Tao Huang (Eastern Wu)

Tao Huang (died 290), courtesy name Shiying, was a military officer of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period and later for the Jin Dynasty (266-420). Tao Huang was most notable for his thirty years administration of Jiaozhou during Wu and Jin. He was also responsible for Wu's victory against Jin during the latter's campaign in Jiao between 268 to 271, one of the few major victories Wu had over Jin in the final years of the Three Kingdoms.

Tao Huang
陶璜
Inspector of Jiaozhou (交州刺史)
In office
c. 270 (c. 270) – 290 (290)
MonarchSun Hao/Emperor Wu of Jin
Personal details
BornUnknown
Died290
RelationsTao Jun (brother)
Tao Kang (brother)
ChildrenTao Yan
Tao You
Tao Rong
FatherTao Ji
Courtesy nameShiying (世英)
Posthumous nameMarquis Lie (烈侯)
In this Chinese name, the family name is Tao.

Service in Eastern Wu

Tao Huang was from Moling County, Daling commandery. His father, Tao Ji (陶基) was once the Inspector of Jiaozhou and Tao Huang himself held a few posts in the Wu government.[1]

In 263, the people of Jiaozhi commandery in Jiaozhou led by Lü Xing (呂興) rebelled and killed the local administrators, Sun Xu (孫諝) and Deng Xun (鄧荀). The rebels aligned themselves with Cao Wei and the situation deteriorated for Wu later that year, as Wei's conquest of Shu allowed them to annex Jiaozhi.[2] In 268, relations between the Sima Jin Dynasty (which had replaced Wei in 266) and Wu broke down. The Wu emperor, Sun Hao ordered his general Xiu Ze (修則) to invade Jin's territories in Jiaozhou but Xiu was killed by Jin's Grand Administrator of Jiaozhi, Yang Ji (楊稷). Tao Huang, Xue Xu and Yu Si were sent to take his place in defending against Jin.[3] At that point, the Jiaozhou commanderies of Jiuzhen (九真) and Rinan (日南) had been conquered by Jin.

Tao Huang faced Yang Ji at Fen River(分水) and was defeated along with having two of his subordinates killed in battle. This angered his superior, Xue Xu, who at that point was considering on abandoning the region as a whole. However, later one night, Tao Huang carried out a raid on one of the Jin generals, Dong Yuan (董元), and had much success, reversing their losses. Impressed with his recent victory, Xue Xu handed over his command of Wu's Jiaozhou over to Tao Huang. Soon, Tao Huang routed Dong Yuan again, capturing his treasury ships.

Tao Huang then used the loot from the captured ships to pay a powerful local from Fuyan (扶嚴), Liang Qi (梁奇), to aid him against Jin. He then used another portion of it to successfully bribe the brother of Dong Yuan's starred general, Xie Xi (謝之). This led to Dong Yuan fearing that Xie Xi would betray him as well and he had Xi executed. With the death of Xie Xi, Tao Huang and Xue Xu besieged the Jin forces in Jiaozhi and captured many of their generals, including Yang Ji. They were sent to Jianye where all of them were ordered to be executed by Sun Hao. Jiuzhen, Jizhen and Rinan followed suit and were back in Wu's hands. Although Jin had been completely defeated in Jiao, a Wu official in Jiuzhen, Li Zuo (李祚), rebelled and defected to Jin. Tao Huang attacked him and retook the commandery.

Tao Huang was made the Inspector of Jiaozhou for his merits during the campaign. As Inspector of Jiaozhou, he pacified the local tribes in Wuping (武平), Jiude (九德), and Xinchang (新昌) and annexed their territories. Tao Huang was popular and beloved by the populace of Jiaozhou. On one occasion, he was appointed as Commander of Wuchang and left the province. The people of Jiao were devastated and insisted on having Tao Huang to stay so he was reappointed as administrator of the region.[4]

In 279, Jin launched its conquest of Wu. Tao Huang was positioned far from the action and thus did not fight in any battle during the conquest. Jianye capitulated in 280 and Sun Hao formally surrendered to the Jin forces. He wrote a letter to Tao Huang's son, Tao Rong (陶融) to ask his father to surrender. Upon hearing the news, Tao Huang mourned his state for days before replying back to give his surrender. Emperor Wu of Jin allowed him to keep his existing positions while granting him promotions.[5]

Service in the Jin Dynasty

Shortly after Wu's demise, Emperor Wu intended to reduce the number of troops in each province and commandery across state. Tao Huang personally wrote a letter to the emperor to exclude Jiaozhou from this policy. His reasoning were that Jiaozhou was too far from the capital in Luoyang, and the harsh terrains meant that a rebellion by the locals or treacherous officials would be hard to put down. He also pointed out the imminent threat of the independent commanderies around the area and his previous encounters with the Cham kingdom of Lâm Ấp led by their king, Phạm Hùng, supported by their ally, Funan. In the same letter, Tao Huang also requested that taxes in Jiao be paid with pearls, which were the local people's general source of income, and that merchants were to be allowed to trade in the region. Emperor Wu agreed and granted Tao's requests.[6]

Tao Huang governed Jiaozhou for another 10 years before passing away in 290. It is said that the people of the province mourned his death greatly. He was posthumously named as "Marquis Lie" (烈侯).

References
  1. (陶璜，字世英，丹陽秣陵人也。父基，吳交州刺史。璜仕吳曆顯位。) Book of Jin, Volume 57
  2. (孫皓時，交阯太守孫諝貪暴，為百姓所患。會察戰鄧荀至，擅調孔雀三千頭，遣送秣陵，既苦遠役，咸思為亂。郡吏呂興殺諝及荀，以郡內附。武帝拜興安南將軍、交阯太守。) Book of Jin, Volume 57
  3. (吳遣虞汜為監軍，薛珝為威南將軍、大都督，璜為蒼梧太守，距稷，戰于分水。) Book of Jin, Volume 57
  4. (逾時乃拔。皓以璜為使持節、都督交州諸軍事、前將軍、交州牧。武平、九德、新昌土地阻險，夷獠勁悍，曆世不賓，璜征討，開置三郡，及九真屬國三十餘縣。征璜為武昌都督，以合浦太守修允代之。交土人請留璜以千數，於是遣還。) Book of Jin, Volume 57
  5. (皓既降晉，手書遣璜息融敕璜歸順。璜流涕數日，遣使送印綬詣洛陽。帝詔復其本職，封宛陵侯，改為冠軍將軍。) Book of Jin, Volume 57
  6. (吳既平，普減州郡兵，璜上言曰：交土荒裔，鬥絕一方，或重譯而言，連帶山海。又南郡去州海行千有餘里，外距林邑才七百里。夷帥范熊世為逋寇，自稱為王，數攻百姓。且連接扶南，種類猥多，朋黨相倚，負險不賓。往隸吳時，數作寇逆，攻破郡縣，殺害長吏。臣以尪駑，昔為故國所采，偏戍在南，十有餘年。雖前後征討，翦其魁桀，深山僻穴，尚有逋竄。又臣所統之卒本七千餘人，南土溫濕，多有氣毒，加累年征討，死亡減耗，其見在者二千四百二十人。今四海混同，無思不服，當卷甲清刃，禮樂是務。而此州之人，識義者寡，厭其安樂，好為禍亂。又廣州南岸，周旋六千餘里，不賓屬者乃五萬餘戶，及桂林不羈之輩，復當萬戶。至於服從官役，才五千餘家。二州脣齒，唯兵是鎮。又甯州興古接據上流，去交址郡千六百里，水陸並通，互相維衛。州兵未宜約損，以示單虛。夫風塵之變，出於非常。臣亡國之餘，議不足采，聖恩廣厚，猥垂飾擢，蠲其罪釁，改授方任，去辱即寵，拭目更視，誓念投命，以報所受，臨履所見，謹冒瞽陳。又以「合浦郡土地磽確，無有田農，百姓唯以采珠為業，商賈去來，以珠貿米。而吳時珠禁甚嚴，慮百姓私散好珠，禁絕來去，人以饑困。又所調猥多，限每不充。今請上珠三分輸二，次者輸一，粗者蠲除。自十月訖二月，非采上珠之時，聽商旅往來如舊」。並從之。) Book of Jin, Volume 57
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