Dong Zhao (156 – 4 July 236),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...

Gongren, was an official of the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' < Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

period of China. He previously served under the warlords

Yuan Shao Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred t ...

, Zhang Yang and

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the dynasty's final years. As one o ...

consecutively during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

Service under Yuan Shao

Dong Zhao was a ''

xiaolian Xiaolian (; literally "filial and incorrupt"), was the standard of nominating civil officers started by Emperor Wu of Han in 134 BC. It lasted until its replacement by the imperial examination system during the Sui Dynasty. In Confucian philosophy ...

'' and served as a county official in his early years under the warlord

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 Henei Commandery ( zh, 河內郡) was a commandery of China from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty, located in modern Henan province, to the north of Yellow River. In ancient China, Henei ("Inside the Yellow River") referred to the land north of the low ...

, which was governed by the warlord Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang let Dong Zhao join him and appointed him as an official. In 192, when

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 Xuzhou as a historical toponym refers to varied area in different eras. Ordinarily, it was a reference to the one of the Nine Provinces (China), Nine Provinces which modern Xuzhou inherited. History Pre-Qin era Xuzhou or Xu Province was one ...

from

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the ...

, Dong Zhao was appointed as the Governor of Xu Province. Subsequently, Dong Zhao followed Cao Cao on the campaigns against

and the

Wuhuan The Wuhuan (, < Eastern Han Chinese: *''ʔɑ-ɣuɑn'', <

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 Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

was attacking

Fancheng Fancheng is a district of the city of Xiangyang, Hubei, People's Republic of China. History Fancheng, or Fan City, was an ancient city in Hubei, situated on the northern side of the Han River, opposite Xiangyang on the southern side of the r ...

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime ...

agreed to send reinforcements to help the entrapped

Cao Ren Cao Ren () (168 – 6 May 223), courtesy name Zixiao, was a military general serving during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China under the warlord Cao Cao, who was also his older second cousin. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei – ...

. 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 Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest s ...

usurped the throne from Emperor Xian and established the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' < Cao Rui Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later rem ...

, 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 Wu (Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

Eastern Han Chinese

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in hi ...

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 Countries in the East Asian cultural sphere (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and their diasporas) have traditionally used specific methods of reckoning a person's numerical age based not on their birthday but the calendar year, and what age one is ...

) and was given a posthumous title of a marquis.

Notes

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220� ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...