Xiahou Dun
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| Names | |
|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese: | 夏侯惇 |
| Traditional Chinese: | 夏侯惇 |
| Pinyin: | Xiàhóu Dūn |
| Wade-Giles: | Hsiahou Tun |
| Zi: | Yuanrang (元讓) |
| Other names: | Blind Xiahou (盲夏侯) |
Xiahou Dun (? – 220) was a military general under the powerful warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms Period in ancient China. Cao Cao's original family name was Xiahou, but his father, Song, was adopted by the Cao family, so Dun and Cao share family relations. One of the most trusted men of Cao Cao's, Xiahou Dun aided the warlord in his campaigns against Lü Bu, Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
Xiahou Dun lost his left eye during a battle in 198, and subsequently became known among the rank and file as "Blind Xiahou", which greatly irked him. His image as a one-eyed warrior was later popularized by the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which he was said to have yanked out the arrow that struck him in the eye fired by Cao Xing and devoured his own eyeball to instill fear in his enemies.
The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms describes Xiahou Dun as a modest and generous man. He personally fetched his teacher to the camp so that he could continue his studies in the field. He also distributed any excess wealth he had, taking from the treasury only in need, and did not own any property. At his death, he was given the posthumous title of Marquis Zhong (忠侯), literally meaning the loyal marquis.
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[edit] Life
Xiahou Dun was born in the county of Qiao (譙, present day Bozhou, Anhui). At fourteen, Xiahou Dun killed a man who insulted his teacher. His fiery personality had been well-known ever since. In 190, Xiahou Dun joined Cao Cao as the latter was raising an army to join the coalition against Dong Zhuo, the tyrannical warlord who held the emperor hostage.
Xiahou Dun had been a close aide to Cao Cao during the initial battles against Dong Zhuo as well as the Battle of Yanzhou, and was made a deputy commander. However, he suffered a huge humiliation in 194 when he was held hostage in his own camp. At that time, Cao Cao was leading a campaign against Tao Qian (陶謙), the governor of the Xuzhou (徐州, present day northern Jiangsu) whom Cao Cao accused of killing his father, leaving Xiahou Dun to guard the city of Puyang (濮陽).
However, Zhang Miao (張邈) and Chen Gong, along with several other subjects of Cao Cao, rebelled. They colluded with Lü Bu, a mighty warrior leading a wandering army, and quickly occupied most of Yanzhou (兗州, present day western Shandong). Xiahou Dun immediately drew on a light cavalry force and headed for Juancheng (鄄城), where Cao Cao's family resided.
On the way, Xiahou Dun ran into Lü Bu's force. Lü Bu evaded the encounter and came for Puyang. With its commander out in the field, Puyang soon felled. Lü Bu then sent envoys to Xiahou Dun, pretending to surrender. Lü Bu's man then took Xiahou Dun hostage within his own tent, and demanded a heavy ransom.
Fortunately, Xiahou Dun's subject Han Hao (韓浩) was calm and collected throughout the crisis. He quickly took over command of the troops and refused negotiations with the captors. He then ordered soldiers to storm Xiahou Dun's tent. Not expecting such hardline response, the traitors surrendered and were executed.
When Cao Cao learnt of the rebellion, he hastily returned and laid siege on Lü Bu in Puyang. After more than hundred days of stalemate, a famine breakout forced Lü Bu to give up his position and seek refuge under Liu Bei in Xiapi.
However, Lü Bu soon turned on his host and took over Xiapi, sending Liu Bei to nearby town of Xiaopei (小沛). In 198, Lü Bu even deployed his aide Gao Shun to attack Xiaopei. Under the request from Liu Bei, Cao Cao sent Xiahou Dun to engage Gao Shun. However, Xiahou Dun lost the battle, during which he was struck by a stray arrow in the left eye, Xiahou Dun in response famously ate his left eye. After personally leading an army to defeat Lü Bu, Cao Cao compensated Xiahou Dun by promoting him to Jianwu General.(建武將軍).
Xiahou Dun then spearheaded an agricultural program in the proximity of Chenliu (陳留, southeast of present day Kaifeng, Henan). He instructed workers to dam up the Taishou River (太壽水, a distributary of Huai River) so as to create a large pond. He then encouraged the people to grow paddy rice in the inundated land. The program greatly aided the people during the years of severe famine.
In 202 Xiahou Dun was sent to defend against Liu Bei's invasion in the Battle of Bowang, where Liu Bei suddenly set his own camp on fire. Xiahou Dun gave chase despite warnings by Li Dian, and his army was defeated when Liu Bei's forces ambushed him.
After the death of Cao Cao in 220, his successor Cao Pi forced the last emperor of the Han Dynasty to abdicate and subsequently assumed the throne as the first emperor of the Kingdom of Wei. Cao Pi then made Xiahou Dun the Supreme General (大將軍). However, Xiahou Dun died of illness just several months later, as if to follow Cao Cao into the afterlife.
[edit] Personality
Xiahou Dun was said to be a righteous but violent man, kind and loyal to friends and family, ruthless and merciless to his enemies. He was (and still is) considered Cao Cao's right hand man and was said to often ride in the same carriage as his master, a privilege not even extended to Cao Cao's stalwart bodyguards Dian Wei and Xu Chu.
As a general, however, his fiery persona was more often a hindrance than help. While his physical prowess was unquestioned (according to one story, Xiahou Dun once fought Lü Bu to a standstill), his military successes were few and far between. It was under his leadership that Cao Cao's forces fell to an ambush at the Battle of Bowang, costing thousands of men their lives when he pursued Liu Bei's forces into a gulley. A fire attack was launched, and in the chaos many of Cao Cao's elite troops were lost. On another occasion, Xiahou Dun was captured and held hostage in his own camp by traitors. He was rescued when his subordinates refused to negotiate and attacked, slaying his captors.
When he was made a governor, Xiahou Dun quickly found his calling. Besides damming up the Taishou River and encouraging people to plant paddy in the resulting inundated land, he was also said to have personally joined in the planting. He gained a reputation for generosity because of his habit of distributing wealth among his people and keeping very little (or, according to some stories, none) for himself. Because of this, he was well-loved by his people.
His hot-temper was well-known. Following the loss of his eye, he learnt that he was nicknamed "the Blind Xiahou" by others (possibly to distinguish him from his equally famous brother Xiahou Yuan). He despised the name, and according to the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms whenever he caught sight of his face in a mirror, he would rip the mirror out and smash it into the ground.
Even more famous that his temper was his loyalty to his cousin and kinsman Cao Cao. An anecdote goes that when Cao Cao was made King of Wei, he gave titles to his generals but gave Xiahou Dun a title from the Han Empire, rather than the land of Wei Cao Cao himself ruled. Xiahou Dun questioned Cao Cao about it, and the Wei ruler stated that great officers should belong to great lands, and that the land of Wei was not grand enough for an officer of Xiahou Dun's caliber. While touched, Xiahou Dun refused the Han title and requested a Wei title instead, demonstrating his loyalty to his master over his loyalty to the Han Emperor.
[edit] Xiahou Dun in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, was a romanticization of the events that occurred before and during the Three Kingdoms period. In the book, Xiahou Dun was said to be a cousin of Cao Cao, while his loss of an eye was also made much more dramatic than it probably was.
In 198, Xiahou Dun was sent to engage Gao Shun and Cao Xing, two aides of Lü Bu, outside Xiaopei (小沛). As his force came upon the enemies, Xiahou Dun rode forward with spear set to offer a challenge. Gao Shun took him on and the two dueled for forty or fifty bouts before Gao Shun, feeling outmatched, retreated. Xiahou Dun pursued him deep into the enemy lines.
Then Cao Xing secretly took aim and fired an arrow at Xiahou Dun. The arrow hit the target right in the left eye. With a cry, Xiahou Dun pulled out the arrow along with his eyeball. "Essence of my father, blood of my mother, I cannot throw this away," he exclaimed and swallowed the eye.
His spear firmly held up, Xiahou Dun then came straight for Cao Xing. With no time to react, Cao Xing was impaled right in the face and died beneath his nemesis' horse.
[edit] Modern references
Unlike his master and relative Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun tends to be viewed somewhat sympathetically (possibly because of his loyalty to his family). When he appears in anime or manga, he is often shown as being one of Cao Cao's top generals and most trusted advisors. He is portrayed as both courageous and just, in contrast to Cao Cao's infamous deceit and ruthlessness.
Xiahou Dun appears in the Koei video game series Dynasty Warriors as a bearded, ferocious and charismatic officer. He is portrayed in a similar fashion to his novel counterpart, in that he is a just and honourable man, although hot-headed and ruthless in his attempts to achieve the ultimate ambitions of his cousin, Cao Cao. He loses his left eye in battle early in the game, and remarks at how this event has actually helped him to "see" his life more clearly.
Xiahou wields a large dao called the "Kirin Fang." Due to Xiahou's desire to become Cao Cao's most trusted, respected and accomplished general, he develops a strong and bitter rivalry with Guan Yu who, under the service of Cao Cao, gains tremendous respect as an officer and bodyguard. When Guan attempts to abandon Cao Cao and return to his oath brothers, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, Xiahou is finally given a reason to kill his hated rival, citing Guan's prowess in battle as his excuse for doing so. He fails, however, setting in stone Xiahou's desire to hunt down and execute Guan for the remainder of his missions.
Guan is instead killed by Lu Meng of Sun Wu, leaving Xiahou feeling unfulfilled. In the end, all Xiahou can do is praise Guan's skill and return to a land at peace, united under Cao Cao's rule. Thus his own chaos ended.
[edit] The Xiahou Clan
[edit] Direct descendants
- Xiahou Chong (夏侯充)
- Xiahou Yi (夏侯廙)
- Xiahou Zuo (夏侯佐)
- Xiahou Shao (succeeded Xiahou Zuo but is not a direct descendant of Xiahou Yi) (夏侯劭)
- Xiahou Yi (夏侯廙)
- Xiahou Mao (夏侯楙)
[edit] Immediate Family
- Xiahou Lian (younger brother) (夏侯廉)
[edit] Extended family
- Xiahou Yuan¹ (younger cousin)
- Xiahou Shang (nephew) (夏侯尚)
- Xiahou Xuan (夏侯玄)
- Xiahou Ben (grandnephew of Xiahou Shang) (夏侯本)
- Xiahou Xuan (夏侯玄)
- Xiahou Ru (adopted cousin, adopted brother of Xiahou Shang) (夏侯儒)
- Xiahou En (distant nephew) (夏侯恩)
- Xiahou De (fictitious nephew in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms) (夏侯德)
- Xiahou Feng (distant grandnephew, nephew of Xiahou Shang) (夏侯奉)
[edit] Uncertain relationships
- Xiahou Lan (夏侯蘭)
- Xiahou Cun (夏侯存)
- Xiahou Xian (夏侯獻)
¹ For a complete list of Xiahou Yuan's descendants, see Xiahou Yuan.
[edit] References
- Chen Shou (2002). San Guo Zhi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80665-198-5.
- Luo Guanzhong (1986). San Guo Yan Yi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80520-013-0.
- Lo Kuan-chung; tr. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor (2002). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-3467-9.
[edit] See also
- Three Kingdoms
- Han dynasty
- Personages of the Three Kingdoms
- Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms
