Hu Zun

Historical Record

Hu Zun was a Cao Wei general whose life and deeds are little recorded in the official histories, appearing chiefly in the several major battles he took part in. The most famous of these is the Battle of Dongxing. In the second year of Jiaping (250 CE), Sun Quan died and Zhuge Ke took charge of the government. The following year, in the tenth month of the first year of Jianxing, Zhuge Ke led an army of forty thousand to rebuild the Dongxing embankment and to raise two forts between the two hills, leaving a thousand men to garrison each, under the command of Quan Duan and Liu Lue^[1]. This was intended to check the flooding of Chao Lake and to pose a military threat to the state of Wei. Wei felt this a humiliation and so ordered the great general Hu Zun, together with Zhuge Dan and others, to lead an army of seventy thousand, intending to break the two forts and destroy the great embankment. Hu Zun and his colleagues directed the Wei army to throw pontoon bridges across the water, to deploy on the embankment, and to divide their forces to attack the two forts. The forts, however, stood high and strong and could not be taken at once. The Wu generals Liu Zan, Lü Ju, Tang Zi, and Ding Feng, serving as the vanguard, took advantage of the Wei army's feasting and drinking amid the bitter cold and heavy snow; seeing the Wu force was small, the Wei troops grew complacent and careless, bearing no spears or halberds, wearing only helmets and carrying sabers and shields, and so disembarked straight onto the bank. The Wu army then raised a clamor and charged, launching a surprise assault. The Wei army, caught off guard, panicked and scattered, scrambling to recross the pontoon bridges. The bridges, unable to bear the load, broke apart, and the Wei soldiers fell into the water one after another, trampling one another, with several myriad dead and wounded. The Administrator of Le'an, Huan Jia, and others fell in this battle as well. Moreover, the renegade general Han Zong, serving as supervisor of the Wei vanguard, was also slain. In this battle the Wu army captured a vast quantity of carts, oxen, horses, donkeys, and mules, piled up like mountains, and finally returned in triumph^[1]. The Battle of Dongxing is the military action of Hu Zun most fully recorded in the official histories, but it ended in a crushing Wei defeat, which indirectly reflects the deficiencies Hu Zun may have had in military command.

In the Novel

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Hu Zun is fashioned as an important Cao Wei general who repeatedly takes part in major military operations, but whose outcomes are often unsatisfactory, even tinged with tragedy. He first appears at the time of Sima Yi's campaign against Gongsun Yuan^[2]. On the orders of the Wei sovereign Cao Rui, Sima Yi led an army to subdue Liaodong. Hu Zun was appointed vanguard and led his troops ahead to encamp in Liaodong. Gongsun Yuan dispatched Bei Yan and Yang Zuo to station eighty thousand men at Liaosui, building tight defensive works. Hu Zun reported this situation to Sima Yi, who saw through Gongsun Yuan's scheme to drag out and exhaust the Wei army, and decided to avoid Liaosui, march by side roads straight for Xiangping, force Gongsun Yuan to turn back to its defense, and then ambush him on the way. This episode shows Hu Zun, as vanguard, responsible for reconnaissance and reporting military intelligence, while the power of military decision still rested with Sima Yi.

Hu Zun's most prominent and representative role in the novel is the Battle of Dongxing. As in the historical record, after Sun Quan's death Sima Shi intended to seize the opportunity to attack Wu and dispatched Hu Zun with an army of a hundred thousand to attack Dongxing^[3]. Hu Zun crossed the pontoon bridges, encamped on the embankment, and dispatched Huan Jia and Han Zong to attack the two forts of the Wu army. The forts, however, were strong and held out against prolonged assault. It was a time of bitter cold and heavy snow, and Hu Zun and his officers held a feast and drank, growing complacent and careless. At this moment Ding Feng approached with thirty warships; the Wu troops aboard had stripped off their armor and removed their helmets, carrying only short blades, which made the Wei soldiers laugh and let down their guard. Ding Feng seized the chance to attack, slaying Han Zong and wounding Huan Jia. Seeing the situation turn ill, Hu Zun hurriedly mounted and fled. The Wei soldiers scrambled to escape, the pontoon bridges broke, and a great number of soldiers fell into the water and drowned, the dead and wounded beyond count^[4]. In this battle the Wei army was crushed, and upon hearing of it Sima Zhao, Wang Chang, and Guanqiu Jian had no choice but to withdraw their troops^[5]. The novel's depiction of Hu Zun further reinforces his image of complacency and incompetent command, making him a foil for the legendary feats of the Wu general Ding Feng.

Later, during Zhuge Dan's rebellion, Hu Zun appears again. Sima Shi (later succeeded by Sima Zhao) led an army to suppress the revolt, and Hu Zun was ordered to lead the various armies of Qing Province out to the region of Qiao and Song to cut off Zhuge Dan's line of retreat^[6]. In the end, when the hearts within the city had grown disaffected, Zhuge Dan tried to break out, but ran into Hu Zun at the drawbridge and was slain by Hu Zun's own hand beneath his horse^[7]. This episode is one of Hu Zun's rare moments of glory in the novel: he personally slew the chief instigator of the rebellion and rendered merit in suppressing the revolt for Wei, which somewhat redeemed the loss of face from his earlier defeat at Dongxing. This episode, however, has no explicit record in the histories and belongs to the literary creation of the novel.

Key Relationships

* Cao Wei (serves): Hu Zun was an important Cao Wei general who served the Cao Wei regime throughout his life, taking part in many foreign wars and internal suppressions of revolt^[1].
* Sima Yi (serves): In the campaign against Gongsun Yuan, Hu Zun as vanguard obeyed Sima Yi's orders and command^[2].
* Sima Shi (serves): In the Battle of Dongxing, Hu Zun, on Sima Shi's orders, led an army to attack Dongxing but ultimately met with a crushing defeat^[3].
* Sima Zhao (serves): In suppressing Zhuge Dan's rebellion, Hu Zun, on Sima Zhao's orders, cut off the rebels' retreat and finally slew Zhuge Dan^[6].
* Ding Feng (fights_in): In the Battle of Dongxing, the Wei army led by Hu Zun was surprised and crushed by the Wu army led by Ding Feng, who displayed outstanding military talent in this battle^[4].
* Zhuge Dan (fights_in): In suppressing Zhuge Dan's rebellion, Hu Zun ultimately slew Zhuge Dan with his own hand, ending the revolt (novel only)^[7].
* Huan Jia (fights_in): In the Battle of Dongxing, Huan Jia, as a subordinate general of Hu Zun, took part in the assault on the forts and finally fell in the Wu surprise attack^[1].
* Han Zong (fights_in): In the Battle of Dongxing, Han Zong, as supervisor of the Wei vanguard, was slain by Ding Feng^[1].

Iconic Scenes

* The crushing defeat at Dongxing: Hu Zun led seventy thousand (a hundred thousand in the novel) Wei troops to attack Dongxing, but through complacency and carelessness, amid bitter cold and heavy snow, was surprised by the Wu general Ding Feng, causing the Wei pontoon bridges to break, with several myriad dead and wounded and crushing losses. This battle is a signature event recorded in both the historical sources and the novel, and a great blot on his military career^[1].
* Vanguard of the Liaodong campaign: As Sima Yi's vanguard in the campaign against Gongsun Yuan, Hu Zun led his troops ahead to Liaodong, responsible for scouting the enemy's situation and reporting to Sima Yi. This scene shows Hu Zun's duties as a frontline general and provided the intelligence basis for Sima Yi's marvelous stratagem^[2].
* Slaying Zhuge Dan: In suppressing Zhuge Dan's rebellion, Hu Zun intercepted Zhuge Dan as he tried to break out beyond the city of Shouchun and slew him with his own hand beneath his horse. In the novel this episode is one of Hu Zun's few moments of glory, displaying his valor as a warrior and helping Cao Wei put down the revolt (novel only)^[7].
* The Wei army's feasting and complacency: In the Battle of Dongxing, Hu Zun and his officers held a feast and drank amid bitter cold and heavy snow, utterly unprepared for the Wu surprise attack, which finally led to defeat. This scene vividly portrays the Wei army's complacent mindset, the key factor leading to its crushing defeat^[4].