Fa Xiong (died 110s),

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 Theobald ...

Wenjiang, was an official who lived in the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

and served during the reign of Emperor An. He is best known for suppressing rebellions in present-day eastern

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

and the Liaodong Peninsula from 109–111 and for serving as the Administrator of Nan Commandery (around present-day Jingzhou,

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

) in the 110s. He was the great-grandfather of

Fa Zheng Fa Zheng (176–220), courtesy name Xiaozhi, was a key adviser to the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Born in a family of high social status and of noble descent, Fa Zheng travelled to Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan ...

, a chief adviser to the warlord

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 H ...

, who founded the state of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

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 Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

era.

Family background

Fa Xiong's ancestral home was in Mei County (), Fufeng Commandery (), which is in present-day

Mei County Mei County or Meixian () is a county under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Baoji, in the west of Shaanxi province, China. It is one of the birthplaces of the Western Zhou culture, during which it was known as Taiguo (邰国). ...

Baoji () is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a population of 3,321,853 accordin ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

. His ancestor was Tian Fazhang, who was formally known as King Xiang of the Qi state in the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

. Tian Fazhang's descendants changed their family name from "Tian" to "Fa" after the fall of Qi in 221 BCE. During the reign of Emperor Xuan in the

Western 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 ...

, Tian Fazhang's descendants were relocated to the capital province and granted a hereditary official position with an income of 2,000 ''dan'' () of grain.

Early career

Fa Xiong started his career as a minor officer in the commandery office and was later recruited to serve in the office of

Zhang Yu Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Z ...

(), the

Grand Tutor The Three Ducal Ministers (), also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in Ancient China and Imperial China. These posts were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 AD a ...

() in the Han imperial court. He was later nominated for promotion and was appointed as the Chief () of Pingshi County (). During his tenure, he governed the county well, maintained high standards of security in the area, and earned the admiration and respect of his subordinates and the people. Bao De (), the Administrator () of Nanyang Commandery (), reported Fa Xiong's achievements to the imperial court. Fa Xiong was then reassigned to be the Prefect () of Wanling County ().

Suppressing rebellions

In 109, during the reign of Emperor An, the pirate Zhang Bolu () donned military attire, declared himself 'General' (), and led some 3,000 followers to raid the regions near the coast in present-day eastern

and kill the officials there. The Han imperial court ordered Pang Xiong () to lead government forces to attack the pirates. Zhang Bolu surrendered initially, but returned to cause trouble again a year later. This time, he allied with Liu Wenhe () from Pingyuan County () and Liu's some 300 followers. They called themselves 'Emissaries' (). They attacked Yanci County () and killed its officials, and then headed to Gaotang County (), where they burnt down official buildings and freed prisoners from their cells. Bandits and outlaws in the area came to join Zhang Bolu, who donned official garments and declared himself 'General'. The imperial court commissioned Wang Zong () to mobilise thousands of government troops in

You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

and Ji provinces to counter Zhang Bolu's rebel army. Fa Xiong was appointed as the Inspector () of

Qing Province Qingzhou or Qing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China dating back to BCE that later became one of the thirteen provinces of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). The Nine Provinces were first described in the ''Tribute ...

and was ordered to assist Wang Zong in suppressing the revolt. The Han forces defeated the rebels, killed hundreds of them, captured their equipment and caused the others to disperse. Around the time, Emperor An issued a decree offering amnesty to the remaining rebels, but they were hesitant in surrendering because they saw that the government troops were still active. Wang Zong summoned all the Inspectors and Administrators to discuss his plan to attack the remaining rebels and eliminate them. Fa Xiong said, "No. Military force is a deadly weapon; war is dangerous. We cannot rely solely on courage; victory is not certain. If the rebels head towards the sea and sail to distant islands, it will be much harder to eliminate them. Now that the amnesty decree has arrived, it is better to withdraw our troops, so as to make the rebels feel at ease and put them off guard. They will definitely disperse later, and then we can subdue them without using much force." Wang Zong heeded Fa Xiong's suggestion and withdrew his troops. The rebels were delighted and they surrendered. However, the government forces in

Donglai Commandery Donglai Commandery ( zh, 東萊郡) was a historical Chinese commandery on the Jiaodong Peninsula, existing from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty. Donglai Commandery was likely established during Emperor Jing of Han's reign on the lands of Jiaodong Comm ...

() did not withdraw as ordered, so the rebels there became fearful and they escaped to an island near the Liaodong Peninsula. In the spring of 111, the rebels raided Donglai again when they ran out of food supplies. Fa Xiong led Donglai's armed forces to attack the rebels and defeated them, driving them back to Liaodong again. In Liaodong, Li Jiu () led a militia to assist Fa Xiong's army and they eliminated the remaining rebels. Peace was restored in the area.

Later career and death

Fa Xiong was known for his wisdom in reviewing criminal cases and detecting corruption in his administration. For example, he closely observed a prisoner's facial expression and used that to assess whether the person was guilty or not. He succeeded in separating truth and deception on several occasions. He also caught his subordinates who abused their power and had them dismissed from office. Fa Xiong served in

for four years before he was reassigned to be the Administrator of Nan Commandery (南郡; around present-day Jingzhou,

), which covered Yunmeng Lake () and part of the Han River. When he was in office, he managed criminal cases efficiently and maintained high standards of security. During his tenure, Nan Commandery not only experienced many bountiful harvests, but also saw an increase in its population. During the Yongchu era (107–114) in the reign of Emperor An, there were numerous incidents of people in Nan Commandery being attacked by predatory animals such as tigers and wolves. The previous Administrator had offered rewards to hunters to eliminate this threat, but these hunters ended up being killed by the animals instead. Fa Xiong believed that the animals would not disturb the people as long as they were allowed to roam free in the wild, so he instructed the people to stop hunting animals in the wild and destroy their hunting equipment. He was proven right because the frequency of such attacks decreased significantly after his suggestion was implemented. Fa Xiong died in office during the Yuanchu era (114–120) in the reign of Emperor An.(在州四年，遷南郡太守，斷獄省少，戶口益增。郡濵帶江沔，又有雲夢藪澤，永初中，多虎狼之暴，前太守賞募張捕，反為所害者甚衆。雄乃移書屬縣曰：「凡虎狼之在山林，猶人之居城市。古者至化之世，猛獸不擾，皆由恩信寬澤，仁及飛走。太守雖不德，敢忘斯義。記到，其毀壞檻穽，不得妄捕山林。」是後虎害稍息，人以獲安。在郡數歲，歲常豐稔。元初中卒官。) ''Houhanshu'' vol. 38.

References

* Fan, Ye. ''

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 Later ...

'' (''Houhanshu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Fa, Xiong Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 2nd-century deaths Han dynasty politicians from Shaanxi Politicians from Baoji

Family background

Early career

Suppressing rebellions

Later career and death

See also

References