s annual competition of “Arts from Our Land” which is performed byforeigners. Inviting a foreigner to host a Chinese TV program is anexample of “making things foreign serve the needs of China”， and introducingChina to the world using Cao Cao is an example of “makingthings Chinese serve the needs of the world”。 This is indeed a paragonof East-West cultural exchange.
Cao Cao has been as busy as a bee. Every week， he has to doa program for “The Seventh Day”， host “Glimpses of Beijing” plussome evening galas， and help with programs for variety shows. In addition，he writes a column in a foreign language magazine. All these things are only his “side occupations”。 His regular occupation is inthe show biz as a movie and TV star with endless contracts offered tohim. “It’s good to be busy，” I joked with him. “That means the peoplehere need you.” Since he had a busy schedule， we had to squeeze theinterview into a half day following the shooting of a TV program andbefore his flight to join his group in Shenyang.
Learning Chinese To Be “Cool When I called him to make the arrangement for the interview，Cao Cao considerately proposed meeting me half way in order to spareme the trouble of going across the city. However， since I knew hehad bought a house in Beijing and gotten married， I was quite curiousand wanted to see with my own eyes the happy domestic life of thissuccessful public figure. Therefore， I insisted on paying a visit to hishome.
When I knocked at the door， I heard a little doggie yelping frombehind it. Cao Cao had no sooner opened the door than the doggiejumped to the cuff of my pants and yapped crazily. “Sima Qian， don’
t be naughty，” he admonished. Wow！ Giving a little Chihuahua a namelike that！ I was amazed again at his unique way of thinking.
Noticing my amazement， he began to explain while seating mein a chair. “I thought highly of Sima Qian when I was reading hisRecords of the Historian. Typical historical records were written eitherin the form of chronicles or following sequences of historical events.
It is rare to see one using historical figures as a vehicle. By portrayingthe individual figures， Sima Qian depicted historical arenas and eventsfrom different angles， helping readers have a deeper understanding ofhistory. Sima Qian is great and extraordinary. That’s why…” That waswhy he named his pet dog after Sima Qian， the great historian of 20B.C.
It is beyond reproach for westerners to name their pets after theirheroes. Cao Cao’s admiration and respect for Sima Qian come fromthe bottom of his heart. All this tells us that his knowledge of Chineseculture is comprehensive and profound. But I am sure that someone42 would thoughtfully pass me a clinical thermometer or simply suggest Ishould see a doctor if I were to tell people that I held Sima Qian in myarms while interviewing Cao Cao.
I asked him about his original reason for learning Chinese in anattempt to dig up the roots of his “passion for China”。 “I learned Chineseonly to make me look ‘cool’ so I could draw girls’ attentions， he said seriously， without a sign of joking. “I took art courses in highschool. I once entered a national art competition but only won the thirdprize because I didn’t display my skills very well.” He still seemeddisappointed at not taking the first. However， the third prize winnerfound favor in the eyes of an arts professor at New York Universitybecause of his artistic potential. “My teacher told me to go straight tothe New York University School of Arts and major in performance andmovie direction. In order to graduate， you need to earn certain credits，one of them being a one-year course in a foreign language.” CaoCao found nothing interesting in Italian， Spanish or German. “I reallywanted to learn Chinese， which is quite different than these Westernlanguages. It would be cool to speak it，” he said. “Maybe girls wouldlike me if I spoke that language. His previous knowledge of China may have been limited to theGeneral Tsao’s chicken he had had at a Chinese restaurant. “Prettydelicious，” as he smacked his lips. I guess “General Tsao’s Chicken is probably the same dish as the famous “Cao Cao’s Chicken” fromBozhou， Cao Cao’s hometown in Anhui Province. Perhaps fearingthat “Cao Cao’s Chicken” wouldn’t make much sense to Americancustomers， restaurant owners in the US changed it to its current name.
My mere guesswork could not be proven without further research andJonathan drew no hasty conclusions either.
Learning Chinese inevitably got him involved in Chinese culture.
He pondered the commentaries and notes of different critics when heread The Arts of War by Sun Zi （Sun Tzu）， a strategist of the fifth centuryB.C. He thought Cao Cao’s commentary was the most striking ofall. He adored Cao Cao when he read the novel Romance of the ThreeKingdoms. “I think he is the coolest figure in the novel. He is intelligent，rebellious and a bit devilish. In my eyes， a man like him is really cool and must appeal to girls. I wanted to be as cool as him and so Inamed myself after him. The process of picking out a Chinese name for himself was notwithout twists. At first he gave himself the name “Fen Zi Shu Shi” or“Vertical Molecular Formula” because he favored natural science. “Aname of four characters！ Are you Japanese?” his teacher said shakinghis head. Then he decided to pick Cao Cao. The teacher didn’t agreeeither. Jonathan said， “Then call me ‘Qin Shihuang’ （the first Emperorof the Qin Dynasaty， 221 -206 B.C.）。” “That’s enough，” the teacherreplied. “Call yourself Cao Cao then.” With this annoying but funnystudent， his teacher was really at a loss at what else to say. After “bargaining back and forth， he finally got away with his “plot”。 Americanstudent Jonathan Kos-Read now had the Chinese name “Cao Cao”。