Deng Xia

Deng Xia, courtesy name Yingyuan, was a military general and warrior of the Jin dynasty (266–420). He was a general under the Grand Marshal Huan Wen who distinguished himself as a powerful warrior in his campaigns. According to folklore, he was also a prodigy of the Chinese god, Erlang Shen, who helped the people of Xiangyang defeat a river dragon that terrorized the area.

Deng Xia
鄧遐
Administrator of Jingling (竟陵太守)
In office
362 (362) – 367 (367)
MonarchEmperor Ai of Jin/Emperor Fei of Jin
Personal details
BornUnknown
Diedc. 370
FatherDeng Yue
Courtesy nameYingyuan (應遠)
In this Chinese name, the family name is Deng.

Career under Huan Wen

Deng Xia was from Chen Commandary and his father, Deng Yue (鄧嶽), once served the government. Deng Xia's strength was very well-known even among the common people, who began comparing him to the famous Han dynasty general Fan Kuai. He joined Huan Wen's army and became his Army Advisor. He eventually rose to the rank of General of the Best of the Army and Administrator of Jingling. Very few is recorded about his exact activities in Huan Wen's campaigns, but it was said he followed him in many of them which made him famous at the time.[1]

In 352, Deng Xia assisted Zhou Fu (周撫) in besieging Xiao Jingwen (蕭敬文) although Zhou Fu had to eventually withdraw. Xiao Jingwen would be defeated by Sima Xun instead.[2]

In 362, Former Yan forces led by Lü Hu (呂護) besieged Luoyang. Deng Xia and the General of the Household Gentlemen of the North, Yu Xi (庾希) were sent by Huan Wen to reinforce the defenders. Lü Hu soon retreated but was hit by a stray arrow and died. Deng Xia advanced to Xincheng (新城; around present-day Fang County, Hubei), where he camped to defend the place.[3]

Deng Xia's last noted activity would be in 369, during Huan Wen's campaign against Former Yan. He and Zhu Xu defeated the Former Yan general Fu Yan at Linzhu (林渚, around present-day Xinzheng, Henan).[4] Ultimately, the campaign ended disastrously as Huan Wen was defeated at the Battle of Fangtou. Huan Wen was greatly angered and ashamed at his defeat. He had always feared that Deng Xia's courage would get in the way of his imperial ambition, so he used this campaign as an excuse to remove him from office.[5]

Some time after his removal from his office, Deng Xia visited the imperial tombs. Along the way, he met Huan Wen again, who noticed that Deng Xia had grown thinner. When he asked him why, Deng Xia said, "For being ashamed before Shuda, I am not able to not regret the broken pot."[6][lower-alpha 1] Deng Xia passed away not long after, and he was posthumously awarded the office of Grand Warden of Luling (廬陵; around present-day Ji'an, Jiangxi).

In folklore

The people of Deng Xia's time believed that he was a general of the Chinese god, Erlang Shen. A folklore tells of Deng Xia killing a river dragon which parallels that of Erlang Shen's story. In the Mian River, it was said that there was a deep pool where lived a dragon who terrorized the people of Xiangyang. Deng Xia, serving as the Grand Warden of Xiangyang at the time, pulled out a sword and dived into the depths to kill it. According to the Book of Jin, the dragon coiled around his feet, and Deng Xia quickly chopped the dragon into pieces. The river ran red with blood, and with Deng Xia's bravery, the people of Xiangyang no longer worried about the dragon.[7]

Liu Jingshu's Yiyuan provided a different take on the story. Deng Xia did indeed went into the river to fight the dragon, but rather than with a sword, he defeated it with his fists and brought it ashore to kill it. However, his mother stopped him, saying that dragons are sacred creatures and it would be wrong to kill them. Instead, she told him that he should cast an incantation on it to stop it from being violent. Deng Xia did so and released it into the river, and the dragon no longer posed a threat to the people of Xiangyang.[8]

Deng Xia's valour earned him the title "Erlang Shen" and there is a temple dedicated to him in Zhongqingli (忠清里), Hangzhou.[9]

Note
  1. This references a man named Meng Min, whose courtesy name was Shuda and lived during the Eastern Han dynasty. The story goes that Meng Min was carrying a pot when suddenly it fell. Meng Min continued to walk on and never looked back at the pot. When asked why, he said "The pot was already broken, why bother looking at it?" Thus, Deng Xia was basically saying that he could not suppress his regret and move on.

References
  1. ( 遐字應遠。勇力絕人，氣蓋當時，時人方之樊噲。桓溫以為參軍，數從溫征伐，曆冠軍將軍，數郡太守，號為名將。) Book of Jin, Volume 81
  2. (恆溫使督護鄧遐助撫討之，不能拔，引退。溫又令梁州刺史司馬勳等會撫伐之。敬文固守，自二月至於八月，乃出降，撫斬之，傳首京師。) Book of Jin, Volume 58
  3. (秋七月，呂護等退守小平津。鄧遐進屯新城，庾希部將何謙及慕容暐將劉則戰于檀丘，破之。八月，西中郎將袁眞進次汝南，運米五萬斛以饋洛陽。) Book of Jin, Volume 8
  4. (前鋒鄧遐、朱序敗燕將傅顏於林渚。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 102
  5. (冬，十月，己巳，大司馬溫收散卒，屯於山陽。溫深恥喪敗，乃歸罪於袁真，奏免真為庶人；又免冠軍將軍鄧遐官。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 102
  6. (鄧竟陵免官後赴山陵，過見大司馬桓公。公問之曰：「卿何以更瘦？」〈《大司馬寮屬名》曰：「鄧遐字應玄，陳郡人，平南將軍岳之子。勇力絕人，氣蓋當世，時人方之樊噲。為桓溫參軍，數從溫征伐，歷竟陵太守。枋頭之役，溫既懷恥忿，且憚遐，因免遐官，病卒。」〉鄧曰：「有愧於叔達，不能不恨於破甑！」) Shishuo Xinyu, Volume 28
  7. (襄陽城北沔水中有蛟，常為人害，遐遂拔劍入水，蛟繞其足，遐揮劍截蛟數段而出。) Book of Jin, volume 81
  8. (荊州上明浦沔水隈，潭極深。常有蛟殺人，浴汲死者不脫歲。升平中，陳郡鄧遐字應遙，為襄陽太守。素勇健，憤而入水覓蛟，得之。便舉拳曳著岸，欲斫殺。母語云：「蛟是神物，寧忍殺之？今可咒令勿復為患。」遐咒而放焉。自茲迄今，遂無此患。一云：遐拔劍入水，蛟繞其足。遐自揮劍，截蛟數段，流血水丹，勇冠當時。於後遂無蛟患。) Yiyuan, Volume 3
  9. Cheng Manchao (1995). The Origin of Chinese Deities. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 170–180. ISBN 7-119-00030-6.
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