Qin Yilu (died 199) was a military officer who served under the general and warlord
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 the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Allowing for variant writing in the records, Qin Yilu was probably the same person as two others named Qin Yi (秦翊 and 秦誼).
Life
Born in
Yunzhong Commandery
Yunzhong Commandery ( zh, 雲中郡) was a historical commandery of China. Its territories were located between the Great Wall and Yin Mountains, and correspond to part of modern-day Hohhot, Baotou and Ulanqab prefectures in Inner Mongolia.
The ...
(雲中郡; west of present-day
Togtoh County
Togtoh County ( Mongolian: ''Toɣtaqu siyan'', Тогтох шянь; ) is a county of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, North China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, located o ...
,
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
), Qin Yilu served under
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 ...
, who was also from
Bing Province
Bingzhou, or Bing Province, was a location in ancient China. According to legend, when Yu the Great (c. 2200 BC-2100 BC) tamed the flood, he divided the land of China into the Nine Provinces. Historical texts such as the ''Rites of Zhou'', and "Tr ...
like him. In 192, Qin Yilu was one of two men whom Lü Bu ordered to ambush and assassinate the warlord
Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo () (died 22 May 192), courtesy name Zhongying, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han, Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minist ...
in
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...
while in disguise as guards. He apparently followed Lü Bu when the latter fled from Chang'an and roamed around the Central Plains before seizing control of Xu Province from 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 ...
.
When Lü Bu was besieged by the allied forces of Cao Cao and
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 ...
at the
Battle of Xiapi
The Battle of Xiapi was fought between the forces of Lü Bu against the allied armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei from the winter of 198 to 7 February 199 towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. The battle concluded with victory for C ...
in 198, Lü Bu sent Qin Yilu to seek reinforcements from the warlords Zhang Yang and
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 ...
. Qin Yilu's wife, Lady Du (杜氏) and their son
Qin Lang
Qin Lang ( 227–238), courtesy name Yuanming, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Family background
Qin Lang was born in the late Eastern Han dynasty and his ancestral home was in Xinxing ...
remained behind in Xiapi and stayed there as the city fell to Cao Cao's forces. Liu Bei's general
Guan Yu
Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...
repeatedly asked Cao Cao to let him marry Lady Du after their victory over Lü Bu. Cao Cao was curious about why Guan Yu wanted Lady Du so badly, and he guessed that she must be very beautiful, so he ordered his men to bring her to meet him. As a result, despite Guan Yu's pleas, Lady Du became Cao Cao's concubine and Qin Lang became Cao Cao's adopted son.
Qin Yilu was at Yuan Shu's camp when Xiapi fell. To replace his lost wife, Yuan Shu arranged a marriage between Qin Yilu and a noble lady from the imperial clan of the Han dynasty. However, Yuan Shu began to have designs on the imperial throne. Qin Yilu, uneasy of being associated with a traitor, heeded Liu Fu's advice and surrendered to Cao Cao, who controlled the formal Han government and the Han emperor.
Under Cao Cao, Qin Yilu was given a position as the Magistrate of Zhi County (銍縣), a small county in Pei State (沛國). When Liu Bei rebelled against Cao Cao and passed by Xiaopei (小沛; present-day
Pei County
Pei County, or Peixian (), is under the administration of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China, bordering the Shandong prefecture-level cities of Jining to the northwest and Zaozhuang to the northeast and sitting on the western shore of Nansi Lake. ...
,
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 its ca ...
), Liu Bei's general
Zhang Fei
Zhang Fei () (died July or August 221 AD), courtesy name Yide, was a military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, who were among the earlie ...
called on Qin Yilu and scorned him, "Another man took your wife, but you chose to be a magistrate under him! How can you behave so ignorantly as though nothing has happened! You wish to follow us?" Qin Yilu followed Liu Bei and travelled for several '' li'' before he regretted and decided to leave. Zhang Fei killed him.
Qin Yilu's son, Qin Lang, was adopted by Cao Cao and later became a prominent general in the state of
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 ...
– during the Three Kingdoms period.(朗隨母氏畜于公宮，太祖甚愛之，每坐席，謂賔客曰：「豈有人愛假子如孤者乎？」) ''Xiandi Zhuan'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 3.
Chronicles of Huayang
The ''Chronicles of Huayang'' or ''Huayang Guo Zhi'' () is the oldest extant gazetteer of a region of China. It was compiled by Chang Qu during the Jin Dynasty. It contains roughly 110,000 characters. Its contents comprise history, geography an ...