese idiom — “Talk ofCao Cao and he will appear — has a more or less negative connotation.
The great Chinese writer Lu Xun spoke out against the unfair portrayal of Cao Cao， emphasizing that “Cao Cao was a man of greatability， at the very least a hero. Despite not being his follower， I havenevertheless always admired him”。
Sharing Mr. Lu Xun’s attitude， Jonathan picked the Chinese nameCao Cao for himself. Following this choice， he has had a smooth lifeand a successful career in China. In a word， the junior Cao Cao hasbenefited a great deal from his association with the senior Cao Cao.
A Foreign Face in “The Seventh Day In 2006， a handsome foreign face showed up as an anchor on “TheSeventh Day”， a very popular TV program put out by Beijing’s BTVstation. This young American man， active in Beijing’s streets， wouldconduct random interviews， learn some amazing skills from others，or play games with the people passing by. One time he’ll do morningphysical exercises with the elderly， the next time he stops dating loversand asks them to publicly display their affection for each other， andyet another time he teaches foreign visitors how to speak Chinese. Hisaudience bursts into hearty laughter at his constantly surprising tricksand finds amusement in their seemingly plain urban life. “The SeventhDay” became more interesting and both his program participants andthe audience were tickled pink by his fascinating tactics. Not longafter， this young American had left a deep impression on his viewerswith his typical Beijing accent， both sly and honest facial expressionsand endless games — not to mention the well-known name Cao Cao.
At the end of each show， he says to the camera： “See you nextweek on ‘Talk of Cao Cao and he will appear’。” His audience eagerlylooks forward to seeing the show at the same time next Sunday.
He puffed up a bit with pride when mentioning the origins of theprogram “Talk of Cao Cao and he will appear.” “They asked me tocome for a sample show at first，” he said. “Then an idea popped up inmy mind and I said ‘See you next week on ‘Talk of Cao Cao and hewill appear’。 So BTV， thinking it would be a bad idea to put someoneelse in instead of me， kept me in the program for the following week. Actually Cao Cao’s little trick was highly praised by his colleagues.
40 “Talk of Cao Cao and he will appear” is one of the most familiar idiomsto Chinese people， and it is quite interesting to hear it uttered by aforeign Cao Cao. What’s more， how could they give up such a charmingoutdoor host like Cao Cao！
Beijing residents came to know Cao Cao well from the program，as did audience in other parts of the country， since BTV programs arealso broadcast outside of Beijing via satellite. He admitted that it was“The Seventh Day” that increased his popularity. In fact， Cao Cao hadpreviously acted in dozens of TV dramas — providing glimpses of hisface to Chinese viewers. However， the cast of a drama is usually prettylarge， with more than a hundred names in the credits， which passquickly on the screen. An audience wouldn’t be able to pick up all thenames in a blink of eye， except the stars. That means there are numerousTV actors/actresses whom the audience recognizes by face but notby name. Therefore， it is rather difficult to rise to prominence in theentertainment industry. Cao Cao， however， gained some fame both insideand outside show-biz circles because of his advantage over otherswith his famous name. But it is “The Seventh Day” that has made hima household name and increased his popularity.
In 2007， BTV has invited Cao Cao to be the guest anchor forits series — “Glimpses of Beijing”。 He has brought a keen sense ofhumor and depth to the program. This makes the program fantasticand touching， drawing both domestic viewers and those abroad， andallowing them to deepen their understanding of Beijing. TV viewerscan also find his playful smiles on some gala occasions， such as BTV’
