during the Three Kingdoms period and later for the Jin dynasty (266–420). Tao Huang was most notable for his thirty years administration of Jiaozhou during Wu and Jin. He was also responsible for Wu's victory against Jin during the latter's campaign in Jiao between 268 and 271, one of the few major victories Wu had over Jin in the final years of the Three Kingdoms.
Service in Eastern Wu
Tao Huang was from Moling County, Daling commandery. His father, Tao Ji (陶基) was once the Inspector of Jiaozhou and Tao Huang himself held a few posts in the Wu government.
In 263, the people of Jiaozhi commandery in Jiaozhou led by Lü Xing (呂興) rebelled and killed the local administrators, Sun Xu (孫諝) and Deng Xun (鄧荀). The rebels aligned themselves with Cao Wei and the situation deteriorated for Wu later that year, as Wei's conquest of Shu allowed them to annex Jiaozhi. In 268, relations between the Sima Jin Dynasty (which had replaced Wei in 266) and Wu broke down. The Wu emperor, Sun Hao ordered his general Xiu Ze (修則) to invade Jin's territories in Jiaozhou but Xiu was killed by Jin's Grand Administrator of Jiaozhi, Yang Ji (楊稷). Tao Huang, Xue Xu and Yu Si were sent to take his place in defending against Jin. At that point, the Jiaozhou commanderies of Jiuzhen (九真) and Rinan (日南) had been conquered by Jin.
Tao Huang faced Yang Ji at Fen River(分水) and was defeated along with having two of his subordinates killed in battle. This angered his superior, Xue Xu, who at that point was considering on abandoning the region as a whole. However, later one night, Tao Huang carried out a raid on one of the Jin generals, Dong Yuan (董元), and had much success, reversing their losses. Impressed with his recent victory, Xue Xu handed over his command of Wu's Jiaozhou over to Tao Huang. Soon, Tao Huang routed Dong Yuan again, capturing his treasury ships.
Tao Huang then used the loot from the captured ships to pay a powerful local from Fuyan (扶嚴), Liang Qi (梁奇), to aid him against Jin. He then used another portion of it to successfully bribe the brother of Dong Yuan's starred general, Xie Xi (謝之). This led to Dong Yuan fearing that Xie Xi would betray him as well, and he had Xi executed. With the death of Xie Xi, Tao Huang and Xue Xu besieged the Jin forces in Jiaozhi and captured many of their generals, including Yang Ji. They were sent to Jianye where all of them were ordered to be executed by Sun Hao. Jiuzhen, Jizhen and Rinan followed suit and were back in Wu's hands. Although Jin had been completely defeated in Jiao, a Wu official in Jiuzhen, Li Zuo (李祚), rebelled and defected to Jin. Tao Huang attacked him and retook the commandery.
Tao Huang was made the Inspector of Jiaozhou for his merits during the campaign. As Inspector of Jiaozhou, he pacified the local tribes in Wuping (武平), Jiude (九德), and Xinchang (新昌) and annexed their territories. Tao Huang was popular and beloved by the populace of Jiaozhou. On one occasion, he was appointed as Commander of Wuchang and left the province. The people of Jiao were devastated and insisted on having Tao Huang to stay, so he was reappointed as administrator of the region.
In 279, Jin launched its conquest of Wu. Tao Huang was positioned far from the action and was fighting the rebel, Guo Ma, in Guangzhou at the time, so he did not participate in the defence. Jianye capitulated in 280 and Sun Hao formally surrendered to the Jin forces. Sun wrote a letter to Tao Huang's son, Tao Rong (陶融) to ask his father to surrender. Upon hearing the news, Tao Huang mourned his state for days before replying to give his surrender. Emperor Wu of Jin allowed him to keep his existing positions while granting him promotions.
Service in the Jin Dynasty
Shortly after Wu's demise, Emperor Wu intended to reduce the number of troops in each province and commandery across the state. Tao Huang personally wrote a letter to the emperor to exclude Jiaozhou from this policy. His reasoning were that Jiaozhou was too far from the capital in Luoyang, and the harsh terrains meant that a rebellion by the locals or treacherous officials would be hard to put down. He also pointed out the imminent threat of the independent commanderies around the area and his previous encounters with the Cham kingdom of Lâm Ấp led by their king, Phạm Hùng, supported by their ally, Funan. In the same letter, Tao Huang also requested that taxes in Jiao be paid with pearls, which were the local people's general source of income, and that merchants were to be allowed to trade in the region. Emperor Wu agreed and granted Tao's requests.
Tao Huang governed Jiaozhou for another 10 years before passing away in 290. It is said that the people of the province mourned his death greatly. He was posthumously named as "Marquis Lie (烈侯)".
Tao Huang (died 290), courtesy name Shiying, was a military officer of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period and later for the Jin dynasty (266–420). Tao Huang was most notable for his thirty years administration of Jiaozhou during Wu and Jin. He was also responsible for Wu's victory against Jin during the latter's campaign in Jiao between 268 and 271, one of the few major victories Wu had over Jin in the final years of the Three Kingdoms.