Huang Gai

Huang Gai
A Qing dynasty illustration of Huang Gai
General of Sun Quan
Born	(Unknown)
Died	(Unknown)
Names
Traditional Chinese	黃蓋
Simplified Chinese	黄盖
Pinyin	Huáng Gài
Wade–Giles	Huang Kai
Courtesy name	Gongfu (Chinese: 公覆; pinyin: Gōngfù; Wade–Giles: Kung-fu)

Huang Gai (birth and death dates unknown),courtesy name Gongfu, was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He previously served under Sun Quan's predecessors – Sun Jian (Sun Quan's father) and Sun Ce (Sun Quan's elder brother).

Huang Gai was from Quanling County (泉陵縣), Lingling Commandery (零陵郡), which is in present-day Lingling District, Yongzhou, Hunan. He was a descendant of Huang Zilian (黃子廉), who served as the Administrator (太守) of Nanyang Commandery (南陽郡). Huang Gai's grandfather moved from Nanyang to Lingling and had remained there since. Huang Gai was orphaned at a young age and he experienced hardships in his early days. However, he had high ambitions and, despite being poor, he worked hard and read books and studied military arts on his own.

Huang Gai later became a minor official in the local commandery office before he was nominated as a xiaolian and recruited to serve in the office of one of the Three Ducal Ministers. Around the 180s, when the warlord Sun Jian was raising a militia to help government forces suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Huang Gai responded to the call and became one of Sun's subordinates. Huang Gai followed Sun Jian in attacking bandits in the region and also participated in the campaign against Dong Zhuo under Sun's banner. Huang Gai was later appointed as a Major of Separate Command (別部司馬). After Sun Jian's death in 191, Huang Gai continued to serve under Sun Jian's eldest son, Sun Ce, and later under Sun Quan, Sun Ce's younger brother. He was involved in Sun Ce's conquests in the Jiangdong region.