Xiahou Yuan

Xiahou Yuan (died 219),courtesy name Miaocai, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He is known for his exploits in northwestern China (areas in present-day Gansu, Ningxia and Shaanxi provinces) in the 210s, in which he defeated Cao Cao's rivals Ma Chao and Han Sui in Liang Province and the surrounding areas, and forced several Di and Qiang tribal peoples into submission through military force. He was killed in action at the Battle of Mount Dingjun while defending Hanzhong Commandery from attacks by a rival warlord Liu Bei. Xiahou Yuan's death was highly dramatised in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which he was slain by Liu Bei's general Huang Zhong during a surprise raid.

Early life and career

Xiahou Yuan was from Qiao County (譙縣) in the Pei State (沛國), which is in present-day Bozhou, Anhui. He was a younger cousin of Xiahou Dun and a descendant of Xiahou Ying, who served under the Han dynasty's founding emperor, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao). Cao Cao once committed a serious offence and Xiahou Yuan helped him shoulder the blame. Cao Cao later saved him. When a famine broke out in Yan and Yu provinces, Xiahou Yuan and his family were adversely affected, and he decided to abandon his youngest son in favour of his deceased younger brother's orphaned daughter.