In ancient China, there were more than 500 kinds of general names, including the well-known hussar generals, Xiao cavalry generals, chariot generals, former generals, rear generals, partial generals, generals, etc., as well as some obscure names, such as the crossbow general, the capture general, the horizontal sea general, the Lou boat general, etc. So, what is the status of these generals?Before the Qin Dynasty, there were only six types of generals: general, front, back, left and right general, partial general and general Pi. With the beginning of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's conquest of the Xiongnu, the names of generals gradually increased, and reached their peak during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, according to records, there were 361 generals in the Liang Kingdom of the Southern Dynasties alone. After the Tang Dynasty, it began to decrease, and by the late Ming Dynasty, the name of the general basically disappeared.
General titles are generally divided into two categories, namely heavy generals and miscellaneous generals. Heavy generals have a high status and are not easily rewarded, while miscellaneous generals have a low status and can be rewarded anytime and anywhere. During the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, there were only generals, hussar generals, chariot generals, and Wei generals, while during the Three Kingdoms period, four generals were added to conquer the east, south, west, and north, as well as the four town generals of Zhendong, Zhennan, Zhenxi, and Zhenbei. There is also a distinction between the high and low generals, among which the general has the highest status, which is the first product, located above the three dukes, followed by the hussar general, who is the second product or from the first product, and the status is equivalent to the three dukes, and sometimes even adds the title of "hussar general", which is the only general who can add the word "big" in the name of the general (although there are other exceptions).
The hussar general was set up by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in 121 BC specifically for Huo Quai, when Wei Qing was the general. In order to highlight the difference of Huo Quzhi, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also made the hussar general's Yulu equal to that of the general, and gave him a golden seal and purple ribbon. In third place was the Che Cavalry General, who was a second-rank and had a higher status than Shangqing, and was abolished after the Tang Dynasty. Some famous chariot generals in history include Guan Ying and Bo Zhao in the Western Han Dynasty, and Zhang Fei during the Three Kingdoms period. Some people may wonder: In Shu Han, Ma Chao's status is lower than Zhang Fei's, why did Liu Bei make him a hussar general, a chariot cavalry general whose status is higher than Zhang Fei?
In fact, there are two reasons for this: one is that Ma Chao is a "leading art investor", he has a certain amount of power, in order to win him over, it is understandable to give him a relatively high position, Ma Chao at that time not only served as a hussar general, but also a pastor in Liangzhou;The second is that according to the system of the Han Dynasty, the general of the chariot cavalry is in charge of the Beijing division and guard, and is the commander of the chariot troops. The military generals of ancient China were divided into four different types of generals. The fourth place is General Wei, whose status is the second rank, higher than Shangqing, and was established by Emperor Wen of Han. General Wei was the commander of the northern and southern armies in the capital, directly under the orders of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, and was given a golden seal and purple ribbon. Notable Wei generals included Song Chang of the Han Dynasty, Zhuge Zhan of the Shu Han Dynasty, and Cao Hong of the Cao Wei Dynasty.
Next is the general of the four directions, Zheng Sanpin, located under Jiuqing, which is not often established. During the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, the generals, hussar generals, chariot generals, Wei generals and Sifang generals all had the right to set up a government, hire ** on their own, and participate in government affairs. Notable Quartet generals include Li Guang, Jiang Wei, Yu Ban, and Xu Huang. The Four Expedition Generals were founded by Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, who was initially just a miscellaneous general, and was later promoted to a heavy general by Cao Cao, with a status equivalent to that of the Third Duke. The more famous generals of the Four Expeditions are Ma Teng, Zhang Liao and Xiahou Yuan. Finally, the Four Towns General was promoted by Cao Cao, who served as the general of Zhendong. Although the generals of the four towns and the generals of the four expeditions were comparable, their status was different in different periods. Notable generals of the Four Towns include Liu Biao, Zhao Yun, and Zu Ti.
The difference in status among these generals sometimes confuses people's perceptions, but "miscellaneous" and "heavy" are not derogatory, they are only relative concepts. Before the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there was no distinction between "miscellaneous names" and "heavy numbers", and all non-heavy generals were called partial generals or general Pi. With the war with the Xiongnu, the generals with outstanding achievements could not only rely on the reward of the heavy general, so there were specific titles such as Xiao Cai, Lou Chuan, Fu Bo, Second Division, Du Liao, and Long Xiang. Generals' miscellaneous nicknames usually mark important achievements on the battlefield, so a name usually corresponds to only one general, and some even correspond to only one person in history. There was no strict superior-subordinate relationship between these generals, nor were they strictly restricted by naming. However, there are differences between them depending on the meaning of the name.
During the Cao Wei and Western Jin dynasties, the highest-ranking general was General Long Xiang and the names with the characters Zheng, Zhen, An, and Ping, which belonged to the Zhengsanpin, and usually served as the commander of the forbidden army or the governor of the theater. Some notable generals include General Zhenjun of Lu Kang, General of Conquest of Zhang Fei, General Pingdi of Zhang He, General An Han of Mi Zhu, and General Long Xiang of Yao Chang. However, there were exceptions, such as Fu Jian, who was once given the title of General Long Xiang, so in the former Qin Dynasty, General Long Xiang was the highest-ranking general. However, in the Southern Dynasty Liang, General Long Xiang only ranked one hundred and seventy out of the three hundred and sixty-one general titles, far lower than the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, let alone compared to the former Qin.
The second-level generals include Wuwei, Zhongwei, Left Guard, Right Guard, Backbone, Middle Base, Xiao Cavalry, Guerrilla, Guerrilla, Former Army, Left Army, Right Army, Rear Army, Ningshuo, Jianwei, Jianwu, Zhenwei, Zhenwu, Fenwei, Fenwu, Fenwu, Yangwei, Yangwu, Guangwei, Guangwu, Left and Right Crossbows, Shots, Strong Crossbows, etc., generally four-grade generals, mostly generals of the forbidden army or assassin Shi Jia officials. Some of these notable generals include Ma Wu, one of the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai, who served as a capture general, and Fu Jun's Ji Crossbow General;General Yangwu of Fazheng, General Fenwu of Frustration, and General of the Right Army of the Sage Wang Xizhi.
The lowest level of generals includes Yingyang, Yanglie, Zhichong, Hulie, Xuanwei, Xuanwei, Xuanwei, Weiwei, Liwei, Weirong, Weiwu, Wulie, Wuyi, Wufen, Suiyuan, Suibian, Suirong, Wu, Wuyi, Wuyi, Xuankou, Xuande, Xuande, Weiyuan, Ningyuan, Fubo, Huwei, Lingjiang, Mingwei, Xiangwei, Liwei, Weili, Weili, Weikou, Weirong, Weiwu, Wu, Wuyi, Wu, Xuan, Xuan, Xuan, Xuande, Ningyuan, Fubo, Huwei, Lingjiang, Mingwei, Xiangwei, Liwei, Weiwei, Weili, Weili, Weiqiang, Weirong, Weiwu, Wu, Wuyi, Wu, Suibian, Suirong, Wu, Wu, Yiyi, Xuankou, Xuande, Weiyuan, Ningyuan, Fubo, Huwei, Lingjiang, Mingwei, Xiangwei, Liwei, Weili, Weili, Weirong, Wulie, Wuyi, Wufen, Suiyuan, Suibian, Suirong, Wu, Wuyi, Wu Huwei, Huya, Guangye, Hengye, Liyi, Huaiji, Jianzhong, Henghai, Louchuan, Futu, Zhongyi, Jianjie, Yiwei, Huaiyuan, etc., are generally five-grade generals, mostly Taishou plus officials or generals.
In addition to these, there are also some special general names, although they are of lower rank, but they have a lot of power, such as military generals. Liu Bei first created this name after the Battle of Chibi, and it was held by Zhuge Liang, although it only belonged to the sixth grade, but the military division general had the right to participate in the national affairs of the Zuo General's Mansion. Xun You held a position second only to Cao Cao in power, responsible for military selection and judicial decision-making in prisons. Some generals have been promoted for this position, such as General Dangkou. Zhang Liao and Guan Yu also held this position, and later Zhang Liao was promoted to the general of Zhengdong, while Guan Yu was directly promoted to former general. The exemplary examples of these two former sages became the object of emulation by later generations of generals, and elevated the status of Dangkou General.
General Fubo was also an important position, and during the Cao Wei period, Xiahoudun stayed in the rear for a long time as General Fubo, but he was able to restrain all kinds of armies, and even Zhang Liao's Zhengdong General was also subject to it. After the Battle of Xiangfan, Xiahoudun was directly promoted from General Fubo to the former general of the Quartet. In addition to Xiahoudun, the famous general Ma Yuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty also served as the general of Fubo, and was famous for the heroic deeds of "horse leather shroud", so the famous generals of later generations were also proud of "Fubo". The partial general and the general are important positions in the ancient military profession, responsible for commanding a certain number of troops, such as Zhao Yun was promoted from the partial general to the general of the Yijun, Ma Chao was promoted to the general of Pingxi, Fu Jun was promoted to the general of Jicross, Zhang He was promoted to the general of Pingdi, etc.
In ancient times, these two positions had appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the corresponding official positions were the commander and the school captain, respectively, who were responsible for commanding different numbers of troops. In general, the ranking of the names of the ancient military generals is in the order of Great General, Hussar General, Che Cavalry General, Wei General, Sifang General (front and back, left and right), Sizheng General, Sizhen General, Miscellaneous General, Partial General, and General Pi.