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 ...
Zhongmiao, was a military general serving under 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 ...
in the late
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 ...
of China. Liu Bei thought very highly of Huo Jun and in a letter to
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...
praised him as a great warrior with many achievements. When Huo Jun died, Liu Bei deeply mourned him, led his officials during his burial and stayed overnight at his tomb which was a great honor.
Life
Huo Jun was from Zhijiang County (),
Nan Commandery Nan Commandery ( zh, 南郡, "Southern Commandery") was a Chinese commandery that existed from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty. Its territories covered present-day central and western Hubei province, as well as parts of Chongqing. The seat ...
(),
Jing Province
Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in Chinese historical texts such as the ''Tribute of Yu'', '' Erya'' and '' Rites of Zhou''.
Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of Empe ...
, which is in present-day
Zhijiang, Hubei
Zhijiang () is a county-level city of Yichang City, in the west of Hubei province, People's Republic of China. Until the 1990s Zhijiang was a county. It is located on the left (northern) shore of the Yangtze River, downstream from Yichang center ...
. His elder brother, Huo Du (), rallied a few hundred men from their hometown to form a militia. After Huo Du's death,
Liu Biao
Liu Biao () () (151 – September 208), courtesy name Jingsheng, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is best known for serving as the Governor of Jing Province (coveri ...
, the Governor () of Jing Province, put Huo Jun in command of the militia. When Liu Biao died in late 208, Huo Jun led his followers to join 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 previously took shelter under Liu Biao. Liu Bei appointed Huo Jun as a General of the Household ().
Around 211, Liu Bei led an army from Jing Province to
Yi Province
Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture, was a '' zhou'' (province) of ancient China. Its capital city was Chengdu.de Crespigny, p. 256. During the Han dynasty, it included the commanderies Hanzhong, Ba, Guanghan, Shu, Wenshan, Jianwei, ...
(covering present-day
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
and
Chongqing
Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
) to assist the provincial governor Liu Zhang in countering a rival warlord, Zhang Lu, in Hanzhong Commandery. In 212, when conflict broke out between Liu Bei and Liu Zhang, the former led his forces from Jiameng () to attack the latter, leaving behind Huo Jun to defend Jiameng. At the same time, Zhang Lu sent his general Yang Bo () to entice Huo Jun to defect to Zhang Lu, by offering to defend Jiameng together with him. Huo Jun replied Yang Bo, "You can take a ''
xiaoren
A junzi ( or "Son of the Monarch") is a Chinese philosophical term often translated as " gentleman," "superior person",Sometimes "exemplary person". Paul R. Goldin translates it "noble man" in an attempt to capture both its early political and l ...
s head but not a fortress." Yang Bo therefore retreated.
Later, Liu Zhang sent his officers Fu Jin (), Xiang Cun () and others to lead an army of ten thousands soldiers to attack Jiameng. Huo Jun had only a few hundred troops with him but he managed to hold his position for a year. When he saw that the enemy was weak and negligent, he selected elite soldiers from among his men and launched a counterattack on Liu Zhang's forces, greatly defeated them and beheading Xiang Cun in battle.
In early 214, Liu Zhang surrendered to Liu Bei, after which Yi Province came under the latter's control. In recognition of Huo Jun's contributions during the campaign, Liu Bei partitioned a new commandery, Zitong (), from the original Guanghan Commandery (), and appointed Huo Jun as the Administrator () of Zitong. Huo Jun was also promoted to the rank of a Major-General (). He held office for three years before dying at the age of 40 (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 ...
). His body was transported to
Chengdu
Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...
(the capital of Yi Province) for burial. Liu Bei deeply lamented Huo Jun's death and personally led his subjects to offer sacrifices and attend Huo's funeral.(先主定蜀，嘉峻之功，乃分廣漢為梓潼郡，以峻為梓潼太守、裨將軍。在官三年，年四十卒，還葬成都。...遂親率群僚臨會弔祭，) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 41.
Family
Huo Jun's son,
Huo Yi
Huo Yi ( 221–260s), courtesy name Shaoxian, was a military general of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. His father, Huo Jun, served under Liu Bei, the founding emperor of Shu. During his service under the Shu emperor ...
, continued serving Liu Bei and became a general in 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 ...
period.
See also
*
Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms
The following are lists of people significant to the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of Chinese history. Their names in Mandarin pinyin are sorted in alphabetical order.
Fictional characters in the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of ...
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– ...