| Ling Cao | |||
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| Traditional Chinese | 凌操 | ||
| Simplified Chinese | 凌操 | ||
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Ling Cao (died 203)[1] was a military officer serving under the warlord Sun Ce during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was the father of Ling Tong.
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During his youth, Ling Cao was a gallant gentleman who devoted himself to errantry[2]; he was well regarded by people around the Huai River valley, and held some influence in his hometown in Yuhuan. When Sun Ce first raised his banner in 194, Ling Cao joined him and participated in the conquests in Jiangdong. Ling Cao's valiant effort and extraordinary skill on the field had earned the appraisal by Sun Ce that he should be appointed as the vanguard should there be a battle[3]. It was said that whenever he was fighting the enemies, he would always charge ahead of all other men as if he was ready to sacrifice himself for his lord.
Within a few years, Sun Ce had completed the conquest of all of Yang Province; however, the barbarians of Shanyue tribe, who used to plunder and harass the Han Chinese citizens living in the south, were not easily dealt with. Thus, Sun Ce appointed Ling Cao as the Chief of Yongping to face off the Shanyue. As soon as Ling Cao arrived his post, he led the long oppressed local residents to deal a major blow to the the Shanyue confederation, and forced the scattered Shanyue warriors to flee to the deep hills.
Despite the fact Ling Cao did not come from an influential family, he had gained the fifth highest rank within the Sun forces via military accomplishment, and became a renowned general the sun family relied upon. Excluding the clansmen of Sun Ce, only 4 other officers held a higher rank above Ling Cao when the latter held the position of Colonel who Breaks Bandits (破賊校尉).[4] Ling Cao also demonstrated his brilliance as a civil officer. He established his governance by administering fairly and set up policies and defense that during his tenure, "the crafty tricksters dared not to cheat, and the violent Shanyue dared not to invade." [5]
The father of Sun Ce, Sun Jian, was killed by Liu Biao's general Huang Zu in 191, so Sun Ce and his brother and successor, Sun Quan, had launched several vengeful campaigns against Huang, but none of their attempts succeed. During the Battle of Xiakou, which was aimed to exterminate Huang Zu, Ling Cao again acted as the vanguard for Sun Quan's force. Upon arrival at the battlefield, Ling Cao ordered a charge aimed at the enemy commanding unit. The defense line was immediately broken by Ling Cao's uninterrupted dash, and Huang Zu's army was thrown into confusion by such a sudden incident. Seeing the opportunity to finish off Huang Zu once and for all, Ling Cao penetrated into the thick of enemy troops to pursue the commander; however, as Ling Cao was close to capturing Huang, he was killed by a stray arrow shot by Gan Ning from a distance. Ling Cao's son, Ling Tong, who was at the age of 14, fought bravely amongst arrows and fire, and retrieved his father's corpse back to his camp. To honor Ling Cao for his sacrifice, Sun Quan decided to give Ling Cao's forces to Ling Tong, who would go on to successfully subdue Huang Zu, and serve the Sun family for another 30 years.