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Li Dian 李典

May 31, 2016 © Ulrich Theobald

Li Dian 李典 (174-209), courtesy name Mancheng 曼成, was a general of the very late Eastern Han period 東漢 (25-220 CE) and served the warlord Cao Cao 曹操.

He hailed from Juye 鉅野 in the commandery of Shanyang 山陽 (today in Shandong) and joined a group of several thousand milita troops who supported Cao Cao in his fight against the Yellow Turban rebellion 黃巾起義. Afterwards he was appointed magistrate (ling 令) of Yingyin 潁陰, leader of court gentlemen (zhonglangjiang 中郎將), and then governor (taishou 太守) of the commandery of Lihu 離狐. During the famous battle of Guandu 官渡 he and his home militia served in the logistics of Cao Cao's forces. For his merits he was appointed assistant general (pi jiangjun 裨將軍), and was then given the title of General Arresting the Enemy (bulu jiangjun 捕虜將軍), and given the title of Marquis of Metropolitan Residence (dutinghou 都亭侯).

In the next phase of the war, Li Dian belonged to the headquarters of the generals Zhang Liao 張遼 and Yue Jin 樂進 in Hefei 合肥, and participated in the war against the southeastern warlord Sun Quan 孫權. He died with just 36 sui of age. His posthumous title is Marquis Min 愍侯.

Source:
Zhang Shunhui 張舜徽, ed. (1992). Sanguozhi cidian 三國志辭典 (Jinan: Shandong jiaoyu chubanshe), 117.