Lei Xu, alternatively Lei Pu or Lei Bo, was a military officer and rebel who was mainly active in the 200s in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Initially loyal to

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

Yuan Shu Yuan Shu () (155 – 199), courtesy name Gonglu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the Han central government in 189. He decla ...

, Lei Xu abandoned his master when the latter's regime collapsed, becoming an independent bandit. In 200, he accepted the authority of Liu Fu, an official loyal to

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 ...

, but rebelled again in 208. In the following year, he was defeated by Cao Cao's general

Xiahou Yuan Xiahou Yuan () (died February 219), courtesy name Miaocai, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is known for his exploits in western China (in parts of prese ...

and fled to Jing Province and submitted to

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 ...

Biography

Lei Xu (referred to as "Lei Pu" by

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an Artifact (archaeology), artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was cre ...

s at this point) was first recorded as an officer serving under

, a

active during the

end of the Han dynasty The end of the (Eastern) Han dynasty was the period of History of China, Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE, roughly coinciding with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler, Emperor Xian of Han, Emperor Xian. It was followed by the ...

. Yuan Shu had declared himself "emperor of Zhong" in 197, resulting in a coalition of other warlords taking up arms against him. The Zhong regime quickly collapsed, and Yuan Shu fled his capital in 199. He travelled to the hills of Lujiang which were controlled by Lei Xu and another officer, Chen Lan. However, the two refused to accept their former superior, and drove him away. By 200, Lei Xu, Chen Lan, and Mei Cheng were operating as bandits from Lujiang, using their dissident armies to plunder the area between the Yangzi and

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

, a powerful warlord who held the lands to the north, sought to restore some order to the region. He sent Liu Fu to become the inspector of

Yang Province Yangzhou, Yangchow or Yang Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China mentioned in historical texts such as the ''Yu Gong, Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'' and ''Rites of Zhou''. Name There are four different theories regarding the origi ...

, and Liu managed to convince Lei Xu, Chen Lan, and Mei Cheng to submit. In 208, Cao Cao suffered a major defeat in the

Battle of Red Cliffs The Battle of Red Cliffs, also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in China that took place during the winter of AD 208–209. It was fought on the Yangtze River between the forces of warlords controlling different parts ...

at the hands of three rival warlords,

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

, and Liu Qi. In addition, Liu Fu died around 209. These events caused Lei Xu, Chen Lan, and Mei Cheng to rebel once more. Cao Cao responded by sending one of his generals,

, who defeated Lei Xu and evicted him from Lujiang. However, the rebel leader survived and still commanded a sizable force of followers; he fled westward and submitted to Liu Bei. ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 32. The ''

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 ...

'' reported that Lei then settled in

Jing Province Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in early Chinese texts such as the ''Yu Gong, Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'', and ''Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of E ...

with tens of thousands of followers, but

sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

Rafe de Crespigny Richard Rafe Champion de Crespigny (born 1936), also known by his Chinese name Zhang Leifu (), is an Australian sinologist and historian. He is an adjunct professor in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. ...

considers these numbers to be an exaggeration. In de Crespigny's 2007 work, he suggested that Lei Xu was killed in 209. However, his 1990 work stated that the rebel fled to Liu Bei after defeat to Xiahou Yuan, with no mention of any further attack and death, while sinologist William Crowell suggests Lei Xu merely fled and later joined Liu Bei with no mention of death.

Notes

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Works cited

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

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * 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:Lei, Xu Year of birth unknown 2nd-century births People during the end of the Han dynasty

Biography

See also

Notes

References

Works cited