Xin Ping ( 190s–204),

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 Theob ...

Zhongzhi, was a Chinese official who served under the warlords Han Fu,

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 ...

and

Yuan Tan Yuan Tan (died 205), courtesy name Xiansi, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who was the eldest son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who occupied much of northern China during the late Eastern Han dynasty. After Yuan Shao's death, Y ...

during the late Eastern Han dynasty.

Life

Xin Ping was from Yangzhai County (陽翟縣),

Yingchuan Commandery Yingchuan Commandery ( zh, 潁川郡) was a Chinese commandery from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty, located in modern central Henan province. The name referred to the Ying River, which flowed through its territory. The commandery was es ...

(潁川郡), which is around present-day

Yuzhou, Henan Yuzhou () is a county-level city in the central part of Henan, People's Republic of China. It occupies the northwest corner of the prefecture-level city of Xuchang. The city is named for Yu the Great, the founder of the Xia Dynasty, which the ci ...

. His ancestors were actually from Longxi Commandery (隴西郡; around present-day Dingxi, Gansu), but they migrated to Yingchuan Commandery during the Jianwu era (25–56 CE) of the reign of Emperor Guangwu in the early Eastern Han dynasty. Xin Ping started his career as an adviser to the warlord Han Fu, who governed Ji Province (covering much of present-day

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

) from 189 to 191. In 191, Xin Ping, along with Xun Chen and

Guo Tu Guo Tu (died 205), courtesy name Gongze, was an official and adviser serving under the warlords Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Life Guo Tu was from Yingchuan Commandery (潁川郡), which is around presen ...

, managed to persuade Han Fu to give up his governorship of Ji Province to another warlord

, who they said would be in a better position to defend Ji Province from an invasion by a rival warlord

Gongsun Zan Gongsun Zan () (before 161 - April or May 199), courtesy name Bogui, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. Life Little is known of Gongsun Zan's early life. He and Liu Bei stu ...

. Xin Ping subsequently became an official serving under Yuan Shao, and he brought along his younger brother

Xin Pi Xin Pi (before 191 - 235), courtesy name Zuozhi, was an official of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Along with his elder brother Xin Ping, he started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty as an adviser to t ...

. In the year 200, Yuan Shao clashed with his rival Cao Cao at the

Battle of Guandu The Battle of Guandu was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in 200 AD in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Cao's decisive victory against Yuan Shao's numerically superior forces marked the turning point in their war. The victo ...

. During the battle, two sons of Yuan Shao's adviser

Shen Pei Shen Pei (died 204), courtesy name Zhengnan, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty. Xun Yu, an official serving under Yuan Shao's rival Cao Cao, once said that Shen ...

were captured by Cao Cao's forces. Meng Dai (孟岱), one of Yuan Shao's subordinates, was not on good terms with Shen Pei, so he asked his colleague Jiang Qi (蔣奇) to pass a message to Yuan Shao: "Shen Pei has been behaving autocratically and he has strong support from his kinsmen. Now that his two sons have been captured by the enemy, he may think of defecting to the enemy to save his sons." Xin Ping and his colleague

agreed with Meng Dai. Yuan Shao thus appointed Meng Dai as his new army supervisor and ordered him to replace Shen Pei as the officer guarding his home base in Ye (present-day Handan,

). In 202, two years after his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao died without clearly naming one of his sons as his successor. A power struggle thus broke out between two of his sons,

and

Yuan Shang Yuan Shang (died December 207), courtesy name Xianfu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the third son and successor of the warlord Yuan Shao. In the 14th-centu ...

, over the succession. Yuan Shao's followers were also divided into two camps: one camp, led by Shen Pei and

Pang Ji Pang Ji (died 202), courtesy name Yuantu, was a Chinese politician serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Pang Ji was criticised by Cao Cao's advisor Xun Yu as "brave but heedless of other's opinions ...

, supported Yuan Shang and helped him gain control over Ye city; the other camp, led by Xin Ping and Guo Tu, sided with Yuan Tan, who based himself in Pingyuan County. The Yuan brothers then waged war against each other. In 203, when Yuan Shang attacked Yuan Tan at Pingyuan County, Guo Tu advised Yuan Tan to make peace with Cao Cao and ally with Cao Cao to counter Yuan Shang. After Yuan Tan reluctantly agreed, Guo Tu nominated Xin Ping's brother

to serve as Yuan Tan's representative to meet Cao Cao. Xin Pi succeeded in his mission and managed to convince Cao Cao to help Yuan Tan. Cao Cao then led his forces to Liyang (黎陽; present-day

Xun County Xun County or Xunxian () is a county in the north of Henan province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hebi and located on the transition of the East China Plain and the Taihang Mountains. Xun County has a his ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

). Earlier on, when conflict first broke out between Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, Xin Ping's brother Xin Pi accompanied Yuan Tan to Pingyuan County but left his family members behind in Yuan Shang's base at Ye city. Yuan Shang later ordered the Xin family to be arrested and imprisoned. In 204, Cao Cao led his forces to attack Yuan Shang at the Battle of Ye. When Cao Cao's forces broke through Ye's defences, Shen Pei, who was in charge of defending Ye, blamed Xin Pi for the Yuan family's downfall so he ordered his men to execute the Xin family in prison. After Ye fell to Cao Cao's forces, Xin Pi, who was with Cao Cao at the time, rushed to the prison to free his family but it was too late as all of them were already dead.(先賢行狀曰： ... 初，譚之去，皆呼辛毗、郭圖家得出，而辛評家獨被收。及配兄子開城門內兵，時配在城東南角樓上，望見太祖兵入，忿辛、郭壞敗兾州，乃遣人馳詣鄴獄，指殺仲治家。是時，辛毗在軍，聞門開，馳走詣獄，欲解其兄家，兄家已死。) ''Xianxian Xingzhuang'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 6. While it is unknown whether Xin Ping was executed along with his family, there is no further mention of him in historical records.

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). '' Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi''). * * Fan, Ye (5th century). '' Book of the Later Han'' (''Houhanshu''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). '' Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Xin, Ping 2nd-century births 3rd-century deaths Officials under Yuan Shao Officials under Cao Cao

Life

See also

References