Hou Cheng () ( 198–199) was a military officer serving under the warlords

Lü Bu Lü Bu (; died 7 February 199), courtesy name Fengxian, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of Imperial China. Originally a subordinate of a minor warlord Ding Yuan, he betrayed a ...

and

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

of China.

In historical records

In 198, during the

Battle of Xiapi The Battle of Xiapi was fought between the forces of Lü Bu against the allied armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei from the winter of 198 to 7 February 199 towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. The battle concluded with victory for C ...

, fought between the warlords

and

(with support from

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

), Cao's forces besieged Lü Bu in Xiapi (下邳; present-day

Pizhou Pizhou () is a county-level city under the administration of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China. As of 2020 it had a population of 1,462,563; it borders the Shandong prefecture-level cities of Linyi to the northeast and Zaozhuang to the northwest ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

) and directed the waters of the Yi (沂) and Si rivers to flood the city. After three months, the morale of Lü Bu's army fell drastically and his men gradually alienated him. Around this time, Hou Cheng sent a trader to purchase 15 horses, but the man escaped with the horses and headed towards Xiaopei (小沛; present-day Pei County, Jiangsu) with the intention of defecting to Liu Bei. Hou Cheng personally pursued the trader and retrieved all the horses. Lü Bu's officers then threw a feast to celebrate Hou Cheng's achievement. Hou Cheng prepared 5-6 ''hu'' (斛) of wine and about ten roasted hogs, and he presented half a hog and five ''dou'' (斗) of wine to Lü Bu before the feast started. He knelt down and said, "With your grace, I managed to retrieve the stolen horses. The others came to congratulate me, so I prepared some wine and hogs for a feast. I don't dare to start first, so now I present the food and wine to you." Lü Bu was furious and he said, "I banned alcohol, but you and the others dare to throw a party! Are you plotting with them to kill me?" Hou Cheng was shocked and he immediately left. He also discarded the wine he prepared and returned the gifts he received from the other officers. On 7 February 199, Hou Cheng, along with his colleagues Song Xian (宋憲) and Wei Xu (魏續), captured Lü Bu's strategist

Chen Gong Chen Gong () (died 7 February 199), courtesy name Gongtai, was an adviser to the warlord Lü Bu in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. However, he had started his career under another warlord, Cao Cao, before defecting to Lü Bu. He was ex ...

and general

Gao Shun Gao Shun () (died 7 February 199) was a military officer serving the warlord Lü Bu during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Although he only had 700 men under his command, his unit was nicknamed as the "camp crusher (or formation breaker ...

, and led their troops to surrender to Cao Cao.

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

This incident was dramatised in Chapter 19 of the 14th-century historical novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

''. When Hou Cheng presented wine to

, the latter was angry because Hou defied his ban on alcohol. Lü Bu ordered Hou Cheng to be executed, but Song Xian and Wei Xu pleaded with their lord to spare Hou Cheng. Lü Bu then had Hou Cheng flogged 50 times before releasing him. Hou Cheng later plotted with Song Xian and Wei Xu to betray Lü Bu, so he stole Lü Bu's horse, the

Red Hare The Red Hare or Chi Tu () was a famous horse owned by the warlord Lü Bu, who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. In historical records The Red Hare was mentioned in Lü Bu's biographies in the historical texts ''Records of the ...

, escaped from Xiapi, and went to

's camp, where he told Cao Cao about their plot. With the aid of Song Xian and Wei Xu, Cao Cao's forces broke into Xiapi and captured Lü Bu.''Sanguo Yanyi'' ch. 19.

Notes

References

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

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Fan, Ye (5th century). ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

'' (''Houhanshu''). * Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). ''

'' (''Sanguo Yanyi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms ''Annotated 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 the fall of the Eastern Jin ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Hou, Cheng Military officers under Lü Bu 2nd-century births Year of death unknown

In historical records

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

See also

Notes

References