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Xue Xu
Xue Xu
薛珝
General Who Awes the South (威南將軍)
	In office; ? – c. 271
Monarch	Sun Hao
Court Architect (將作大匠)
	In office; 267–?
Monarch	Sun Hao
General of the Household for All Purposes (五官中郎將)
	In office; ?–?
Monarch	Sun Xiu
Personal details
Born	Unknown
Died	c. 271
Relations	Xue Ying (brother)
Parent	Xue Zong (father);
Occupation	Military general, politician

Xue Xu (died c. 271) was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.

Life

Xue Xu's ancestral home was in Zhuyi County (竹邑縣), Pei Commandery (沛郡), which is around present-day Suzhou, Anhui. He was the eldest son of Xue Zong, a notable official and scholar of the Eastern Wu state.

During the reign of the third Wu emperor Sun Xiu (r. 258–264), Xue Xu held the position of General of the Household for All Purposes (五官中郎將) in the Wu government. Sun Xiu once sent him as an ambassador to Wu's ally state, Shu Han. After observing the conditions in Shu, he predicted that Shu would fall soon. His prediction came true in 263 when Shu was conquered by Wei, the rival state of both Wu and Shu.

In 267, during the reign of the fourth and last Wu emperor Sun Hao, Xue Xu was appointed as Court Architect (將作大匠) and tasked with overseeing the construction of the mausoleum and memorial temple of Sun He, the emperor's father.

In c.December 269,^[1] when a rebellion broke out in Jiao Province, Sun Hao ordered Xue Xu, who then held the appointment of General Who Awes the South (威南將軍), to lead troops from Jing Province to meet up with another army led by Li Xu (李勖) and Xu Cun (徐存) at Hepu Commandery (合浦郡; northeast of present-day Hepu County, Guangxi) and attack the rebels together. Yu Si, an army supervisor, and Tao Huang, the Administrator of Cangwu Commandery (蒼梧郡), served as Xue Xu's subordinates. However, the army led by Li Xu and Xu Cun never reached their destination because their path was obstructed, so only the army led by Xue Xu was available to fight the rebels. Wu Yan, then a low-ranking official, was taken aback by the sight of Xue Xu's army marching towards Jiaozhi Commandery.^[2] Xue Xu heeded a suggestion from Tao Huang to send troops to attack Jiaozhi Commandery via a water route, and bribe Liang Qi (梁奇) and other local elites in Jiaozhi to win them over.^[3] In 271, Xue Xu's army conquered Jiaozhi Commandery and retook Jiuzhen (九真) and Rinan (日南) commanderies as well.

After the campaign in Jiao Province, Sun Hao appointed Yu Si as the Inspector (刺史) of Jiao Province, but Yu Si died of illness not long later, so Tao Huang succeeded him. Xue Xu also died on the journey back to the Wu imperial capital, Jianye.^[4]

References

^ According to Sun Hao's biography in Sanguozhi, Xue Xu, Yu Si and Tao Huang set off from Jing province for the Jiaozhi campaign in the 11th month of the 1st year of the Jianheng era. This corresponds to 11 Dec 269 to 8 Jan 270 in the Julian calendar. [(建衡元年)十一月...。遣监军虞汜、威南将军薛珝、苍梧太守陶璜由荆州，监军李勖、督军徐存从建安海道，皆就合浦击交阯.] Sanguozhi, vol.48
^ (时将军薛珝杖节南征，军容甚盛，彦观之，慨然而叹。) Jin Shu, vol.57
^ (璜夜以数百兵袭董元，获其宝物，船载而归，珝乃谢之，以璜领交州，为前部督。璜从海道出于不意，径至交阯，元距之。诸将将战，璜疑断墙内有伏兵，列长戟于甚后。兵才接，元伪退，璜追之，伏兵果出，长戟逆之，大破元等。以前所得宝船上锦物数千匹遗扶严贼帅梁奇，奇将万馀人助璜。) Jin Shu, vol.57
^ (子珝，官至威南将军，征交阯还，道病死。) Sanguozhi, vol.53