Hou Cheng

Historical Record

Hou Cheng was a cavalry general under Lü Bu. His deeds appear mainly during the period when Lü Bu's army was besieged in the city of Xiapi. The Records of the Three Kingdoms relate that in the third year of the Jian'an era (198 CE), Cao Cao laid siege to Xiapi and was locked in a standoff with Lü Bu for three months. During this time, the morale of Lü Bu's army fell apart, and in the end his generals Hou Cheng, Song Xian, Wei Xu, and others conspired to seize him and surrender him to Cao Cao, thus ending Lü Bu's military career.^[1]

The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Nine Provinces gives a fuller account of the reason for Hou Cheng's surrender to Cao Cao. Hou Cheng had sent a retainer to pasture fifteen horses, but the retainer drove all the horses off to the city of Pei, intending to defect to Liu Bei. Hou Cheng personally led cavalry in pursuit and recovered all the horses. The other generals came to congratulate Hou Cheng, and so he brewed five or six hu of wine and hunted more than ten pigs, preparing to celebrate with them. Before the feast, however, Hou Cheng deliberately brought half a pig and five dou of wine before Lü Bu, knelt, and reported that it was thanks to the general's grace that he had recovered the lost horses; the generals had come to congratulate him, and so he had brewed wine and hunted pigs, but dared not enjoy them on his own, and had come first to present this modest token. Unexpectedly, Lü Bu flew into a rage and demanded of Hou Cheng: "I have issued an order forbidding wine, yet you brew wine and feast together with the generals — do you mean to conspire with them to kill me?" Hearing this, Hou Cheng was greatly afraid and at once withdrew, abandoning the wine he had brewed and returning the gifts to the generals. From then on, doubt and resentment toward Lü Bu took root in his heart. Just then, as Cao Cao was besieging Xiapi, Hou Cheng in the end led his troops in surrender to Cao Cao.^[1]

In the Novel

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Hou Cheng's image is largely consistent with the histories, but is given more dramatic embellishment in its details to underscore the reasonableness and inevitability of his surrender to Cao Cao. In the novel, the episode of Hou Cheng recovering the lost horses is rendered more concretely: he pursued and killed the groom who had stolen the horses and won them back.^[2] He then brewed wine to celebrate with the generals and first reported to Lü Bu, hoping for his understanding. Lü Bu's reaction, however, is more violent and unfeeling. He not only flew into a rage, accusing Hou Cheng of brewing and drinking wine as "conspiring to attack me," but even ordered Hou Cheng dragged out to be beheaded.^[3] Only thanks to the pleas of Song Xian, Wei Xu, and the other generals did Lü Bu commute the sentence to a hundred strokes of the rod. After the generals begged again, in the end he was given fifty welts before being released. This episode greatly intensified Hou Cheng's resentment toward Lü Bu and laid the groundwork for his later betrayal.^[3]

In the novel, after Hou Cheng was punished, Song Xian and Wei Xu came to visit him, and Hou Cheng tearfully lamented, "But for you, I would be dead!"^[4] The three then began to plot in secret. Song Xian complained that Lü Bu "cares only for his wife and treats us like weeds," while Wei Xu fretted, "The army surrounds the city, water laps the moat — our death is but days away!" Song Xian proposed abandoning Lü Bu and fleeing, but Wei Xu went further, advocating to "capture Lü Bu and present him to Lord Cao." Hou Cheng then proposed that, having been punished over horses, and since what Lü Bu most relied on was Red Hare, he was willing first to steal Red Hare and go to Cao Cao as a token of surrender and a condition for offering up the city.^[4] This series of dialogues and plotting makes the betrayal motives of Hou Cheng and the others clearer and lays the groundwork for the subsequent action. In the end, Hou Cheng stole away Red Hare, Wei Xu opened the gate to let him pass and feigned pursuit, and Hou Cheng made his way to Cao Cao's camp, presented Red Hare, and informed him that Song Xian and Wei Xu would raise a white flag as the signal to surrender the city.^[5] This episode, with no record in the histories of Red Hare being stolen, is a distinctive invention of the novel, meant to heighten the drama and pivotal significance of Hou Cheng's surrender to Cao Cao.

Key Relationships

* Lü Bu (defected_from): Hou Cheng's relationship with Lü Bu was the key turning point of his life. From being a general under his command, he came to harbor resentment over the "wine prohibition" affair and in the end betrayed Lü Bu to surrender to Cao Cao. In the histories, Lü Bu's suspicion and violent temper were the direct cause of Hou Cheng's estrangement.^[1] The novel, through the episode of Hou Cheng's flogging, further deepens Lü Bu's lack of principle and the humiliation Hou Cheng suffered, making his betrayal seem all the more justified.^[3]

* Cao Cao (defected_to): Hou Cheng in the end chose to surrender to Cao Cao and became a member of the Cao Wei camp. His surrender directly brought about Lü Bu's downfall and played an important part in Cao Cao's cause of unifying the north. In the novel, Hou Cheng stole away Red Hare to present to Cao Cao and supplied intelligence from within the city, becoming a key link in Cao Cao's capture of Xiapi.^[5]

* Song Xian and Wei Xu (co-conspirators): Hou Cheng, Song Xian, and Wei Xu were allies who together betrayed Lü Bu. In the historical material, the three together bound Chen Gong and led their men in surrender.^[1] The novel depicts the process of their plotting in detail: Hou Cheng, having been humiliated, conceived the intent to rebel, while Song Xian and Wei Xu fretted over their own safety; the three hit it off at once and jointly planned the action to capture Lü Bu.^[4]

Signature Scenes

* Punished over wine, conceiving the intent to rebel: This is the key node in Hou Cheng's change of character and action. In the histories, Hou Cheng was rebuked by Lü Bu over brewing wine and suspected of "conspiring to kill Bu," and so harbored doubt.^[1] The novel dramatizes this scene: Lü Bu not only rebukes but even wishes to behead him, later commuting it to fifty strokes, deepening Hou Cheng's humiliation and fully kindling his intent to betray. This event directly precipitated the plotting of Hou Cheng with Song Xian and Wei Xu and was the fuse of his surrender to Cao Cao.

* Plotting to capture Lü Bu, stealing the horse to present to Cao Cao: Hou Cheng, Song Xian, and Wei Xu, during the siege of Xiapi, secretly discussed how to betray Lü Bu. In the novel, Hou Cheng proposed to steal Lü Bu's horse Red Hare as a token of surrender, and carried it out successfully. He "stealthily went to the stable, stole that Red Hare horse, and galloped toward the east gate," while Wei Xu "opened the gate to let him out and feigned pursuit," and in the end Hou Cheng reached Cao Cao's camp, presented Red Hare, and reported the situation within the city.^[5] This scene displays Hou Cheng's daring and cunning and directly brought about Lü Bu's final defeat, making it Hou Cheng's most signature action in the novel (unique to the novel).

* Declaring "But for you, I would be dead": In the novel, after Hou Cheng was punished, Song Xian and Wei Xu came to visit him, and Hou Cheng tearfully lamented, "But for you, I would be dead!"^[4] This line profoundly expresses the wrong Hou Cheng suffered under Lü Bu and his reliance on his comrades, and became an important emotional foundation for his alliance with Song Xian and Wei Xu in their joint rebellion against Lü Bu. This line is one of the few direct lines of dialogue for Hou Cheng in the novel and very representatively portrays his state of mind and situation at the time (unique to the novel).