Cao Cao's invasion of Xu Province was a punitive invasion launched by the warlord

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the dynasty's final years. As one o ...

against Tao Qian, the Governor of

Xu Province Xuzhou as a historical toponym refers to varied area in different eras. Ordinarily, it was a reference to the one of the Nine Provinces (China), Nine Provinces which modern Xuzhou inherited. History Pre-Qin era Xuzhou or Xu Province was one ...

, in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The ''casus belli'' for the invasion was the murder of Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, in Xu Province. Although Tao Qian's culpability was questionable, Cao Cao nonetheless held him responsible. The invasion took place in two separate waves in 193 and 194, during each of which Cao Cao captured a number of towns and engaged in collective punishment of the civilian populace.

Background

Cao Cao's father Cao Song was living in his hometown Qiao (譙; present-day

Bozhou Bozhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Huaibei to the northeast, Bengbu to the southeast, Huainan to the south, Fuyang to the southwest, and Henan to the north. Its population was 4,996,844 at th ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

) after retirement until it became a battlefield when the Campaign against Dong Zhuo happened. So Cao Song along with the rest of Cao's family moved to Langya (琅邪; present-day Linyi,

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

) in Xu Province. By 193, Cao Cao had established a base in

Yan Province Yan Province or Yanzhou was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), it covered roughly present-day southwestern Shandong, eastern Henan, and the northwestern corner of Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ...

(covering present-day southwestern

and eastern

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 a ...

), and invited his father over to his territory. However, before Cao's family could reunite, they were murdered on the border of Xu Province and Yan Province. There were two accounts of how they were murdered. One was that the governor of Xu Province, Tao Qian, sent his men to kill Cao's family because he was defeated by Cao several times. The other was that Tao Qian actually sent people to protect Cao's family because he was afraid of Cao Cao. But his men killed Cao's family for the great fortune they owned. Regardless of Tao Qian's culpability, Cao Cao intended to hold him responsible for the murder of his father.

The first invasion

In the summer or autumn of 193, Cao Cao invaded Xu Province with an unspecified number of troops and easily captured over ten cities.''Zizhi Tongjian'', 60.1945: 秋，操引兵擊謙，攻拔十餘城，至彭城，大戰，謙兵敗，走保郯。''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', 8.249, biography of Tao Qian: 初平四年，太祖征謙，攻拔十餘城，至彭城大戰。謙兵敗走，死者萬數，泗水為之不流。謙退守剡。''History of Chinese Warfare'', vol. 4, p 67 After conquering Pengcheng (彭城; present-day

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

), Cao Cao killed possibly more than 10,000 defenders. Tao Qian fled to Tan (剡; present-day Tancheng County, Linyi,

), which Cao Cao assaulted unsuccessfully. Thwarted and low on rations Cao Cao turned his army around, sacking in the process the counties of Qulü (), Suiling (), and Xiaqiu (). The local population was swollen with refugees from the violence of the capital regions. Cao Cao's army killed over 100,000 civilians, including both men and women, such that the Si River was stoppered up with their corpses. His army took the chickens and dogs for food and tore down the villages into ruins.

The second invasion

In the spring of 194, Cao Cao's army returned to Xu Province, and Tao Qian begged aid from

Tian Kai Tian Kai (died 199) was an official serving under the warlord Gongsun Zan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Life Little is recorded about Tian Kai in history. He probably started his career as a subordinate of the warlord Gongsun ...

in the nearby

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 ...

(). Tian Kai sent Tao Qian a force of some thousand men commanded by

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 ...

. Tao Qian, seeking to open a southern front against Cao Cao, appointed Liu Bei as the Inspector of Yu Province, and transferred 4,000 soldiers into his service.''History of Chinese Warfare'', 4.68 Along with Tao Qian's officer

Cao Bao Cao Bao (died 196) was a military officer serving under Tao Qian, the Governor of Xu Province, during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He became a subordinate of Tao Qian's successor, Liu Bei, after Tao's death in 194. He was killed by ...

, Liu Bei encamped east of Tan ().''Zizhi Tongjian'', 61.1950: 曹操使司馬荀彧、壽張令程昱守甄城，復往攻陶謙，遂略地至琅邪、東海，所過殘滅。還，擊破劉備於郯東。謙恐，欲走歸丹陽。''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', 8.249, biography of Tao Qian: 興平元年，復東征，略定琅邪、東海諸縣。謙恐，欲走歸丹楊。會張邈叛迎呂布，太祖還擊布。 Cao Cao's army plundered Langya and Donghai (東海; near present-day Tancheng, Shandong), destroying all in its path. Returning west, Cao Cao engaged and defeated Tao Qian's forces led by Liu Bei. According to one source, Cao Cao conquered the nearby city of Xiangben () after this. Xu Province was only granted reprieve when Zhang Miao betrayed Cao Cao and invited

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 betr ...

to take over Cao Cao's home base in

(). Cao Cao broke off his vengeance against Tao Qian and turned his army back to attack Lü Bu.

Aftermath

Liu Bei shifted his alliance from Tian Kai towards Tao Qian and he remained in Xu Province after Cao Cao left. When Tao Qian died of illness later in 194, his sons Tao Shang () and Tao Ying () were passed over for governorship by the local elite in favour of Liu Bei. Thus Liu Bei gained his first territory as a result of Cao Cao's campaign.''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', 32.873, biography of Liu Bei: 謙病篤，謂別駕麋笁曰：「非劉備不能安此州也。」謙死，笁率州人迎先主，先主未敢當。 ... 先主遂領徐州。

In popular culture

Cao Cao's invasion of Xu Province is featured as playable stages in the seventh and eighth instalments of

Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on p ...

's ''

Dynasty Warriors is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now is Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel o ...

'' video game series.

Notes

# The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (60.1945) has "autumn", while the ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (1.11) has "summer". ''History of Chinese Warfare'' specifies "the sixth month" (vol. 4, p 67), which would have been around August. # This casualty statistic, which appears in Tao Qian's biography in ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (8.249), is attached to a phrase describing the Si River being dammed with the bodies of the dead. According to

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 was an adjunct professor in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. ...

(
To Establish Peace
', volume 1, internet edition (2004), p. 68 note 24 nternet pagination, this is unsupported by geography and probably happened during Cao Cao's massacre of civilians somewhat farther south, not during his battle at Pengcheng. Thus, the casualty figure is most probably not reliable. # The ''Book of the Later Han'' (73.2367) also includes Pengcheng and Fuyang (傅陽; in present-day Linyi,

) among Cao Cao's ravages.

References

Bibliography

Chen Shou Chen Shou (; 233–297), courtesy name Chengzuo (), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is most known for his most celebrated work, the '' Records of ...

, 三國志 (''

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� ...

''), 280s or 290s.

Pei Songzhi Pei Songzhi (372–451), courtesy name Shiqi, was a Chinese historian and politician who lived in the late Eastern Jin dynasty and Liu Song dynasty. His ancestral home was in Wenxi County, Shanxi, but he moved to the Jiangnan region late ...

annotation An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented in the margin of book pages. For anno ...

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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 ...

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Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the monumental history book ''Zizhi Tongjian''. Sima was ...

, et al., 資治通鑒 (''

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 ...

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