Hao Pu

Historical Record

Hao Pu, courtesy name Zitai, was from Yiyang. After Liu Bei entered Shu from Jing Province, he appointed Hao Pu Administrator of Lingling. Sun Quan and Liu Bei came into conflict over the commanderies of Jing Province. Sun Quan ordered Lü Meng to lead troops to seize Changsha, Lingling, and Guiyang. Hao Pu, Administrator of Lingling, held the city and resisted fiercely, unlike the other two commanderies, which submitted at the first sign of his approach. Liu Bei went in person to Gong’an and sent Guan Yu to contest the three commanderies; Sun Quan, meanwhile, ordered Lu Su to station troops at Yiyang to resist Guan Yu, and urgently summoned Lü Meng to come to his aid.^[1][2][3]

Lü Meng originally planned to continue his attack on Lingling. When passing through Ling County, he brought along Deng Xuanzhi, an old acquaintance of Hao Pu, intending to use him to persuade Hao Pu to surrender. After receiving Sun Quan’s order urging him to withdraw, Lü Meng did not make the military order public. Instead, he summoned his generals at night to arrange an assault on the city, and had Deng Xuanzhi tell Hao Pu that Liu Bei was besieged in Hanzhong, Guan Yu was fighting Sun Quan, and Lingling could no longer expect relief. If Hao Pu continued to hold the isolated city, its fall would cost him his life and endanger his elderly mother at home as well. Frightened by what he heard, Hao Pu agreed to leave the city. Lü Meng had already arranged for soldiers to take control of the gates; only after receiving Hao Pu did he produce Sun Quan’s letter ordering him to withdraw. On learning that Liu Bei was at Gong’an and Guan Yu at Yiyang, Hao Pu was ashamed and distressed. Lü Meng immediately led his troops to Yiyang; after Liu Bei requested an alliance, Sun Quan returned Hao Pu and the others, and gave Lingling back to Liu Bei, with the Xiang River as the boundary.^[4][5]

Hao Pu later served in Wu and rose to the post of Minister of Justice. During Sun Quan’s reign, Yin Fan, a native of Qing Province, came over to Wu. Hao Pu became close to him and praised his talent for assisting a ruler. Yin Fan was later executed after his plot to rebel was exposed. Sun Quan rebuked Hao Pu, who eventually killed himself.^[1][6]

In the Novel

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms material provided contains no account of Hao Pu; the novel does not mention him. This article therefore cannot invent his words, conduct, character, or battlefield experiences in the novel, nor can it present historical accounts of his defense of Lingling and his surrender after being deceived as episodes from the novel. Any account of Hao Pu should be based on the Records of the Three Kingdoms and Pei Songzhi’s annotations; the available material offers no portrayal of him in the novel for comparison.^[1][3]

Key Relationships

Hao Pu’s career was directly tied to the contest between Liu Bei and Sun Quan for the three commanderies of Jing Province: Liu Bei appointed him Administrator of Lingling, after which Sun Quan sent Lü Meng west to seize the three commanderies, making Hao Pu a defender of the city. Guan Yu was sent by Liu Bei to contest the three commanderies, while Lü Meng was dispatched by Sun Quan to capture them. This confrontation meant that Lingling’s fate was not merely a matter of Hao Pu’s personal choice to defend the city, but part of the military and diplomatic struggle between the two sides.^[1][2][3]

Deng Xuanzhi was the key intermediary Lü Meng used to persuade Hao Pu to surrender, and he was an old acquaintance of Hao Pu. Lü Meng had him convey the claims that relief would not arrive and the isolated city was doomed, while concealing the fact that he had been ordered to withdraw. Hao Pu was thus misled about the situation, and only after leaving the city did he see Sun Quan’s letter. Hao Pu later served at the Wu court and became close to Yin Fan. His high regard for Yin Fan drew Sun Quan’s rebuke, and Hao Pu’s life ended in suicide.^[4][5][6]

Signature Episodes

The episode that best captures Hao Pu’s predicament is the ruse that induced his surrender outside Lingling. Lü Meng did not rely on military pressure alone: he first sent Deng Xuanzhi to persuade him, then pressed him with the claims that no relief would come, the isolated city could not hold out, and his elderly mother at home might be harmed. Frightened, Hao Pu decided to leave the city. Lü Meng then took control of the gates and led him by the hand; only afterward did he show him the letter ordering the withdrawal. Hao Pu then realized that his understanding of the military situation had been manipulated, and felt ashamed and bitterly regretful. This stratagem brought Lingling temporarily into Wu’s hands and showed that although Hao Pu had once held out in an isolated city, he was ultimately persuaded by targeted deception and threats.^[3][4][5]

Another turning point came at the Wu court: Hao Pu had been close to Yin Fan and praised him as a man of exceptional talent for assisting a ruler. After Yin Fan’s plot to rebel was exposed, Sun Quan connected Hao Pu with the affair and rebuked him, whereupon Hao Pu killed himself. The first episode introduces him as Administrator of Lingling amid the contest between Sun and Liu; the second closes his life as Minister of Justice at the Wu court. One saw him lose a city amid a sudden turn in the military situation, the other saw him die amid political suspicion. Together, they form the two key moments in the historical accounts of his life.^[5][6]