Dong Zhao (Three Kingdoms)

Dong Zhao (Three Kingdoms)
Dong Zhao
Traditional Chinese 董昭
Simplified Chinese 董昭

Dong Zhao (156-236), style name Gongren (公仁), a native of Dingtao, was a politician of the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He served the warlords Yuan Shao and Zhang Yang before entering Cao Cao's service and subsequently served the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era.

Contents

Biography

Under Yuan Shao

Dong Zhao was a xiaolian and served as a county official in his early years under Yuan Shao before being promoted to a military advisor. He was appointed as the governing official of several prefectures and commanderies in Yuan Shao's territory and governed them well. However, Yuan Shao listened to slanderous rumours and began to doubt Dong Zhao's loyalty towards him. Dong Zhao was fearful that Yuan Shao might kill him and he fled.

Under Zhang Yang

Dong Zhao wanted to flee to where the Emperor Xian was and on the way he passed by Henei Prefecture, which was governed by the warlord Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang let Dong Zhao join his service and appointed him as an official. In 192, when Cao Cao wanted to seek permission to pass through Zhang Yang's territory to receive the Emperor from exile, Zhang Yang initially refused by after Dong Zhao's persuasion he agreed. Dong Zhao followed Cao Cao to receive the Emperor.

Under Cao Cao

In 196, the Emperor met Cao Cao where he was received was all due respect after Dong Zhao's suggestion. After the death of Zhang Yang, Dong Zhao went to persuade Zhang's followers to join Cao Cao. By then, Dong Zhao had formally entered Cao Cao's service. In 199, after Cao Cao seized back Xuzhou from Liu Bei, Dong Zhao was appointed as governor of Xuzhou. Subsequently, Dong Zhao followed Cao Cao on the campaigns against Yuan Shao and the Wuhuan and was promoted to even higher official positions. In 216, Dong Zhao aided Cao Cao by persuading the Emperor to confer on Cao the title of Prince of Wei. In 219, while Guan Yu was attacking Fancheng, Sun Quan agreed to send reinforcements to help the entrapped Cao Ren. To keep things secret, Dong Zhao proposed a trick of tying the messages written on paper onto arrows which were fired into the city. When Cao Ren's troops heard that Sun Quan was willing to send reinforcements, the army's morale was boosted and eventually culminated in the defeat of Guan Yu.

Serving Cao Wei

In 220, Cao Pi ascended to the throne and established the state of Cao Wei. Throughout the reign of Cao Pi and his son and successor Cao Rui, Dong Zhao played an important role in state affairs by providing suggestions and advice to the rulers. He managed to predict the movements and decisions of the enemy accurately a few times and saved Wei's armies from defeat, such as during a campaign against the rival state of Eastern Wu in which Dong predicted correctly that there would be an ambush. Highly recognised for his contributions to the state of Wei, Dong Zhao was promoted to even higher official positions. In 236, Dong Zhao died at the age of 81 and was given a posthumous title of a marquis.

Appointments and titles held

  • Filial and Incorrupt (孝廉) - nominated candidate to be a Gentleman Cadet (郎)
  • Chief of Yingtao (癭陶長)
  • Prefect of Bairen County (柏人縣令)
  • Army Advisor (參軍) to Yuan Shao
  • Administrator of Julu (巨鹿太守)
  • Administrator of Wei Commandery (魏郡太守)
  • Commandant of Cavalry (騎都尉)
  • Consultant (議郎)
The following appointments and titles were held by Dong Zhao when he served under Cao Cao
  • Prefect of Insignia and Credentials (符節令)
  • Governor of Ji Province (冀州牧)
  • Governor of Xu Province (徐州牧)
  • Counsellor Remonstrant (諫議大夫)
  • Marquis of Qianqiu (千秋亭侯)
  • Libationer of the Excellency of Works' Army (司空軍祭酒)
The following appointments and titles were held by Dong Zhao when he served the state of Wei
  • Court Architect (將作大匠)
  • Minister Herald (大鴻臚)
  • Marquis of the Right (右鄉候)
  • Palace Attendant (侍中)
  • Marquis of Chengdu (成都鄉侯)
  • Minister of Ceremonies (太常)
  • Household Counsellor (光祿大夫)
  • Geishizhong (給事中)
  • Minister Coachman (太僕)
  • Marquis of Leping (樂平侯)
  • Minister of the Guards (衛尉)
  • Marquis Ding (定侯) - granted to Dong Zhao posthumously

See also

  • List of people of the Three Kingdoms

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dong Zhao — may refer to: Dong Zhao (Three Kingdoms), (156–236), minister that served under the Kingdom of Wei Dong Zhao (Kuomintang), KMT general from Shaanxi This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same personal name. If an …   Wikipedia

  • Dong Zhao — fut le conseiller du ministre chinois Cao Cao au début du IIIe siècle. Il servit d’abord Yuan Shao puis Zhang Yang et en l’an 196, il vint rejoindre l’Empereur Xian en tant que secrétaire des Han. Il recommanda à Cao Cao de déménager la capitale… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Three Kingdoms — The Three Kingdoms period (zh tsp|t=三國|s=三国|p=Sānguó) is a period in the history of China, part of an era of disunity called the Six Dynasties following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty emperors. In a strict academic… …   Wikipedia

  • Tao Qian (Three Kingdoms) — Three Kingdoms infobox Name=Tao Qian imagesize= Caption= Title=Governor Kingdom=Xu province Born=132 Died=194 Simp=陶谦 Trad=陶謙 Pinyin=Táo Qiān WG=Tao Chien Zi=Gōngzǔ (恭祖) Other=Tao Qian (132 194) was governor of Xu province (徐州) during the late… …   Wikipedia

  • Liu Yan (Three Kingdoms) — Three Kingdoms infobox Name=Liu Yan imagesize= Caption= Title=Warlord Kingdom=Han Dynasty Born= Died=194 Simp=刘焉 Trad=劉焉 Pinyin=Liú Yān WG= Zi=Jūnláng (君郎) Post=Taichang (太常)Liu Yan (? 194) was a member of the Han Dynasty s imperial family and a… …   Wikipedia

  • Records of Three Kingdoms — Sangokushi redirects here. For the video game series, see Sangokushi (video game series). Records of Three Kingdoms (simplified Chinese: 三国志; traditional Chinese: 三國志; pinyin: Sānguó Zhì), is regarded as the official and authoritative historical… …   Wikipedia

  • Romance of the Three Kingdoms — Infobox Book name = Romance of the Three Kingdoms title orig = 三國演義 image caption = An illustration of the book author = Luo Guanzhong illustrator = cover artist = country = China language = Chinese series = subject = genre = Historical novel… …   Wikipedia

  • List of personages of the Three Kingdoms — The following is a list of personages significant to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. They provided the basis of what is often termed Matter of the Three Kingdoms , a favourite subject for Chinese folklore. The leading work in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Romance of the Three Kingdoms (TV series) — In 1995, CCTV produced a television adaptation of the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms . It was a 84 part series with 44 minute long episodes.The whole series took a 1000 strong production group four years to complete, and recruited over… …   Wikipedia

  • Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2 — Romance of the Three Kingdoms II Romance of the Three Kingdoms II Éditeur Koei Développeur Koei Date de sortie 1990 (FDS) …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”