Xiahou Ba

Qing Dynasty illustration.

Xiahou Ba (died 255-259), courtesy name Zhongquan (仲權), was a military general of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. As the second son of Xiahou Yuan, he was from one of the leading military families at the time, but defected to the rival state of Shu Han (which is the regime responsible for his father's death) due to political instability at the capital Luoyang.

Biography

Service under Cao Wei

Early career

Xiahou Ba's parents were important figures in Cao Wei; his father, Xiahou Yuan, had fought alongside his distant cousin and founder of Wei, Cao Cao, since the start of the civil war, and was one of the most trusted of Cao's generals, while Xiahou Ba's mother was a sister-in-law of Cao Cao. After Xiahou Yuan was killed at Battle of Mount Dingjun in AD 219 at the hands of Shu general, Huang Zhong, most of his troops were placed under the command of Zhang He upon advice from Guo Huai, while his private militia and guards were succeeded by his five sons. Xiahou Ba since then displayed great hatred against Shu, and vowed to revenge for his father.^[1] In AD 220, Xiahou Yuan's eldest son Xiahou Heng was given his own fiefdom and honorific title, so Xiahou Ba succeeded to his father's hereditary title with a stipend of tax revenues from eight hundred households.

In AD 230, when the Minister of Defense, Cao Zhen proposed a shift from defensive to offensive stance against Shu-Han, Lieutenant-General (偏将军) Xiahou Ba was named as the vanguard.^[2] He then led a force towards Hanzhong taking a route though the 330 km Ziwu Trail (子午道), and camped in a crooked gorge, near the Xingshi camp set up earlier by Shu general, Wei Yan. There, Xiahou was identified by the local residents, who reported his presence to the Shu forces, and was under heavy attack. As the main army of Cao Zhen had not caught up with the van, Xiahou was threw into a grave situation, where he was forced to rely on personal martial skill to fight his enemies between barricades until Cao Zhen arrived.^[3] The two forces reached a stalemate and the standoff lasted for a few months, but the development favored Shu-Han side as continuous rainfall over a month had rendered narrow valleys impassable, resulting in Wei army's logistical difficulty. In addition to the disadvantageous weather, Wei Yan had penetrated to Wei army's rear and successfully incited some non-Han tribes to oppose Cao-Wei, so Cao Zhen and Xiahou begrudgingly consented on the decision to retreat. Since then, Xiahou Ba was made General-of-the-Right, and stationed in Longxi to train troops; he treated both his militia and common soldiers well, and gained their support.

As a trusted aide of Cao Shuang

In the 240s Xiahou Ba became the Marquis of Bochangting and a known associate of Cao Shuang, who was the son of the deceased Cao Zhen and leader of the dominant faction in Wei politics.^[4] When Wei regent, Cao Shuang, decided to wage war against Shu to enhance his personal influence and reputation, Xiahou Ba was made Protector-of-the-Army and came under command of Xiahou Xuan, who was the marquis's son in the clan.^[5] For the ensuing campaign, however, the honor of leading the van fell into the hands of Guo Huai, whom Xiahou Ba disliked. This time, Wei forces chose the shorter Tangluo Trail into Shu territory, but again experienced logistic problem as a long section of the trail had no water source. As a result, the Wei forces had no choice but to retreat, and many soldiers merely died of thirst along the way back. After the war, Guo Huai, due to his timely withdrawal of troops, was granted a higher military authority over Xiahou Ba.^[6]

From AD 244 to 249, Xiahou Ba would play into the hands of Guo Huai, who wielded power to temporarily command the marquis when a military crisis arose. In AD 247, when the leaders of Qiang tribe and Hu tribe rebelled against Wei, the Marquis of Bochangting was guarding Weixi. There, Xiahou Ba was under attack from Shu commander, Jiang Wei, who came to support the rebellion. Together with Guo Huai, the marquis repelled Jiang's attack, and counter-struck the Qiang rebels, forcing many to succumb.^[7] However, E Zhesai (蛾遮塞) of Qiang, and Zhi Wudai (治无戴) of Hu still persevered, so the war was fragmented into battles that dragged on to AD 248, wherein Jiang Wei again led Shu forces to the aid of the rebels. At this point, it is clear that Guo Huai, instead of Xiahou Xuan, was the actual commander on the field to give out orders. For instance, when Guo Huai decided to attack Jiang Wei's subordinate, Liao Hua, Xiahou Ba was ordered directly by the decision maker to tail Jiang's main troop to the west.^[8] Upon knowing Liao Hua was under attack, Jiang Wei harshly returned to his aide's assistance just as Guo Huai predicted, isolating the rebels from Shu reinforcement.^[9] As the Shu commander was worn out from the travel, so was Xiahou Ba, but the glory and merit of subjugating the rebellion went to Guo Huai, who was made a Xianghou (Marquis of a village). On the contrary, Xiahou Ba virtually received nothing for his effort in the campaign.

Service under Shu

Journey to the west

In AD 249, after a coup d'état by Sima Yi against Cao Shuang, a lot of the latter's affiliates were also put to death; being a close friend and associate of the condemned Cao Shuang, Xiahou Ba was sensitive to the political development and grew suspicious of the Sima faction. Soon, Xiahou Xuan, who had the staff of authority to command troops over Liang and Yong provinces, was called back to the capital in name of a promotion. Fraught with dread, Xiahou Ba discussed the issue with Xiahou Xuan, and persuaded the latter to flee with him to Shu-Han. But Xiahou Xuan refused and said "I won't live as a guest in a kingdom of barbarians! (吾岂苟存自客於寇虏乎)" What further perturbed Xiahou Ba was the person who succeeded Xiahou Xuan's former position was none other than Guo Huai, whom Xiahou Ba had a personal feud with. Therefore, Xiahou Ba embarked on his lone journey into Shu.

On his way to Shu, Xiahou Ba lost his way and went into a dead end in a valley, where he ran out of food and resorted to kill his horse, taking the carcass as a last supper. He kept walking until his legs were crippled, then he laid beneath a shadow projected from a large rock, and asked travelers for direction, but his geometry still could not figure out how to get out from the dead end.^[10] When the locals reported the presence of a lame beggar who looked alike to the great general Xiahou Ba who attacked them years ago, the Shu emperor, Liu Shan, hurriedly sent a rescue team to escort his brother-in-law to his capital of Chengdu.

Years ago, one of Xiahou Ba's sisters was abducted by Liu Bei's military general, Zhang Fei, and was "made" the wife of the latter. As a consequence, the Liu clan and Xiahou clan were linked together though Liu Shan's marriage with Zhang's daughter. That was why Liu Shan called his son "Nephew of Xiahou Family". Whether it was a political reason or a family issue, the handicapped Xiahou Ba was promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry, wherein general Xiahou no longer could ride a chariot nor a horse well.

Later life in Shu

Nevertheless, Jiang Wei apparently befriended this old countryman of his, and the duo went on several campaigns against their mother-country, and nearly failed all of them. The imperial court of Cao Wei, thus, pardoned Xiahou Ba's sons on account of Xiahou Yuan's role in the founding of the empire. Instead they were exiled to Lelang in present day North Korea.

At the time Xiahou Ba was already a sexagenarian, if not a septuagenarian, he was still active in social life. A story about that was recorded in "Folklore of Yi Regions," which says an eager Xiahou Ba once wanted to befriend Zhang Ni, who was famous for subjugating the southern barbarians and was one of the most celebrated generals of Shu-Han back then. When the sexagenarian first met Zhang Ni, he told the latter, " Although I'm not close to you, I have already entrusted wholly to you for a long time, I hope you would understand this." Zhang Ni responded: "I don't know you, and you don't know me. The rationale is on the other end, how can you say you rely on me? I hope you save your words and continue this talk three years later." ^[11] This incident was circulated within Shu, and knowledgeable persons and scholars agreed on Zhang's reply and took Xiahou as a joke.

As a newcomer from Wei, Xiahou Ba must have had faced discrimination and distrust from his colleagues, but due to his complicated background, he was trusted by Liu Shan, and highly valued by another defector of Wei, Jiang Wei. Once, Jiang asked Xiahou if Sima Yi, who gained control of Wei court, would attack Shu, Xiahou replied: "they just recently established hegemony, so they will not indulge in foreign affairs. However, there is a young Zhong Hui, who will be a threat to both kingdoms of Wu and Shu." ^[12] Believing Xiahou's views that Sima would not handle border issues for some time, Jiang Wei revived Zhuge Liang's strategy on constantly waging wars against Wei, and brought Xiahou Ba with him on his expeditions. The crippled general distinguished himself in Jiang Wei's only big victory in his campaigns, which was the Battle of Didao, after that battle, Xiahou Ba was not mentioned again in historic records.

According to Records of Three Kingdoms, Xiahou Ba succeeded Deng Zhi as the General of Chariots and Cavalry after his death in 251, and Zizhi Tongjian noted the predecessor was alive in 255. Records of Three Kingdoms noted Xiahou Ba was not alive in 259, when Liao Hua and Zhang Yi were described as his successors to the position, so Xiahou Ba must have had died between 255 to 259.

In fiction

In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Xiahou Ba's death was altered. When the invasion of Shu occurred in 262, Xiahou Ba defended Shu. At the Battle of Taoyang, he was killed by the arrows and stones that were thrown by the Wei forces laying in wait on the cliffs.^[13]

Modern references

Xiahou Ba is first introduced as a playable character in the seventh installment of Koei's Dynasty Warriors video game series.

See also

• List of people of the Three Kingdoms
• List of Dynasty Warriors characters
• Shu Roads

Notes

References

• Chen Shou. Records of Three Kingdoms, Volume 9, Biography of Xiahou Yuan.
• Chen Shou. Records of Three Kingdoms, Volume 44, Biography of Jiang Wei.