Li Dian ( 180 – 217),

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 Theo ...

Mancheng, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under 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 ...

during the late

Eastern 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 ...

of China. He participated in the

Battle of Guandu The Battle of Guandu was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in 200 AD in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Cao's decisive victory against Yuan Shao's numerically superior forces marked the turning point in their war. The victo ...

in 200 between Cao Cao and

Yuan Shao Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred t ...

. He also played a significant role in the defence of

Hefei Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...

during the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford of 214–215 against the forces of

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime ...

Early life and career

Li Dian was from Juye County (), Shanyang Commandery (), which is in present-day Juye County,

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 ...

. His uncle, Li Qian (), was an influential man in the region and had thousands of retainers working under him in Chengshi County (乘氏縣; east of present-day

Heze Heze, formerly known as Caozhou, is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively. History Caozhou was at the center ...

, Shandong). During the Chuping era (190–193) in the reign of Emperor Xian of the

, Li Qian and Li Dian led their followers to assist the warlord

in suppressing the

Yellow Turban Rebellion The Yellow Turban Rebellion, alternatively translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a peasant revolt in China against the Eastern Han dynasty. The uprising broke out in 184 CE during the reign of Emperor Ling. Although the main rebelli ...

and they defeated the rebels at Shouzhang County (壽張縣; south of present-day Dongping County, Shandong). Li Dian and his uncle later followed Cao Cao in his campaigns against rival warlords such as

Yuan Shu Yuan Shu () (died July or August 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 ...

and Tao Qian. When conflict broke out between Cao Cao and

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 ...

in 194, Cao sent Li Qian back to Chengshi County to reaffirm the support of the locals towards him. Lü Bu's subordinates Xue Lan () and Li Feng () tried to persuade Li Qian to defect to their side but Li Qian refused so they killed him. Cao Cao then gave command of Li Qian's troops to Li Qian's son, Li Zheng (), and sent some of his men to assist Li Zheng to attack Xue Lan and Li Feng. Li Zheng achieved victory over Xue Lan and Li Feng, and later helped to pacify the various counties 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 (; ...

. He 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 ...

. After Li Zheng's death, Li Dian was appointed as the Prefect () of Yingyin County (潁陰縣; in present-day

Xuchang Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast, and Pi ...

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 General of the Household (), and took over command of his cousin's troops. Li Dian was known to be very studious since he was a youth, and he showed little interest in military affairs. He read classics such as the ''

Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The '' Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 ...

'' and the '' Zuo Zhuan''. Cao Cao was pleased with Li Dian and wanted to test his abilities. He reassigned Li Dian to be the Administrator () of Lihu Commandery (離狐郡; southeast of present-day

Dongming Dongming County in Heze Prefecture is the westernmost county of Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China. It borders Henan Province to the west across the Yellow River. Dongming County had a population of 677,563 in 1999. History Mo ...

), where Li was primarily in charge of managing civil affairs.

Cao Cao's campaigns against Yuan Shao and the Yuan brothers

In 200, when the forces of Cao Cao and

clashed at the

, Li Dian, along with his clansmen and subordinates, took charge of supplying Cao's forces at the frontline with food and equipment. After Yuan Shao was defeated, Cao Cao appointed Li Dian as a Major-General () and ordered him to garrison at Anmin (). Yuan Shao died in 202, after which his sons

Yuan Tan Yuan Tan (died 205), courtesy name Xiansi, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who was the eldest son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who occupied much of northern China during the late Eastern Han dynasty. After Yuan Shao's death, Y ...

and

Yuan Shang Yuan Shang (died December 207), courtesy name Xianfu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the third son and successor of the warlord Yuan Shao. In the 14th-centu ...

started fighting over their father's territories. During the

Battle of Liyang The Battle of Liyang, fought between October 202 and June 203 in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, was an invasion attempt by the warlord Cao Cao against the brothers Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, the sons of Cao's rival Yuan Shao. The battle in Octob ...

of 202–203 against the Yuan brothers, Cao Cao put Li Dian and

Cheng Yu Cheng Yu (141 – December 220), originally named Cheng Li, courtesy name Zhongde, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was an adviser to Cao Cao, the warlord who became the ''de facto'' head of ...

in charge of escorting food supplies to the frontline by crossing the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

. Yuan Shang sent his subordinate Gao Fan () to station near the river bank to block Cao Cao's supply route. Cao Cao had instructed Li Dian and Cheng Yu to send the supplies by land if they could not cross the river. However, Li Dian gathered his men and told them, "Gao Fan's troops are lightly armoured and they block the water route. This shows that they are lax, so they can be overcome easily. The military does not act against orders, but they can make their own decisions if they feel they are doing something beneficial to the country. Let's take them out quickly." Cheng Yu agreed with Li Dian, so they led their forces across the river to attack Gao Fan and defeated the enemy, thus securing the supply route across the river. In 204, after the

Battle of Ye The Battle of Ye or Battle of Yecheng took place in 204 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. It was fought between the warlord Cao Cao and Yuan Shang, son and successor of Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao, in the Yuan clan's headquarters Ye (in present ...

against

's forces, Cao Cao sent Li Dian and Yue Jin to attack Yuan Shang's cousin and ally, Gao Gan, at Hu Pass (壺關; present-day

Huguan County Huguan County () is a county in the southeast of Shanxi province, China. It is under the administration of Changzhi Changzhi () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...

). Li Dian defeated Guan Cheng () at Changguang County (長廣縣; east of present-day

Laiyang Laiyang city () is a county-level city within Yantai bordering Qingdao, located in the middle of the Shandong Peninsula, in Shandong province, China. The majority (70%) of its population are farmers and it is famous for producing the Laiyang pear ...

), and was promoted to General Who Captures Barbarians () and made a Marquis of a Chief Village () for his achievements.

Battle of Bowang

In 202,

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 ...

's governor,

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 ...

, sent

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 ...

north to attack

when Cao was away on his campaigns in northern China. Cao Cao sent Xiahou Dun and Li Dian to lead an army to resist Liu Bei's forces. Liu Bei burnt his supplies and pretended to retreat. When Xiahou Dun wanted to pursue Liu Bei, Li Dian cautioned him, "There must be an ambush because the enemy is retreating for no reason. The roads to the south are narrow and the vegetation is very dense. We shouldn't pursue the enemy." Xiahou Dun ignored Li Dian's warning and went off in pursuit of Liu Bei together with Yu Jin, while Li Dian remained behind. As Li Dian expected, Xiahou Dun and his men did fall into Liu Bei's ambush later but Li showed up with the remaining troops and rescued them. Liu Bei retreated when he saw that Li Dian's reinforcements had arrived.

Relocation of clansmen and close followers

Li Dian had over 3,000 families in his clansmen and close followers, all of whom lived in Chengshi County (乘氏縣; east of present-day

). He proposed to Cao Cao to have them relocated to Wei Commandery (魏郡; north of present-day Ci County,

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, and ...

), Cao Cao's base of operations during his campaigns in northern China. Cao Cao laughed and asked Li Dian, "You admire Geng Chun and wish to emulate him, don't you?" Li Dian replied, "I'm humble and timid and my contributions are lowly, but the rewards I've received are too high, so I should have my entire clan join me in service so that I'll feel more deserving of the rewards. Besides, the chaos haven't ended yet, so it's better to keep them close to better control the Empire. I'm not emulating Geng Chun." Li Dian's clansmen and close followers were then relocated to Ye (鄴; in present-day

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shan ...

, Hebei). Cao Cao was pleased and he promoted Li Dian to General Who Destroys Barbarians ().

Battle of Xiaoyao Ford

After the Battle of Jiangling in 209,

left Li Dian, Zhang Liao and Yue Jin to defend

, a strategic location at the border between Cao Cao and

's territories. Around 214, when Sun Quan led his forces to attack Hefei, Zhang Liao wanted to lead their troops out of the city to resist the enemy. However, Zhang Liao was aware that the three of them could not get along with each other and he was worried that they would not comply with his orders. Zhang Liao said, "Our lord is away at war. By the time his reinforcements reach here, we're already done for. So he's actually instructing us to take advantage of the situation, when the enemy has just arrived and not fully gathered yet, to attack them and devastate their morale so as to calm our men and strengthen our defences. Victory or defeat, it all depends on this battle. Why are the two of you still hesitating?" Li Dian was moved and he said, "This is a national crisis. We'll see how your strategy works out. How can I allow my personal issues take precedence over my official duties?" Zhang Liao, Li Dian and Yue Jin then worked together and succeeded in defeating and driving away Sun Quan's much larger army. Li Dian was rewarded with an additional 100 taxable households in his marquisate, bringing the total number of households to 300.

Death

Li Dian's biography in the ''Sanguozhi'' did not state when and how he died, but it is known that he died at the age of 36 (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 titles were inherited by his son, Li Zhen (). In 220, after

Cao Pi Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest s ...

(Cao Cao's son and successor) forced Emperor Xian to abdicate the throne to him and became the emperor of the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' < posthumous title A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments o ...

"Marquis Min" (), which literally means "sympathetic marquis", in recognition of Li's merits at the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford. Li Zhen was awarded another 100 taxable households in his marquisate, while another of Li Dian's sons received the title of a Secondary Marquis and 100 taxable households.

Appraisal

Li Dian's biography in the ''Sanguozhi'' mentioned that Li was known to be a keen and humble learner who respected the literati. He did not fight with others for merits, and he regarded official duties as more important than his personal affairs.

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 ...

, who wrote Li Dian's biography, praised Li for his noble and gentlemanly demeanour, and for his 'duty before self' attitude.(評曰：李典貴尚儒雅，義忘私隙，美矣。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 18.

In popular culture

Li Dian is first introduced as a playable character in the eighth instalment 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

References

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

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� ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to 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 leaving his native land, Pei ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). * ''Lost Book of Zhou'' ('' Yi Zhou Shu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Dian Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Generals under Cao Cao Han dynasty generals from Shandong Han dynasty politicians from Shandong Officials under Cao Cao Political office-holders in Henan Politicians from Heze