Xiahou Yuan 夏侯淵

When Cao Cao was living at home, he was caught up in a matter with the county authorities, and Xiahou Yuan took the grave charge upon himself in his place; Cao Cao worked hard to rescue him, and he was released. When Cao Cao raised troops, Xiahou Yuan followed him as Major of Separate Command (biebu sima) and Commandant of Cavalry (qi duwei), and was transferred to be Administrator of Chenliu and of Yingchuan. When fighting Yuan Shao at Guandu he acted as Colonel Supervising the Army (dujun xiaowei), and after Yuan Shao was defeated he supervised the army's grain from Yan, Yu and Xu provinces. At a time when the army was short of food, he kept provisions coming without a break, and the army revived. Records, Wei 9 §14

When Chang Xi rebelled, Xiahou Yuan joined forces with Yu Jin and forced more than ten of his camps to surrender, and on his return he became Colonel Director of the Army (dianjun xiaowei). When Xu He and other Yellow Turbans of Jinan and Le'an attacked cities and killed the senior officials, he led the troops of the commanderies of Taishan, Qi and Pingyuan, crushed them and beheaded Xu He. In the 14th year of Jian'an (209) he became acting Leader of the Army (lingjun). Later he defeated Lei Xu, a rebel of Lujiang, and as acting Protector of the Army for the Western Campaign (zhengxi hujun) he led Xu Huang against the bandits of Taiyuan, took more than twenty of their camps and beheaded their chief Shang Yao. Records, Wei 9 §15–16

In the campaign against Han Sui and others he fought at Weinan, led Zhu Ling to pacify the Di of Yumi and Qian, and met Cao Cao at Anding, where he brought Yang Qiu to surrender. In the 17th year of Jian'an (212), on returning to Ye, Cao Cao made him acting General Protector of the Army (hujun jiangjun) and stationed him at Chang'an. He defeated Liu Xiong, a bandit of the Southern Mountains, beheaded Liang Xing, a remnant follower of Han Sui and Ma Chao, at Hu County, and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Bochang Village. When Ma Chao besieged Wei Kang, Inspector of Liang Province, at Ji, Xiahou Yuan went to his rescue, but Wei Kang was defeated before he arrived, and the battle he then fought against Ma Chao also went badly. Records, Wei 9 §16–17

In the 19th year of Jian'an (214), Zhao Qu, Yin Feng and others plotted to attack Ma Chao, Jiang Xu rose in support at Lucheng, and Ma Chao's wife and children were all killed; Ma Chao fled to Hanzhong, then came back and besieged Qishan. When Jiang Xu and the others asked for help, the generals wanted to wait for Cao Cao's instructions, but Xiahou Yuan said that the round trip to Ye was 4,000 li, and if they waited for a reply Jiang Xu and the others would surely be defeated, and he set out at once. He sent Zhang He ahead into the narrow road of Chencang, and Ma Chao fled before any battle was fought; by the time Xiahou Yuan arrived, the counties had already surrendered. Records, Wei 9 §18–19

Xiahou Yuan pursued Han Sui as far as the city of Lüeyang, and rather than attacking Han Sui's crack troops or the strong city of Xingguo, he attacked the Qiang of Changli, many of whom were in Han Sui's army, so that they went back to their own tribes. When Han Sui came to rescue Changli, the generals wanted to build a camp and dig trenches before fighting, but Xiahou Yuan said that soldiers who had fought their way across a thousand li would be worn out, and at once beat the drums to advance, crushing Han Sui's army. He then besieged Xingguo, making Qianwan, king of the Di, flee to Ma Chao, and scattered the Tuge of Gaoping. For this he was granted the tally of authority (jiajie). Records, Wei 9 §19–21

Song Jian of Fuhan had styled himself King of Heshou Who Pacifies the Han for more than thirty years; Xiahou Yuan besieged Fuhan, took it in just over a month, and beheaded Song Jian. He separately sent Zhang He and others to pacify Heguan and enter Xiaohuangzhong, whereupon the Qiang west of the Yellow River all surrendered and Longyou was pacified. Cao Cao issued a directive saying that Xiahou Yuan strode like a tiger through the lands west of the passes, with none able to stand before him wherever he went, and cited Confucius's words, "Neither you nor I are his equal." The Annals of Emperor Wu date the massacre at Fuhan to the 10th month of the 19th year of Jian'an (214). Records, Wei 9 §22–23Records, Wei 1 §140

In the 21st year of Jian'an (216) his fief came to 800 households, and at Xiabian he attacked the Di and Qiang of Wudu and collected more than 100,000 hu of grain. When Cao Cao attacked Zhang Lu, Xiahou Yuan led the generals of Liang Province to meet him at Xiuting, and whenever Cao Cao received the Qiang and Hu, he put Xiahou Yuan forward to overawe them. When Zhang Lu surrendered, Xiahou Yuan, as acting General Protector-in-Chief (duhu jiangjun), led Zhang He, Xu Huang and others to pacify Ba Commandery, and when Cao Cao returned to Ye he left him to hold Hanzhong and appointed him General Who Conquers the West (zhengxi jiangjun) on the spot. Records, Wei 9 §23–24

In the 23rd year of Jian'an (218), when Liu Bei encamped at Yangping Pass, Xiahou Yuan led the generals to resist him, and they faced each other into the following year. In the 1st month of the 24th year of Jian'an (219), when Liu Bei burned the abatis of the siege lines by night, Xiahou Yuan had Zhang He guard the eastern lines while he himself guarded the southern lines with lightly armed troops. When Zhang He got the worst of it, Xiahou Yuan split off half of his own troops to help him, was attacked by Liu Bei, and was killed in battle. The biography of Zhang He records that when Liu Bei set fire to the main siege lines at Zoumagu, Xiahou Yuan went to put out the fire, met Liu Bei on another road, and died fighting hand to hand with short weapons. According to the biography of the First Sovereign, Liu Bei built his camp on the terrain of Mount Dingjun, and when Xiahou Yuan came to contest the ground, Huang Zhong attacked him from the heights with drums beating and loud cries and beheaded him. Fa Zheng said at that moment that they could attack. His posthumous title was Marquis Min. Records, Wei 9 §24Records, Wei 17 §48Records, Shu 2 §38Records, Shu 6 §36Records, Shu 7 §32

Though Xiahou Yuan won many battles, Cao Cao always warned him: "A general must at times be fearful, and must not rely on courage alone. A general should take courage as his foundation but act through wisdom and planning; one who knows only how to rely on courage is a match for a single man, nothing more." Records, Wei 9 §25

Xiahou Yuan's wife was the younger sister of Cao Cao's wife. His eldest son Xiahou Heng inherited his rank, and a middle son, Xiahou Ba, became General of the Right in the Zhengshi era, but when Cao Shuang was executed he grew fearful for himself and fled to Shu. In consideration of Xiahou Yuan's past merits, the court pardoned Xiahou Ba's sons. In the 7th month of the 4th year of Zhengshi (243), by imperial edict, Xiahou Yuan was honored with sacrifices in the temple courtyard of Cao Cao together with Cao Hong and others. Records, Wei 9 §27–28Records, Wei 4 §14

In his assessment, Chen Shou wrote that because the Xiahou and Cao clans had intermarried for generations, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong and others were all honored and valued in their time as close kin and old friends, and that all of them assisted in the great enterprise at the ruler's side and rendered meritorious service. Records, Wei 9 §132