Xiahou Mao

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Xiahou Mao (? – ?; 夏侯楙) was a Chinese military Wei general under the powerful warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms Period in ancient China and the son of Xiahou Dun. He was given the title “Marquis of the Imperial Domain” by Wei Wen Di in date and he was married to Princess Qinghe, the daughter of Cao Cao in (date).

He was assigned by Cao Rui to defend the Shu/Wei border against Zhuge Liang's northern campaign. However, he was not well-respected by his colleagues, who assumed that Xiahou Mao would be unable to fulfill his role. Xiahou Mao reportedly responded to such criticism as follows:

Ever since I was a boy, I have studied strategy, and I am well acquainted with army matters. Why do you despise my youth? Unless I capture this Zhuge Liang, I pledge myself never again to see the Emperor's face."

His early encounter against Shu turned out badly, and he was forced to flee. After consulting with his generals, he planned a successful ambush against famed Shu general Zhao Yun and fought a fifty pass duel against him. Unfortunatly for Mao, this victory was only temporary, as Shu generals Zhang Bao and Guan Xing both arrived with ten thousand troops to save Zhao Yun; Xiahou Mao's army was utterly routed by nightfall. Mao escaped to the city of Nanan with just one hundred horsemen. He managed to resist a siege for ten days until Zhuge Liang arrived and directed his efforts towards another city, Tian Shui. A defeated Wei general named Cui Liang, who was on route to Tian Shui, offered Zhuge Liang to convince the governor of Nanan, Yang Ling, to turn the city over. In fact, he had no such intention, instead telling Yang Ling what had taken place, and the two of them and Xiahou Mao attempted to lure the Shu army into the city and massacre them.

Zhuge Liang saw through the plot, however, and both Cui Liang and Yang Ling were slain by Zhang Bao and Guan Xing, respectivly, and Xiahou Mao was captured. He begged for his life and was released by Zhuge Liang on condition he convinced Jiang Wei to defect to Shu. In fact, Xiahou Mao was simply being played a fool, and was tricked into thinking that Jiang Wei had already defected. He went to Tian Shui to meet the governor there, Ma Zun, and his false belief of Jiang Wei's defection was reinforced when a fake Jiang Wei led an attack upon the city. He was driven off, and so was the real Jiang Wei when he came to Tian Shui later. Due to the later defection of Jiang Wei and the betrayal of Yin Shang and Liang Xu (friends of Jiang Wei), the city fell. Xiahou Mao fled with a few hundred loyalists and sought refuge with the Qiang tribe, and, staying true to his words, never returned.

According to some sources, including the head administrator of SimRTK, Xiahou Mao's reputation as a failure is undeserved. One story is that he was, in fact, a heroic general that Zhuge Liang feared greatly, going so far as to faint when he heard he was to face him. In addition, Zhang Bao was killed in the rescue of Zhao Yun from Xiahou Mao's ambush, and Xiahou Mao's tales of his cowardice was only slander created by an envious Sima Yi, whom Xiahou Mao had crossed in the past, and, instead of being defeated, was recalled to the capitol. Unable to return because of his oath, he left. It is then said he trained the famed Wei general Deng Ai in the arts of warfare and diplomacy. Due to the heavy pro-Shu bias of the novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is possible that Xiahou Mao was purposly dumbed down as to portray Zhuge Liang as the better. However, such arguments are not based on any type of historical documents or facts (such as San Guo Zhi or commentaries by Pei Songzhi and Sima Qian) and are to be taken with a grain of salt.

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http://kongming.net/novel/sgz/xiahoudun.php

Xiahou Mao

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