Dong Zhuo (134-192 AD) was a Chinese government official and military general who served as Governor of Xiliang until he took over the Imperial Court in 189 AD. A coalition led by Yuan Shao drove him out of the capital of Luoyang and in 192 AD, he was betrayed and killed by Lu Bu.
Biography[]
The son of a nobleman and and an old mother, he took part in the subjugation of the barbarians in the newly-conquered Liang Province in northwestern China. While serving as Governor of Xiliang, he first suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion there in 180 AD, but his brutality was unwelcome by the people of Liang, who went up in arms against his dictatorship. He crushed this revolt by Han Sui and Ma Liang in 185 AD, and in 189 AD seized power in the Imperial Court after massacring the Ten Eunuchs and taking the Emperor Shao of Han under his care. Dong Zhuo wanted to create a paradise to feed his hunger for power and his greed, and that he wanted to have all the riches and women of the land for himself. However, the nobleman Yuan Shao and Cao Cao formed a regional alliance with several other warlords and built a massive army in the hundreds of thousands and marched on the capital of Luoyang.
Dong Zhuo sent Lu Bu to defend his lands, and Lu Bu made spirited defenses of Sishui Gate and Hulao Gate. However, the Alliance against Dong Zhuo triumphed against him both times, and Dong Zhuo burnt Luoyang before moving the capital to Chang'an. He had Emperor Shao poisoned and took Emperor Xian of Han with him, having power over the Imperial Court and evading the alliance against him, which broke up in 191 AD as internal feuds led to a renewed state of war. However, it was not long before the sword of justice would hang over his head. Lu Bu was angered by his treatment of concubine, Diaochan, so he plotted his assassination with Diaochan's father, Wang Yun and the other loyal nobles of the Han.
A concubine nodded, and a swordsman rushed up to his throne and that killed him on his throne in Chang'an. He was beheaded and his 90-year-old mother also killed, and Lu Bu and Cao Cao proceeded to exterminate Dong Zhuo's partisans in several campaigns until 198 AD.
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