Xue Ou

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

The historical sources provide little information about Xue Ou's family background. He first followed Liu Bang at Feng as a sheren, a close retainer attached to a noble or powerful household. From the Warring States period through the early Han, such retainers handled communications, miscellaneous affairs, and other close-service duties. Although their formal rank was low, they belonged to the inner circle of trusted followers. After Liu Bang raised troops in Pei County, Xue Ou remained with him and was among the earliest followers to join Liu Bang's camp.

From Entering the Passes to Hanzhong

In 207 BCE, the third year of Qin Er Shi, Xue Ou accompanied Liu Bang westward against Qin, capturing passes on the way and eventually reaching Bashang. At this time he served as a palace attendant responsible for palace guard duty and was one of Liu Bang's close military attendants. After the Qin ruler Ziying surrendered, Liu Bang entered Xianyang. Xiang Yu then entered the passes and divided the realm, enfeoffing Liu Bang as King of Han over Ba, Shu, and Hanzhong. Xue Ou followed Liu Bang into Hanzhong to take possession of the fief and was promoted to general.

Military Operations in the Chu–Han War

In the ninth month of the first year of Han (206 BCE), Liu Bang appointed Han Xin as commander-in-chief in Hanzhong and decided to march east to contend with Xiang Yu. During this period, Xue Ou was ordered by the King of Han to lead troops out through Wuguan Pass with General Wang Xi. They planned to pass through Nanyang Commandery, draw on the forces of the Pei magnate Wang Ling, and return to Pei County to bring back Liu Bang's father, Liu Taigong, and his wife, Lü Zhi. Xiang Yu learned of the plan and sent troops to block them at Yangxia County, in the area of present-day Taikang County, Henan. The Han force could not advance, and the attempt to retrieve Liu Bang's family failed.

Xue Ou subsequently fought in the Chu–Han War as a general. His principal recorded military achievement was leading troops against Xiang Yu and Xiang Yu's general Zhongli Mo. The Records of the Grand Historian, in the table of the meritorious marquises of Emperor Gaozu, states that he “rose at Feng as a household retainer, entered Han as a palace-attendant general, and as a general attacked Xiang Ji's general Zhongli Mo.” This indicates that by the time he entered Hanzhong he already held command as a palace-attendant general and that his service against Zhongli Mo contributed to his later enfeoffment. Zhongli Mo was one of Xiang Yu's prominent generals; Xue Ou's ability to fight him successfully indicates substantial command experience.

Enfeoffment and Later Years

On the jiashen day of the twelfth month in the sixth year of Emperor Gaozu of Han (201 BCE), Liu Bang settled the rewards of his meritorious followers and enfeoffed Xue Ou as Marquis of Guangping with 4,500 households. The Marquisate of Guangping was located around the old settlement southeast of present-day Jize County, Hebei. In the same year, later sources also state that he was appointed dianke, an official responsible for receiving feudal lords and representatives of non-Han peoples and counted among the Nine Ministers. However, Xue Ou does not appear in the list of holders of this office in the Book of Han, “Table of the Hundred Officials and High Ministers.” This claim is found only in later writings and remains disputed.

Xue Ou held his marquisate for fourteen years. He died in 188 BCE, the seventh year of Emperor Hui of Han, and received the posthumous title Jing. In 186 BCE, the second year of Empress Lü, the court fixed the ceremonial precedence of the marquises and deposited the list of meritorious officials in Emperor Gaozu's ancestral shrine. Xue Ou ranked fifteenth among the founding meritorious marquises.

Major Activities

Early Service and Entry into the Passes

Xue Ou followed Liu Bang at Feng as a household retainer and was among the earliest members of Liu Bang's group. He accompanied Liu Bang westward against Qin, reached Bashang, served as a palace attendant, and later followed Liu Bang into Hanzhong, where he was promoted to general. These experiences established him as one of Liu Bang's direct military followers.

Mission through Wuguan Pass

In the ninth month of the first year of Han (206 BCE), Xue Ou and General Wang Xi were ordered to leave through Wuguan Pass. They planned to use Wang Ling's troops, pass through Nanyang Commandery, and return to Pei County to bring back Liu Taigong and Lü Zhi. Xiang Yu sent troops to block them, preventing the Han force from advancing. Although the mission failed, its importance shows the degree of trust Liu Bang placed in Xue Ou.

Fighting Zhongli Mo

During the Chu–Han War, Xue Ou led troops against Xiang Yu and his general Zhongli Mo. The Records of the Grand Historian explicitly records that his military service included “attacking Xiang Ji's general Zhongli Mo,” and this was the most important recorded military contribution behind his enfeoffment.

Enfeoffment as a Marquis

On the jiashen day of the twelfth month in the sixth year of Emperor Gaozu of Han (201 BCE), Xue Ou was enfeoffed as Marquis of Guangping with 4,500 households. In 186 BCE, when the ceremonial precedence of the marquises was fixed, he ranked fifteenth among the founding meritorious officials, placing him among the more highly ranked members of that group.

Personal Relations

Family

• Son: Xue Shan, who inherited the title Marquis of Guangping in 187 BCE, the first year of Empress Lü, held it for twenty-six years, and received the posthumous title Jing.
• Grandson: Xue Ze, who inherited the title in 161 BCE, the third year of the Later Yuan period of Emperor Wen; lost it for an offense in 147 BCE; was restored as Marquis of Pingji in 145 BCE; became chancellor in 131 BCE; died in 126 BCE and received the posthumous title Jie.
• Great-grandson: Xue Rang, who inherited the title Marquis of Pingji in 125 BCE and lost the marquisate in 122 BCE after accepting valuables from Liu An, King of Huainan, and acknowledging him as a ruler.
• Great-great-grandson: Xue Qubing, who lived in Chang'an and held the rank of Grandee of the Fifth Order; in 62 BCE, the fourth year of the Yuankang era of Emperor Xuan of Han, an imperial order restored the family line.

Ruler and Associates

• Liu Bang: Xue Ou's ruler, whom he followed from the uprising at Feng and who later enfeoffed him as Marquis of Guangping.
• Wang Xi: A fellow general under Liu Bang who accompanied Xue Ou on the mission through Wuguan Pass.
• Wang Ling: A powerful man of Pei County whose troops were to assist the family-retrieval mission; he was not at that time a directly subordinate general of Liu Bang.
• Zhongli Mo: An opposing general under Xiang Yu whom Xue Ou fought and defeated.

Historical Assessment

Han and Contemporary Records

• Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, “Table of the Meritorious Marquises of Emperor Gaozu,” lists Xue Ou among Emperor Gaozu's meritorious marquises and records that he “rose at Feng as a household retainer, entered Han as a palace-attendant general, and as a general attacked Xiang Ji's general Zhongli Mo,” recognizing both his early following and military service.
• Ban Gu's Book of Han, “Table of Meritorious Officials under Gaozu, Hui, Empress Gao, and Wen,” includes him among the founding meritorious officials and records his fief and posthumous title.
• In 186 BCE, when the ceremonial precedence of the marquises was established, Xue Ou ranked fifteenth, showing that the Han court regarded his merit as relatively high.

Wei–Jin through Tang–Song Periods

• Later works, including Sima Biao's Continuation of the Book of Han, “Treatise on Officials,” mention Xue Ou when tracing the history of the office of dianke, but this claim conflicts with the list in the Book of Han, “Table of the Hundred Officials and High Ministers,” and later scholars often treated it with caution.
• Tang historian Sima Zhen, in his Suoyin commentary to the Records of the Grand Historian, examined the date of Xue Ou's enfeoffment and the size of his fief and confirmed the fact of his enfeoffment.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Qing scholar Qian Daxin, in Critical Differences in the Twenty-Two Histories, observed when examining the Book of Han, “Table of the Hundred Officials and High Ministers,” that Xue Ou does not appear among the holders of the office of dianke, casting doubt on later claims that he held that post.
• Qing scholar Wang Xianqian's Supplementary Notes to the Book of Han collected earlier annotations and systematically reviewed Xue Ou's date of enfeoffment, number of households, and posthumous title, finding the accounts in the Records of the Grand Historian and Book of Han broadly consistent.

Modern Period

• Modern scholar Li Kaiyuan, in The Establishment of the Han Empire and Liu Bang's Group: A Study of the Beneficiary Stratum of Military Merit, treats Xue Ou as one representative of Liu Bang's early followers from the Feng–Pei area and argues that his enfeoffment reflects Liu Bang's rewarding of early supporters.
• Modern scholar Chen Suzhen, in The Spring and Autumn Annals and the “Han Way”: Politics and Political Culture of the Two Han Dynasties, uses marquises such as Xue Ou when discussing the military-merit group of the early Han to illustrate the position of that stratum in the early imperial political order.
• Modern historians generally regard Xue Ou's rise from an early household retainer of Liu Bang to a marquis as an example of the early Han principle of granting marquisates on the basis of military merit.