Yan Baihu

Yan Baihu was a bandit leader active in the Wu region during the late Han Dynasty.

Biography

"Baihu" was not Yan's real name, but a nickname given to him due to his physical prowess or skin color; thus his name should be translated to "White Tiger Yan". According to Chen Shou's Records of Three Kingdoms, Yan held gigantic influence among the Shanyue tribes and even Han officials in the Wu area. When Liu Yao was appointed as Governor of Yang Province, Yan was approached and bribed by Liu to support him against the warlord Yuan Shu, who had a large army in the Huai River valley.

After Liu Yao was defeated by Yuan Shu's ally and subordinate, Sun Ce, Yan Baihu successfully re-established or even increased his private army to tens of thousand, composed of elite Shanyue people and bandits, to prepare a final showdown with Sun. Besides being the head of a loose confederation of bandits and local officials, Yan formed an alliance with a warlord, Wang Lang, who had enough provisions to account for all of the alliance's soldiers.