Chang Xi (Han dynasty)
Chang Xi (昌豨) was a minor warlord from Taishan Commandery in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He started as part of the Taishan bandits, followed bandit chief Zang Ba after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and fought in eastern Xu Province, briefly teaming with Lü Bu in 197. In 200, lured by Liu Bei, he gathered tens of thousands in Donghai Commandery and declared independence. Cao Cao sent forces under Xiahou Yuan and Zhang Liao; after months of siege, Zhang Liao entered Chang Xi’s camp and persuaded him to surrender, and Chang Xi did so in early 201 CE.
In 206 CE, after Yuan Shao’s heirs were defeated, Chang Xi rebelled again. Cao Cao ordered Yu Jin, an old friend, to crush him, reinforced by Xiahou Yuan and Zang Ba. More than ten rebel stockades fell, and Chang Xi was captured again. When some officers urged sending him to Cao Cao, Yu Jin refused, obeying Cao Cao’s rule that those who capitulate after encirclement should not be spared, and personally beheaded Chang Xi. Cao Cao, camped at Chunyu, remarked that it might have been Heaven’s will that Yu Jin delivered judgment, and he promoted Yu Jin to General of Tiger’s Might for upholding discipline.
Chang Xi’s repeated defections show the fluid politics of the late Han era. Historians debate his motives: traditional writers blame ambition, while modern scholars note the precarious status of former bandits under Cao Cao’s frontier administration. In the later Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he is fictionalized as a minor bandit chief who is quickly executed by Yu Jin.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:12 (CET).