The Three Kingdoms Era - Rise of Dong Zhuo

The events described in this blog post are covered in episodes 2 to 3 of the 1994 edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which can be found here

Last week we examined the Yellow Turban Rebellion - an uprising that saw the further diffusion of central Han power and the rise of local warlords. One of those local warlords that rose in stature during the period of the Yellow Turban Rebellion was Dong Zhuo. Commander of forces in Liang Province (modern day Wuwei, Gansu Province) Dong Zhuo was able to build his power base during and after the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Dong Zhuo

In Fiction

There are a couple of fictional stories pertaining to Dong Zhuo that come out of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhuo is said to have been defeated by rebel leader Zhang Jiao and his forces were being routed. Nearby, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were with their forces and came to Dong Zhuo's rescue. After the battle, Dong Zhuo asked the three brothers what positions they held in the government. When they responded with 'none', Dong Zhuo ignored them. 

This story is probably bollocks, introduced in order to firstly establish Dong Zhuo's character and to make the Three Brothers seem more noble in comparison.

In Reality

After Emperor Ling died in 189, the chief general He Jin (Overall commander during the Yellow Turban Rebellions) ordered Dong Zhuo to move troops to the Imperial Capital of Luoyang to eliminate the Eunuch Faction. Before he was able to arrive with his forces, He Jin was assassinated by the Eunuchs, and turmoil engulfed the city. Taking Emperor Shao hostage, the eunuchs fled the city, though ran into Dong Zhuo's forces and were stopped, Dong Zhuo taking the emperor back to the palace.

During the chaos, the General of Chariots and Cavalry, He Miao was killed for allegedly colluding with the eunuchs, and both He Jin and He Miao's forces came under Dong Zhuo's command. After Dong Zhou arrived in the city with his Liang Province troops, he also schemed to have Lu Bu kill his adopted father and Imperial Commandant of the Capital Guards, Ding Yuan, bringing Lu Bu under his command as his foster son. With fresh troops from Liang, combined with the capital guards and troops stationed in Luoyang under his control, Dong Zhuo became the target of the eastern warlords, who did not wish to have Dong Zhuo become influential. To counter their threat, Dong Zhuo had his forces march out of the city at night and reenter through the front gate at noon,  fooling the warlords that he had a massive army and cowing them into submission.

In 190, Dong Zhuo Emperor Shao and replaced him with the Emperor's brother, Liu Xie, who became Emperor Xian. Dong Zhuo declared himself Chancellor, and gave himself special permission to carry his sword to the Imperial Court, something that others were forbidden to do. He was also allowed to enter the court without removing his shoes. It is said that he even slept in the Emperor's bed and had sex with palace maids. 

Lu Bu

A sufferer of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, Lu Bu was considered a great warrior of his age, though he was pretty bad as a commander of troops. Chen Shou, who wrote his biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms said that he 'possessed the might of a tiger, but he lacked the planning skills of a talented person.' That about sums up Lu Bu. His role in Dong Zhuo's life will be seen later on, but at the current moment he killed his foster father, joined Dong Zhuo, then became Dong Zhuo's foster son.

Lu Bu. Look at dem helmet tail things.

In Fiction

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Bu is described as an invincible warrior but incapable leader. In order to get him on side, Dong Zhuo bribes him with gifts of weapons, promotions, women and most importantly, Red Hare, a horse said to be faster than any other under heaven. It was said to be capable of travelling over 1,000li (500 km) in a day, cross rivers and climb mountains like it was on flat land, and neighed like it had the ambition of 'soaring into the sky or diving into the sea'. Basically, Red Hare was a Skyrim Horse.

Most of this portrayal is an exaggeration of the facts of Lu Bu's life - certainly, the Red Hare was valued enough to be rewarded as a gift following Lu Bu's death, but it definitely wasn't a Skyrim horse.