The Battle of Cangting was part of a mop-up operation undertaken by the warlord Cao Cao after his victory over his rival Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu in 200 in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. The battle was also mentioned in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms as the final clash between the forces of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao before Yuan Shao died.