Tao Qian was a warlord and the governor of Xu Province during the late Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

 period of Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

.

Early life and career

Born in the Danyang (丹阳) region, Tao was known as a young man for his integrity and for being just. Also, at a young age he had an affinity to learning. In the service of the Han Dynasty, he led the Danyang armies in many regions to suppress rebellions.

When the Yellow Turban Rebellion

Yellow Turban Rebellion

The Yellow Turban Rebellion, also translated as Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a peasant revolt that broke out in 184 AD in China during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty...

 broke out he was appointed governor of Xu Province and he succeeded in clearing the area of rebels. He was sent to the northwestern frontiers during the Liang Province Rebellion, where Tao was serving under Zhang Wen. During the expedition he insulted Zhang and made him very angry. However, Sun Jian

Sun Jian

Sun Jian was a military general and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power...

 and Dong Zhuo

Dong Zhuo

Dong Zhuo was a politician and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He seized control of the capital city Luoyang in 189 when it was in a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling and a clash between the eunuch faction and some court officials led by...

 served on the same campaign, and both of them also were unhappy with Zhang Wen's leadership as well. In the chaos of Dong Zhuo

Dong Zhuo

Dong Zhuo was a politician and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He seized control of the capital city Luoyang in 189 when it was in a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling and a clash between the eunuch faction and some court officials led by...

's coup d'état and the battles that followed

Campaign against Dong Zhuo

The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against Dong Zhuo, Chancellor of State, in 190 during the late Han Dynasty of Chinese history...

, Tao, having returned to Xu Province, gained control of the neighboring Yang Province. However, after that he showed no ambition to expand his territory any further.

Tao was responsible for starting the careers of Wang Lang

Wang Lang

Wang Lang was a warlord during the late Han Dynasty and a politician of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. Through his granddaughter's marriage to Sima Zhao, he would become great-grandfather of Sima Yan, who later became the founding emperor of the Jin Dynasty.-Early life...

, Zhu Zhi

Zhu Zhi

Zhu Zhi , style name Junli , was a military general of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He was from present-day Anji County, Zhejiang....

, and Chen Deng

Chen Deng

Chen Deng, style name Yuanlong , was a strategist during the late Han Dynasty era of Chinese history. He was the son of Chen Gui.-Biography:...

, all of whom would play fairly important roles in politics of that time later. However, at the same time he was prone to joining forces with unscrupulous characters, such as Ze Rong

Ze Rong

Ze Rong , style-named Weiming, was originally a general and active occultist serving under the warlord Tao Qian during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history...

, Cao Hong (曹宏), and Que Xuan (闕宣), and on the other hand not appointing Zhao Yu (趙昱), who was a very loyal and able servant, to a position of trust. Those who did not respond to his requests to serve him, such as Zhang Zhao

Zhang Zhao

Zhang Zhao was an official of Eastern Wu during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China.-Biography:Zhang was born in present-day Jiangsu. A brilliant scholar, he devoted his life mainly to the study of Chinese classic texts...

 and Lü Fan

Lü Fan

Lü Fan , style name Ziheng , was an official of the state of Eastern Wu during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history.-Biography:...

, he had imprisoned.

Cao Cao's invasion of Xu Province

In 193, Cao Cao

Cao Cao

Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

's father Cao Song

Cao Song

Cao Song was the father of the late Han Dynasty warlord Cao Cao. He was originally surnamed "Xiahou", but changed his surname to "Cao" after becoming the foster son of the eunuch Cao Teng. Cao Song's descendants also adopted "Cao" as their family name.By the year 193, China had been divided into...

 was killed while travelling through Tao's territory. Tao had assigned Zhang Kai (張闓) to guard Cao Song, and it was said that Zhang killed him in order to steal the riches that he was carrying with him. The death of his father prompted Cao Cao to personally lead an army into Xu Province. As a result, a very large number of common people living there were massacred by Cao's army. Rebellion by Zhang Miao

Zhang Miao

Zhang Miao , style name Mengzhuo , was a minister of the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He served as prefect of Chenliu Commandery. Zhang Miao led an army during the coalition against Dong Zhuo. In the coalition Zhang expressed displeasure at their leader, Yuan Shao, and Yuan sent Cao...

 within Cao's own territory forced him to retreat before he could do conclusive battle with Tao.

Tao was instrumental in the rise of Liu Bei

Liu Bei

Liu Bei , also known as Liu Xuande, was a warlord, military general and later the founding emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history...

in that when Liu came to his help, Tao provided Liu with several thousand troops of Danyang (丹阳兵), the crack troop among all warlords. Danyang troops were famous for their fighting capabilities and it was due to this exceptional capability, Tao was able to maintain a stalemate with Cao Cao. Most of these troops remained loyal to Liu Bei and followed him for years until he finally established himself, a rather rare occurrence at the time when loyalty was not honored to the extreme when warlords came and went, especially when Liu was the loser on the run for most of time in his early years in the power struggle against other warlords. In 194, Tao handed over governorship of Xu Province to Liu Bei before he died.