生平

袁绍猜忌

董昭举孝廉，就任瘿陶县县长、柏人县县令；曾以瘿陶县长的身份接见新任冀州刺史贾琮。后袁绍封其为参军。界桥之战期间，巨鹿太守李邵欲投降公孙瓒。袁绍听闻后指派董昭代领巨鹿太守。到任即用计诛杀当地豪强孙伉。附近数郡因此都归顺。碰巧魏郡太守贾攀为士兵所杀，袁绍以董昭代领魏郡太守。当时附近贼人以万计，能够互相遣使往来交易。董昭厚待贼人，用计离间贼寇之间，并乘虚讨伐，大破贼寇。后来董昭弟弟董访在与袁绍不和的张邈军中，袁绍因谗言欲加罪于董昭，逼使董昭出逃。

张杨庇护

董昭欲往汉献帝所在，到河内郡为张杨所留，被封为骑都尉。初平三年（192年）曹操遣使张杨欲借道长安迎接天子，张杨初期不许，为董昭说服。董昭为曹操写作书信给与长安诸将李傕、郭汜等。曹操重金贿赂张杨后获得准许遣使往天子所在安邑，董昭跟随，封为议郎。

曹操部下

建安元年（196年）董昭奉承天子近臣杨奉，令杨奉支持封爵曹操为镇东将军，费亭侯。另外封董昭为符节令。同年董昭又献计曹操诱骗杨奉领天子到许昌。后张杨被杀，董昭被派往招降张杨旧部薛洪、缪尚等人，董昭因此被封冀州州牧。

建安四年（199年）曹操派刘备攻袁术，董昭与程昱、郭嘉等都警告曹操放刘备必反，刘备叛变后为曹操攻破，董昭被封为徐州州牧。

次年官渡之战董昭被派往魏郡作太守抵抗颜良。围邺城战中，董昭写书信劝降袁绍同族春卿。平定邺城后，封董昭为谏议大夫。曹操攻乌丸蹋顿时命董昭开凿平虏、泉州二渠帮助运粮。董昭因此被封千秋亭侯，后封司空军祭酒。董昭期后向曹操建议恢复古代五等封建制，为日后篡汉铺路。

建安十七年（212年），董昭献计曹操受魏公。建安二十一年（216年），助曹操封魏王之号。建安二十四年（219年）关羽围曹仁于樊城中，孙权答应夹攻但要求保密，董昭献计曹操当面答应孙权保密，其实以箭矢射入城中通知城内以振奋士气。

辅助魏帝

黄初元年（220年）曹丕即王位，拜董昭将作大匠。同年曹丕即帝位，迁董昭大鸿胪、右乡候。次年（221年），赐董昭弟董访爵关内候，董昭为侍中。

黄初三年（222年），曹休欲攻江南，曹丕担心曹休冒进，董昭看穿曹休将军如臧霸已经十分富贵，只希望安定退休而已，必定不会以命相抟，结果曹休不能如愿南下。夏侯尚等攻江陵，以水浅，造浮桥攻城，董昭认为此举脆弱，结果不久水涨，曹军及时撤出。

黄初五年（224年），封成都乡侯、太常。同年，徙光禄大夫、给事中。跟从曹丕东征，黄初七年（226年）曹丕归来后拜董昭为太仆。同年曹睿即位，董昭进爵乐平侯、卫尉、一子爵关内侯。

太和四年（230年），董昭上陈流末之弊，令诸葛诞、邓扬等被罢免。太和六年（232）七月任为司徒。青龙四年五月乙卯日（236年7月4日）病逝，享年81岁，諡定侯。

其他

黄初初年（221年-222年），董昭有一次躺在同任侍中的苏则大腿上，苏则反推开董昭并说：「我苏则之膝，不是佞人的枕头。」

家庭

• 董访，弟弟

• 董胄，嗣子，历任郡守、九卿

• 侄女董氏，司马芝妻

评价

• 曹丕：「君论此事，何其审也！正使张、陈当之，何以复加。」

• 陈寿：「程昱、郭嘉、董昭、刘晔、蒋济才策谋略，世之奇士，虽清治德业，殊于荀攸，而筹画所料，是其伦也。」

• 郝经：「危哉！昭烈防不出数子之彀，操之遣拒袁术也，昱嘉昭皆以为不可遣，毒手莫施幸而扬去，料敌制胜卒使昭烈不得中原尺土。呜呼！数子何雠汉之深也。当是之时，魏有荀彧、荀攸、贾诩、程昱、郭嘉、董昭、刘晔、蒋济、司马懿为之谋，吴有张昭、周瑜、鲁肃、吕蒙、陆逊运其筹。」

• 胡三省：「昭人品不足称，其谋略妙，不下二荀。」

• 王鸣盛：「诸人皆魏之谋主也，运筹决胜，功绩卓然。」

漫画

• 《火凤燎原》（陈某）:尚未登场，于赤壁之战后曾提及其奏请刘协封曹操为魏公。

Service under Yuan Shao

Dong Zhao was a xiaolian and served as a county official in his early years under the warlord Yuan Shao before being promoted to a military adviser. He was appointed as the governing official of several counties and commanderies in Yuan Shao's territories and governed them well. However, Yuan Shao listened to slanderous rumours and began to doubt Dong Zhao's loyalty towards him. Dong Zhao was fearful that Yuan Shao might kill him and he fled.

Service under Zhang Yang

Dong Zhao wanted to flee to where Emperor Xian was. On the way, he passed by Henei Commandery, which was governed by the warlord Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang let Dong Zhao join him and appointed him as an official. In 192, when Cao Cao wanted to seek permission to pass through Zhang Yang's territory to receive Emperor Xian from exile, Zhang Yang initially refused, but after Dong Zhao's persuasion he agreed. Dong Zhao followed Cao Cao to receive the emperor.

Service under Cao Cao

In 196, Emperor Xian met Cao Cao, who received him with all due respect after heeding Dong Zhao's suggestion. After the death of Zhang Yang, Dong Zhao went to persuade Zhang Yang's followers to join Cao Cao. By then, Dong Zhao had formally entered Cao Cao's service. In 199, after Cao Cao seized back Xu Province from Liu Bei, Dong Zhao was appointed as the Governor of Xu Province. Subsequently, Dong Zhao followed Cao Cao on the campaigns against Yuan Shao and the Wuhuan tribes and was promoted to even higher official positions. In 216, Dong Zhao aided Cao Cao by persuading Emperor Xian to confer on Cao Cao the title of a vassal king – King of Wei. In 219, while Guan Yu was attacking Fancheng, Sun Quan agreed to send reinforcements to help the entrapped Cao Ren. To keep things secret, Dong Zhao proposed a trick of tying the messages written on paper onto arrows which were fired into the city. When Cao Ren's troops heard that Sun Quan was willing to send reinforcements, the army's morale was boosted and eventually culminated in Guan Yu's defeat.

Service in Wei

In 220, Cao Pi usurped the throne from Emperor Xian and established the state of Cao Wei to replace the Han dynasty. Throughout the reign of Cao Pi and his successor Cao Rui, Dong Zhao played an important role in state affairs by providing suggestions and advice to the emperors. He managed to predict the movements and decisions of the enemy accurately a few times and saved the Wei armies from defeat, such as during a campaign against the rival state of Eastern Wu in which Dong Zhao predicted correctly that there would be an ambush. Highly recognised for his contributions to the state, Dong Zhao was promoted to even higher official positions. In 236, Dong Zhao died at the age of 81 (by East Asian age reckoning) and was given a posthumous title of a marquis.