Xu Chu

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Xu.

2 Service under Cao Cao

Xu Chu (died c. 230),[1][2] courtesy name Zhongkang,

was a military general who lived in the late Eastern Han
dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. He served as
a bodyguard to the warlord Cao Cao, and continued to
serve as a general in the state of Cao Wei founded by
Cao Caos son and successor, Cao Pi in the Three Kingdoms period. He was described to be a big and strong
man, yet simple minded and honest, so he was nicknamed
Tiger Fool by his men. After his death, he was posthumously honoured with the title Marquis Zhuang, which
literally means robust marquis.

In 197, when the warlord Cao Cao came to the Runan and
Huainan area, Xu Chu led his militia to join Cao. Upon
seeing Xu Chus strength, Cao Cao exclaimed, This man
is my Fan Kuai!" Xu Chu was appointed as a Commandant ( ) among Cao Caos close guards, who were
known as the Tiger Warriors ( ). During Cao Caos
campaign against a rival warlord Zhang Xiu, Xu Chu was
at the forefront of the battle and he slew thousands of enemy soldiers. He was promoted to Colonel ( ) for his
achievement.[5]

In 200, Xu Chu followed Cao Cao to the Battle of Guandu

against the northern warlord Yuan Shao. During the battle, Xu Ta ( ) and some conspirators plotted to assassinate Cao Cao. They feared Xu Chu so they waited until
he went to rest before they entered Cao Caos tent with
swords hidden under their clothes. Xu Chu felt uneasy
earlier on so he returned to Cao Caos tent to protect
his lord. When Xu Ta and the others showed up in Cao
Caos tent, they were very surprised to see Xu Chu there
and could not contain their astonishment. Xu Chu sensed
their intentions and killed them. After this incident, Cao
Cao trusted Xu Chu even more and would go nowhere
without Xu by his side. Xu Chu participated in the Battle
of Ye in 204 and received the title of a Secondary Marquis (
) as a reward for his eorts.[6]

Early life

Xu Chu was from Qiao County ( ) in the Pei State ( ),

which is in present-day Bozhou, Anhui. He was over eight
chi tall (about 177192 centimetres) with a waist circumference of ten wei (approximately 90100 centimetres).
He had an imposing and sturdy look and was known for
his great strength and courage.[3]
Towards the end of the Han dynasty, Xu Chu rallied
thousands of his clan members and they constructed a
fortress to fend o the Yellow Turban rebels. An army
of rebels from Runan ( ; present-day Runan County,
Zhumadian, Henan), numbering more than 10,000, once
attacked Xu Chus fortress. The defenders were outnumbered and worn out as the battle dragged on. When the
arrows were used up, Xu Chu told all the men and women
within the fortress to gather stones the size of chess pieces
and place them in the four corners of the fortress. He then
hurled the stones at the enemies, crushing the bones of all
those who were hit. The rebels then kept a distance away
and did not dare to come close. When the food supply
was exhausted, Xu Chu pretended to negotiate a truce
with the rebels and discuss a deal to exchange an ox for
food. When the rebels came to collect the ox, the animal
would always run back. Then Xu Chu, holding on to the
oxs tail, pulled it along for more than a hundred steps.
Seeing this, the startled rebels took o without the ox.
The rebels in the surrounding areas heard of this incident
and became fearful of Xu Chu.[4]

2.1 Battle of Tong Pass

Main article: Battle of Tong Pass (211)
In 211, during the Battle of Tong Pass against a coalition
of northwestern warlords led by Ma Chao and Han Sui,
Cao Cao led his troops north across the Ji River ( ) in
an attempt to circle to the rear of the enemy. The bulk
of Cao Caos troops had already crossed the river, leaving Cao and his Tiger Warriors to bring up the rear. Just
then, Ma Chao and his 10,000 horsemen caught up with
them. As the enemies were approaching fast, Cao Caos
soldiers rushed to get on board the ferry, which was on the
verge of sinking under the weight. Xu Chu held up a saddle with his left hand to shield Cao Cao from arrows and
carried a sword on his right hand, using it to slash enemy
soldiers were trying to clamber onto the vessel. By then,
the boatman had been killed by arrows, so Xu Chu, still
holding up the saddle with his left hand, used his other
hand to grab a bargepole and push the ferry away from
1

the ford to safety.[7]

Cao Cao later agreed to meet Ma Chao and Han Sui
for talks, and he brought along only Xu Chu. Ma Chao
had condence in himself and he secretly planned to use
the opportunity to charge forward and capture Cao Cao,
but he had heard of Xu Chus might before and he suspected that the man beside Cao Cao was Xu. Ma Chao
asked Cao Cao, Where is your Tiger Marquis?" Cao Cao
pointed at Xu Chu, who glared at Ma Chao. Ma Chao was
afraid and did not dare to make his move. Both sides then
returned to their respective camps. Several days later, a
battle was fought, and Cao Cao scored a major victory.
Xu Chu killed several enemies and was promoted to Military Guard General of the Household (
) for his
achievement. This was the rst time the term Military
Guard ( ) was used. Cao Caos soldiers knew that Xu
Chu possessed the might of a tiger, but he was also simple
minded, so they nicknamed him Tiger Fool ( ).[8]

Incident with Cao Ren

Xu Chu was known to be a cautious and serious person

who did not talk much and was very mindful of rules and
regulations. Once, Cao Caos cousin and general Cao Ren
travelled from Jing Province to meet Cao Cao who had
recently received the title of a vassal king, King of Wei
( ), from Emperor Xian in the capital Xu ( ; presentday Xuchang, Henan). Cao Cao was still in his personal
chambers, with Xu Chu standing guard outside, when
Cao Ren arrived. Cao Ren asked Xu Chu to join him
in the side room for a chat. However, Xu Chu replied,
The King is coming out soon, and then entered Cao
Caos chambers. Cao Ren was very unhappy with Xu
Chu. Later, someone told Xu Chu, The General (Cao
Ren) is a close relative and important subject of the King.
He lowered himself when he asked to chat with you. How
could you reject him?" Xu Chu responded, He may be
a close relative and important subject of the King, but he
is in charge of external defences at the borders. I, Xu
Chu, am in charge of internal security. If he wanted to
chat with me, we could do so in public. Why did he ask
to converse with me in private?" Cao Cao was impressed
and he favoured Xu Chu even more after he heard about
the incident, and he promoted Xu to Central Resolute
General (
).[9]

IN FICTION

the palace guards, and also granted him the title Marquis
of Wansui Village (
). The original Tiger Warriors
under Xu Chus command were all commissioned as ofcers by Cao Cao, but among them, only slightly more
than 10 rose through the ranks to become generals and
recipients of marquis titles, while only about a hundred
were promoted to commandants and colonels.[10]
Cao Pi died in 226 and was succeeded by his son Cao Rui.
Cao Rui granted Xu Chu the title Marquis of Mou District (
) and 700 taxable households under his control, and even conferred the title of a Secondary Marquis (
) on one of Xus sons. After his death, Xu
Chu was given the posthumous name Marquis Zhuang
( ), which literally means robust marquis.[11]

5 Family and descendants

Sometime during the Taihe era (227-233) in the reign of
Cao Rui, the emperor issued an imperial edict, praising
Xu Chu and conferring the title of a Secondary Marquis
(
) on Xu Chus son and grandson.[12]
Xu Chus titles were inherited by his son, Xu Yi ( ). In
263, when Cao Wei launched a major campaign to conquer its rival state Shu Han, Xu Yi served as a yamenjiang
(
) under the Wei general Zhong Hui, who tasked him
with overseeing the construction of roads leading into
Shu. When the main army commanded by Zhong Hui
passed through the roads, it turned out that the roads were
poorly built. Zhong Hui had Xu Yi executed for his failure, and this incident shocked the Wei army.[13] Xu Yis
titles were inherited by his son, Xu Zong ( ), during the
reign of Emperor Wu of the Jin dynasty.[14]
Xu Chus elder brother, Xu Ding ( ), also served in the
Wei military and was promoted to General Who Inspires
Might (
) and commanded the Rapid as Tigers
( ) division of the imperial guards.[15]

6 Appraisal
Chen Shou, who wrote Xu Chus biography in the
Sanguozhi, commented that Xu Chu and Dian Wei were
powerful bodyguards and were comparable to Fan Kuai,
a general who served under Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty.[16]

Service under Cao Pi

When Cao Cao died in 220, Xu Chu was so overwhelmed

with sorrow that he vomited blood. Later that year, Cao
Caos son Cao Pi ended the Han dynasty and established
the state of Cao Wei, marking the start of the Three
Kingdoms period. Cao Pi became emperor and he also
favoured Xu Chu greatly. He promoted Xu Chu to Military Guard General (
) and put him in charge of

7 In ction
Xu Chu appears as a character in the historical novel
Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong,
which romanticises the historical events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. His bravery and strength
was emphasised by a ctional episode in chapter 59,

3
when he duelled with Ma Chao during the Battle of Tong
Pass.[lower-alpha 1]

[13] (
,
Sanguozhi vol. 28.
[14] (

Modern references

...

[15] (

...

[16] (

Xu Chu is featured as a playable character in Koei's

Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi video game series. His name is erroneously romanised as Xu Zhu in
the games.

) Sanguozhi vol. 18.

) Sanguozhi vol. 18.

) Sanguozhi vol. 18.

Chen, Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).

Luo, Guanzhong. Romance of the Three Kingdoms
(Sanguo Yanyi).

See also

Pei, Songzhi. Annotations to Records of the Three

Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).

List of people of the Three Kingdoms

10

Notes

[1] See Battle of Tong Pass (211)#In ction for more information.

11

References

[1] Xu Chus death date was not stated clearly in his biography
in the Sanguozhi, but it is known that he died after Cao
Rui ascended the throne of Cao Wei in 226. Quote from
Sanguozhi vol. 18: (
, ...
,...)
[2] de Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A biographical dictionary of
Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23220 AD). Brill. p.
902. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.
[3] (
,
guozhi vol. 18.

...

) San-

[4] ( ,
,
Sanguozhi vol. 18.

[5] (
,
Sanguozhi vol. 18.

[6] (
Sanguozhi vol. 18.
,

[9] (
,
Sanguozhi vol. 18.

[10] (
,
Sanguozhi vol. 18.

[11] (
,
,
guozhi vol. 18.

[12] (
,
18.

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,

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,

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)

San-

) Sanguozhi vol.

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Sanguozhi vol. 18.

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Sanguozhi vol. 18.

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12
12.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Xu Chu Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Chu?oldid=726146373 Contributors: SimonP, DopeshJustin, Ping, Secretlondon, Phil

Boswell, Bkell, Lyellin, Xanzzibar, Guanaco, Mboverload, Tagishsimon, Lowang, MakeRocketGoNow, Addama, Deansfa, Plastictv, Colinoncayuga, Chobot, Nlu, That Guy, From That Show!, SmackBot, Lds, Bluebot, OrphanBot, Underbar dk, Yifanwang99, Andymc, Nonsuch, Cao Wei, DabMachine, CmdrObot, The Cake is a Lie, DanielRigal, Ladida, Karwynn, Thijs!bot, Clonetrooper95, UOSSReiska,
Escarbot, 17tracks, Hensu75, MaskedRiderGatack, Armando12, JimCubb, Magioladitis, CommonsDelinker, LordAnubisBOT, Satsu Ryu,
BotKung, Ponyo, SieBot, EveryDayJoe45, ImageRemovalBot, Dohe, Niceguyedc, Exiled Ambition, Sun Creator, Lammet, DumZiBoT,
Addbot, Ben Ben, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Ulric1313, Citation bot, Xqbot, Timmyshin, DefaultsortBot, Infokazu74023god, YiMa9187432,
EkmanLi, ,
, ClueBot NG, Teller 24, Kamek98, SSandroo, Yiwenshi, Hantaizong and Anonymous: 37

12.2

Images

File:Xu_Chu_Qing_illustration.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Xu_Chu_Qing_illustration.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Taken from Gongjins Campaign Memorials: a Three Kingdoms Wiki
Original artist: Unknown author

12.3

Content license

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