Liu Yao 劉繇

Liu Yao, courtesy name Zhengli, was a native of Muping County in Donglai Commandery. The youngest son of King Xiao of Qi had been enfeoffed as Marquis of Muping, and his descendants made their home there. His uncle Liu Chong was Grand Commandant of the Han, and his elder brother Liu Dai, courtesy name Gongshan, served as Palace Attendant and Inspector of Yan Province. Records, Wu 4 §2

At nineteen, when his uncle Liu Wei was taken hostage by bandits, he snatched him back and brought him home, and thereby made his name. Recommended as Filial and Incorrupt, he became a Gentleman of the Palace and was appointed Chief of Xiayi, but when the commandery administrator pressed him to do a favor for a noble relative, he abandoned his post and left. When the province summoned him and assigned him to inspect Jinan, he memorialized against the Chancellor of Jinan—whose father was a Regular Palace Attendant and who was greedy and lawless—and had him dismissed. Taoqiu Hong of Pingyuan wished to have him recommended as Abundant Talent, but the Inspector hesitated because he had recommended his elder brother Gongshan the year before; Taoqiu Hong said that employing the elder brother first and promoting the younger afterwards would be "driving two dragons on a long road and galloping thoroughbreds over a thousand li." He was later summoned as a clerk on the staff of the Minister of Works and appointed Attendant Imperial Clerk, but did not take up the post. Records, Wu 4 §3–4

While he was taking refuge from the turmoil at Huaipu, he was made Inspector of Yang Province by edict. But since Yuan Shu was in Huainan, he was afraid and dared not go to the province. According to the biography of Sun Ce, the seat of the province had long been Shouchun, which Yuan Shu already held, so Liu Yao crossed the Yangtze and made Qu'e his seat. The biographies of Shi Yi and Teng Yin record that Shi Yi of Beihai, and Teng Yin's uncle Teng Dan and father Teng Zhou, crossed the river to escape the turmoil and relied on Liu Yao. Records, Wu 4 §4Records, Wu 1 §28Records, Wu 17 §2Records, Wu 19 §66

At first Wu Jing and Sun Ben welcomed him and settled him at Qu'e, but when Yuan Shu plotted usurpation and attacked the commanderies and counties, Liu Yao, regarding the two as men appointed by Yuan Shu, pressed them and drove them out. The biography of Zhu Zhi states that a rift arose because Liu Yao feared being absorbed by the Yuan and Sun families. Liu Yao stationed Fan Neng and others at Hengjiang Ford and Zhang Ying at Danglikou to hold off Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu appointed his own Inspector of Yang Province and, together with Wu Jing and Sun Ben, attacked Zhang Ying, Fan Neng and the others, but could not dislodge them for more than a year. The Han court added the titles of Governor of Yang Province and General Who Invigorates Martial Might for Liu Yao, and his followers numbered several tens of thousands. Records, Wu 4 §4–5Records, Wu 1 §28Records, Wu 11 §3

According to the biography of Taishi Ci, when Taishi Ci, a man of the same Donglai Commandery, came to see Liu Yao at Qu'e, Sun Ce happened to arrive. When someone urged making Taishi Ci a grand general, Liu Yao said, "If I were to employ Ziyi, would Xu Zijiang not laugh at me?" and merely assigned him to reconnoiter the enemy's strength. Records, Wu 4 §27

Having crossed the river with Yuan Shu's permission, Sun Ce defeated Zhang Ying, Fan Neng and the others. According to the biography of Zhou Yu, Sun Ce took Hengjiang and Dangli, defeated Ze Rong and Xue Li at Moling and then entered Qu'e, and Liu Yao fled. The biography of Sun Ce states that when Liu Yao abandoned his army and fled, the commandery administrators abandoned their cities and ran away. Liu Yao fled to Dantu, then went south up the Yangtze to hold Yuzhang, encamping at Pengze. Records, Wu 4 §5Records, Wu 1 §29–30Records, Wu 9 §3

Ze Rong had reached Yuzhang first, killed the Administrator Zhu Hao and entered the commandery seat. Ze Rong was the man who, serving under Tao Qian, had seized supplies and killed Zhao Yu, Administrator of Guangling, and Xue Li. Liu Yao advanced against him and was defeated by Ze Rong, but he rallied the subordinate counties again and defeated Ze Rong, who fled into the mountains and was killed by the local people. Records, Wu 4 §6 · 8–9

Liu Yao died of illness shortly afterwards at the age of forty-two. Chen Shou's main text does not record the year. The biography of Taishi Ci records that when Liu Yao died at Yuzhang, more than ten thousand of his soldiers were left with no one to rely on, and Sun Ce sent Taishi Ci to pacify and win them over. According to the biography of Sun Ben, Sun Ce and Sun Ben, returning from attacking Liu Xun and Huang Zu, heard that Liu Yao had died of illness and pacified Yuzhang. Records, Wu 4 §6 · 30Records, Wu 6 §27

On his way back from attacking Jiangxia, Sun Ce collected Liu Yao's coffin at Yuzhang and treated his family well. Wang Lang sent Sun Ce a letter saying that when Liu Yao first came to the province, he had crossed the river and established himself with the help of the Sun family, and that he had become their enemy only because of suspicions tangled with the Yuan family, which was not his true intention; he praised Sun Ce's kindness in gathering the bones and raising the orphan. Records, Wu 4 §10–12

His eldest son Liu Ji, at fourteen, observed the mourning rites for his father to the full and accepted none of the gifts sent by his father's former officials. Sun Quan cherished and respected him and entrusted him with posts such as Minister of Agriculture and Superintendent of the Palace, and later took Liu Ji's daughter as a wife for his son Sun Ba. Records, Wu 4 §14–15

In his assessment, Chen Shou wrote that Liu Yao cultivated his reputation and conduct and loved to judge the good and bad in people, but that holding ten thousand li of territory in a time of turmoil was not his strength. Records, Wu 4 §51