WeiMilitary
夏侯淵
Xiahou Yuan
Courtesy name: 妙才 (Miaocai)Lived: ? ~ 219
Profile
Wei’s western commander-in-chief, so famed for speed that men said he covered "five hundred li in three days, a thousand in six." He pacified the Xiliang rebels and the Qiang tribes, securing the whole northwest. Facing Liu Bei over Hanzhong, he was cut down by Huang Zhong’s surprise assault at Mount Dingjun. A general, Cao Cao lamented, should also know how to fear.
Key events
- 219
Battle of Mount Dingjun
Under Fa Zheng’s direction, the veteran Huang Zhong cuts down Xiahou Yuan, Wei’s western commander — the stroke that won Hanzhong for Liu Bei.
History vs. the novelHistoryvsNovel
The novel spends him as a foil for Huang Zhong’s late-life glory; in the histories he was the heavyweight who single-handedly held Wei’s entire western front.