Tao Bao (died 340),

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 ...

Anbu, was a military general of

Later Zhao The Later Zhao (; 319–351) was a dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity. The Jie were most likely a Yeniseian people and spoke next to Chinese one of the Yeniseian languages.Vov ...

during China's

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

period. Being one of Shi Le's Eighteen Riders, his most notable activities were his battles with

Zu Ti Zu Ti (266–321), courtesy name Shizhi, was a Chinese military general of the Jin dynasty. Between 313 and 321, he commanded an expeditionary force to reclaim territory in northern China that were lost during the Upheaval of the Five Barbaria ...

, in which he defended the city of Pengguan (蓬關, in modern-day

Chenliu Chenliu () is a town situated in Kaifeng County, Kaifeng in the province of Henan, China. See also *List of township-level divisions of Henan This is a list of township-level divisions of the province of Henan, People's Republic of China (PR ...

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 ...

) and also helping Shi Le during his final push against Liu Yao in 328. He served up to Shi Hu's reign before dying in 340. His name can be rendered as Yao Bao.

Life

Tao Bao was from Fanyang Commandary and was known in his hometown for his bravery and skill at horse riding. Once, Tao Bao boastingly declared, "A man who has met Wei Taizu and not be a marquis of 10,000 households or among his top generals is not a real man." Those with him at the time laughed at him but Tao Bao raised his voice at them, "You sons of rats, how could you possibly comprehend the aspirations of a lordly man who transforms like a leopard?” Like all those who joined Shi Le in 304, he became one of his Eighteen Riders and roamed the land as a bandit. When Shi Le occupied Julu and

Changshan (; ), also known as (), and (), is a form of , Chinese robe, which was derived from the Qing dynasty , the traditional dress of the Manchu people, which were worn by Manchu men. The was actually developed by the Han Chinese through the mod ...

, Tao Bao became one of his "talon and teeth" (爪牙) together with Zhi Xiong,

Kong Chang Kong Chang (fl. 4th century) was a barbarian military general of Later Zhao during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was one of Shi Le's more active generals during Shi's career in Han Zhao as well as his early reign as Prince of Zhao. He partici ...

Kui An Kui An (died 340) was a Tianzhu military general and minister of Later Zhao during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was one of Shi Le's earliest followers as a member of his Eighteen Riders (十八騎). He later became a partisan of Shi Hu's ...

and Lu Ming (逯明). In 313, Tao Bao was made Administrator of Wei commandary after Shi Le conquered Yecheng. He was later replaced by Shi Le's nephew Shi Hu. During Zu Ti's northern expedition in 319, he attacked the Administrator of Chenliu, Chen Chuan (陳川) at Pengguan after Chen betrayed him. Shi Le sent Tao Bao to reinforce Chen Chuan, and Tao Bao managed to drive back Zu Ti to

Huainan Huainan () is a prefecture-level city with 3,033,528 inhabitants as of the 2020 census in north-central Anhui province, China. It is named for the Han-era Principality of Huainan. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the south, Lu'an ...

. Tao Bao guarded the city while Shi Hu relocated Chen Chuan and his followers to Xiangguo (襄國, in modern

Xingtai Xingtai (), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 county-level cities and 12 counties. At the 2020 censu ...

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, an ...

). Going into the following year, Zu Ti's general Han Qian (韓潛) occupied the eastern half of the city while Tao Bao held the western one. Tao Bao and Han Qian held on to their part of the city for 40 days. Tao Bao's men were starting to become hungry, so they raided one of Zu Ti's supply convoy. The transporters simply abandoned the rice, and when Tao Bao's men discovered the excess amount of rice they were carrying, they believed that Zu Ti's men were better fed and started to worry. Supplies from the Later Zhao general Liu Yetang (劉夜堂) was intercepted by Zu Ti, leaving Tao Bao with little to no rations. Tao Bao fled Pengguan to camp at

Dongye Dongye may refer to: *Eastern Ye, chiefdom in northeastern Korean peninsula from roughly 3rd-century BC to around early 5th-century AD Towns in China * Dongye, Wutai County, Shanxi *Dongye, Yangcheng County Dongye () is a town in Yangcheng Count ...

instead, but Zu Ti ordered Han Qian to pressure him while they occupy Pengguan. The loss of Pengguan placed a strain on Later Zhao's borders, so Shi Le negotiated peace with Zu Ti. In 328, Shi Le campaigned against his rival

Liu Yao Liu Yao (died 329), courtesy name Yongming, was the final emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han Zhao dynasty of China. He became emperor in 318 after most other members of the imperial Liu clan were massacred by Jin Zhun in a coup. However, the empir ...

Former Zhao The Han Zhao (; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xiongnu people during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the Northern ...

. Tao Bao led his forces to

Xingyang Xingyang (), is a county-level city of Henan Province, South Central China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou. It is situated 15 kilometers to the west of Zhengzhou city proper. The population of Xingyang is ...

to join Shi Le in his assault on

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

. Shi Le captured Liu Yao while his sons Liu Yin and Liu Xi were killed by Shi Hu the following year. Tao Bao's last contribution would be 338, during Later Zhao and Former Yan's assault on the

Duan Tribe The Duan () was a pre-state tribe of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. History The reason the tribe adopted the Han Chinese surname Duan is unknown. Duan Wuwuchen was given in 303 a hereditary title— the "Duke o ...

. Tao Bao was made General Who Traverses The Sea and ordered to attack from Piaoyu Crossing (漂渝津, around present-day

Cangzhou Cangzhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 census, Cangzhou's built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yunhe, Xinhua districts and Cang County largely being conurbated had a populatio ...

). At the start of 340, Tao Bao died, holding the office of Grand Guardian.(十二月，丁丑，趙太保桃豹卒。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 96

References

* Fang, Xuanling (ed.) (648). ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang X ...

'' (''Jin Shu''). * Sima, Guang (1084).

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tao, Bao Former Zhao generals Later Zhao generals 340 deaths