Xiahou Dun

Xiahou Dun
An illustration of Xiahou Dun swallowing his eyeball from a Qing dynasty edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms
General of Cao Wei
Born	(Unknown)
Died	13 June 220
Names
Traditional Chinese	夏侯惇
Simplified Chinese	夏侯惇
Pinyin	Xiàhóu Dūn
Wade–Giles	Hsia-hou Tun
Courtesy name	Yuanrang (simplified Chinese: 元让; traditional Chinese: 元讓; pinyin: Yuánràng; Wade–Giles: Yüan-jang)
Posthumous name	Marquis Zhong (Chinese: 忠侯; pinyin: Zhōng Hóu; Wade–Giles: Chung Hou)
Other names	"Blind Xiahou" (Chinese: 盲夏侯; pinyin: Máng Xiàhóu; Wade–Giles: Mang Hsia-hou)

Xiahou Dun (died 13 June 220),courtesy name Yuanrang, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He served for a few months under Cao Cao's successor, Cao Pi, before his death. As one of Cao Cao's most trusted generals, Xiahou Dun aided the warlord in his campaigns against Lü Bu, Liu Bei, Sun Quan and others.

Xiahou Dun lost his left eye when he was a hit by a stray arrow during a battle against Lü Bu in the late 190s, and subsequently became known among the rank and file as "Blind Xiahou". His image as a one-eyed warrior was popularised by Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which he yanked the arrow out of his eye and devoured his eyeball.

Xiahou Dun was from Qiao County (譙縣) in the Pei State (沛國), which is in present-day Bozhou, Anhui. He was a descendant of Xiahou Ying, who served under the Han dynasty's founding emperor, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao). At the age of 13, he killed a man who insulted his teacher, and was known for his fiery personality since then. In 190, when Cao Cao was raising an army to participate in the campaign against Dong Zhuo, Xiahou Dun became an officer under Cao and fought in many battles. When Cao Cao was appointed as acting "General of Uplifting Martial Might" (奮武將軍) by the Han imperial court, Xiahou Dun was commissioned as a Major (司馬) and was ordered to garrison at Boma (白馬; near present-day Hua County, Anyang, Henan). He was later promoted to "Colonel Who Breaks and Charges" (折衝校尉) and was appointed as the Administrator (太守) of Dong Commandery (東郡; the areas around present-day Puyang, Henan and Liaocheng, Shandong).