Early life

Huo Qubing was an illegitimate son from the love affair between Wei Shaoer (衛少兒), the daughter of a lowly maid from the household of Princess Pingyang (Emperor Wu's older sister), and Huo Zhongru (霍仲孺), a low-ranking civil servant employed there at the time. However, Huo Zhongru did not want to marry a lower class serf girl like Wei Shaoer, so he abandoned her and went away to marry a woman from his home town instead. Wei Shaoer insisted on keeping the child, raising him with help of her siblings.

When Huo Qubing was around two years old, his younger aunt Wei Zifu, who was serving as an in-house singer/dancer for Princess Pingyang, caught the attention of the young Emperor Wu, who took her and her half-brother Wei Qing back to his palace in the capital, Chang'an. More than a year later, the newly favoured concubine Wei Zifu became pregnant with Emperor Wu's first child, earning her the jealousy and hatred of Emperor Wu's then empress consort, Empress Chen. Empress Chen's mother, Grand Princess Guantao (館陶長公主), then attempted to retaliate against Wei Zifu by kidnapping and attempting to murder Wei Qing, who was then serving as a horseman at the Jianzhang Camp (建章營, Emperor Wu's royal guards). After Wei Qing was rescued by fellow palace guards led by his close friend Gongsun Ao, Emperor Wu took the opportunity to humiliate Empress Chen and Princess Guantao by promoting Wei Zifu to a consort (夫人, a concubine position lower only to the Empress) and Wei Qing to the triple role of Chief of Jianzhang Camp (建章監), Chief of Staff (侍中), and Chief Councillor (太中大夫), effectively making him one of Emperor Wu's closest lieutenants. The rest of the Wei family were also well rewarded, including the decreed marriage of Wei Shaoer's older sister Wei Junru (衛君孺) to Emperor Wu's adviser, Gongsun He. At the time, Wei Shaoer was romantically engaged with Chen Zhang, a great-grandson of Emperor Gaozu's adviser Chen Ping. Their relationship was also legitimized by Emperor Wu through the form of decreed marriage. Through the rise of the Wei family, the young Huo Qubing grew up in prosperity and prestige.

Military career

Huo Qubing exhibited outstanding military talent even as a teenager. Emperor Wu saw Huo's potential and made Huo his personal assistant.

In 123 BC, Emperor Wu sent Wei Qing from Dingxiang (定襄) to engage the invading Xiongnu, and appointed the 18-year-old Huo Qubing to serve as the Captain of Piaoyao (票姚校尉) under his uncle, seeing real combat for the first time. Although Wei Qing was able to kill or capture more than 10,000 Xiongnu soldiers, part of his vanguard forces, a 3,000-strong regiment commanded by generals Su Jian (蘇建, father of the Han diplomat and statesman, Su Wu) and Zhao Xin (趙信, a surrendered Xiongnu prince) was outnumbered and annihilated after encountering the Xiongnu force led by Yizhixie Chanyu (伊稚斜單于). Zhao Xin defected on the field with his 800 ethnic Xiongnu subordinates, while Su Jian escaped after losing all his men in the desperate fighting. Due to the loss of this detachment, Wei Qing's troops did not earn any promotion, but Huo Qubing distinguished himself by leading a long-distance search-and-destroy mission with 800 light cavalrymen, killing the Chanyu's grandfather and over 2,000 enemy troops, as well as capturing numerous Xiongnu nobles. A very impressed Emperor Wu then made Huo Qubing the Marquess of Champion with a march of 2,500 households.

In 121 BC, Emperor Wu deployed Huo Qubing twice in that year against the Xiongnu in the Hexi Corridor. During spring, Huo Qubing led 10,000 cavalry, fought through five Western Regions kingdoms within 6 days, advanced over 1,000 li over Mount Yanzhi (焉支山), killed two Xiongnu princes along with nearly 9,000 enemy troops, and captured several Xiongnu nobles as well as the golden statue used by Xiongnu as an artifact for holy rituals. For this achievement, his march was increased by 2,200 households. During the summer of the same year, Xiongnu attacked the Dai Commandery and Yanmen. Huo Qubing set off from Longxi (modern-day Gansu) with over 10,000 cavalry, supported by Gongsun Ao, who set off from the Beidi Commandery (北地郡, modern-day Huan County, Gansu). Despite Gongsun Ao failing to keep up, Huo Qubing travelled over 2,000 li without backup, all the way past Juyan Lake to Qilian Mountains, killing over 30,000 Xiongnu soldiers and capturing a dozen Xiongnu princes. His march was then increased further by a 5,400 households for the victory.

Huo Qubing's victories dealt heavy blows to the tribes of the Xiongnu princes of Hunxie (渾邪王) and Xiutu (休屠王) that occupied the Hexi Corridor. Out of frustration, Yizhixie Chanyu wanted to mercilessly execute those two princes as punishment. The Prince of Hunxie contacted the Han government in autumn of 121 BC to negotiate a surrender. Failing to persuade his fellow prince to do the same, he killed the Prince of Xiutu and ordered Xiutu's forces to also surrender. When the two tribes went to meet the Han forces, Xiutu's forces rioted. Seeing the situation changed, Huo Qubing alone headed to the Xiongnu camp. There, the general ordered the Prince of Hunxie to calm his men and stand down before putting down 8,000 Xiongnu men who refused to disarm, effectively quelling the riot. The Hunxie tribe was then resettled into the Central Plain. The surrender of the Xiutu and Hunxie tribes stripped Xiongnu of any control over the Western Regions, depriving them of a large grazing area. As a result, Han Dynasty successfully opened up the Northern Silk Road, allowing direct trade access to Central Asia. This also provided a new supply of high-quality horse breeds from Central Asia, including the famed Ferghana horse (ancestors of the modern Akhal-Teke), further strengthening the Han army. Emperor Wu then reinforced this strategic asset by establishing five commanderies and constructing a length of fortified wall along the border of the Hexi Corridor. He colonised the area with 700,000 Chinese soldier-settlers.

After the series of defeats by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, Yizhixie Chanyu took Zhao Xin's advice and retreated with his tribes to the north of the Gobi Desert, hoping that the barren land would serve as a natural barrier against Han offensives. Emperor Wu however, was far from giving up, and planned a massive expeditionary campaign in 119 BC. Han forces were deployed in two separate columns, each consisting of 50,000 cavalry and over 100,000 infantry, with Wei Qing and Huo Qubing serving as the supreme commander for each.

Emperor Wu, who had been distancing Wei Qing and giving the younger Huo Qubing more attention and favour, hoped that Huo would engage the stronger Chanyu's tribe and preferentially assigned him the most elite troopers. The initial plan called for Huo Qubing to attack from Dingxiang (定襄, modern-day Qingshuihe County, Inner Mongolia) and engage the Chanyu, with Wei Qing supporting him in the east from Dai Commandery (代郡, modern-day, Yu County, Hebei) to engage the Left Worthy Prince (左賢王). However, a Xiongnu prisoner of war confessed that the Chanyu's main force was at the east side. Unaware that this was actually false information provided by the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu ordered the two columns to switch routes, with Wei Qing now setting off on the western side from Dingxiang, and Huo Qubing marching on the eastern side from the Dai Commandery.

Battles at the eastern Dai Commandery theatre were quite straightforward, as Huo Qubing's forces were far superior to their enemies. Huo Qubing advanced over 2,000 li and directly engaged the Left Worthy Prince in a swift and decisive battle. He quickly encircled and overran the Xiongnu, killing over 70,000 men, and capturing three lords and 83 nobles, while suffering a 20% casualty rate that was quickly resupplied from local captives. He then went on to conduct a series of rituals upon his arrival at the Khentii Mountains (狼居胥山, and the more northern 姑衍山) to symbolize the historic Han victory, then continued his pursuit as far as Lake Baikal (瀚海), effectively annihilating the Xiongnu clan and allowing conquering tribe such as the Donghu People to retake back their land to establish their own confederacy to declared independent from Xiongnu Overlord following the subjugation for over a few decade. A separate division led by Lu Bode (路博德), set off on a strategically flanking route from Right Beiping (右北平, modern-day Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia), joined forces with Huo Qubing after arriving in time with 2,800 enemy kills, and the combined forces then returned in triumph. This victory earned Huo Qubing 5,800 households of fiefdom as a reward, making him more distinguished than his uncle Wei Qing. At the height of his career, many low-ranking commanders previously served under Wei Qing voluntarily transferred to Huo Qubing's service in the hope of achieving military glory with him.

Death and legacy

Emperor Wu offered to help Huo Qubing build up a household for marriage. Huo Qubing, however, answered that "the Xiongnu are not yet eliminated, why should I start a family?" (匈奴未滅，何以家為？), a statement that became an inspirational Chinese patriotic motto. Though Huo Qubing was recorded as a quietly spoken man of few words, he was far from humble. Sima Qian noted in Shiji that Huo Qubing paid little regard to his men, refusing to share his food with his soldiers, and regularly ordering his troops to conduct cuju games despite them being short on rations. When Emperor Wu suggested him to study The Art of War by Sun Tzu and Wuzi by Wu Qi, Huo Qubing claimed that he naturally understood war strategies and had no need to study. When his subordinate Li Gan (李敢, son of Li Guang) assaulted Wei Qing, the latter forgave the incident. Huo Qubing, on the other hand, refused to tolerate such disrespect towards his uncle and personally shot Li Gan during a hunting trip. Emperor Wu covered for Qubing, stating that Li Gan was "killed by a deer".

When it came to military glory, Huo Qubing was said to be more generous. One story about him told of when Emperor Wu awarded Huo a jar of precious wine for his achievement, he poured it into a creek so all his men drinking the water could share a taste of it, giving the name to the city of Jiuquan (酒泉, literally "wine spring").

Huo Qubing died in 117 BC at the early age of 23. After Huo Qubing's death, the aggrieved Emperor Wu ordered the elite troops from the five border commanderies to line up all the way from Chang'an to Maoling, where Huo Qubing's tomb was constructed in the shape of the Qilian Mountains to commemorate his military achievements. Huo Qubing was then posthumously appointed the title Marquess of Jinghuan (景桓侯), and a large "Horse Stomping Xiongnu" stone statue was built in front of his tomb, near Emperor Wu's tomb of Maoling.

Huo Qubing was among the most decorated military commanders in Chinese history. The Eastern Han Dynasty historian Ban Gu, summarized in his Book of Han Huo Qubing's achievements with a poem:

The Champion of Piaoji, fast and brave.Six long-distance assaults, like lightning and thunder.Watering horse at Lake Baikal, conducting rituals at Khentii Mountains.Conquering the area west of great river, establishing commanderies along Qilian Mountains.

票騎冠軍，猋勇紛紜，長驅六擧，電擊雷震，飲馬翰海，封狼居山，西規大河，列郡祁連。

Huo Qubing's half-brother, Huo Guang, whom he took custody away from his father, was later a great statesman who was the chief counsel for Emperor Zhao, and was instrumental in the succession of Emperor Xuan to the throne after Emperor Zhao's death.

Huo Qubing's son, Huo Shàn (霍嬗), succeeded him as the Marquess of Jinghuan but died young in 110 BC. So Huo Qubing's title became extinct. His grandson Huo Shān (霍山, later Marquess of Leping) and Huo Yun (霍云, later Marquess of Guanyang) were involved in a failed plot to overthrow Emperor Xuan of Han in 66 BC, resulting in both of them committing suicide and the Huo clan being executed. It was presumably that no male descendant of Huo Qubing nor Huo Guang survived, as during the reign of Emperor Ping of Han, it was Huo Yang, a great-grandson of Huo Qubing's paternal cousin, who was chosen as the descendant of Huo Guang to be the Marquess of Bolu.

生平

早期經歷

霍去病之父霍仲孺是平陽縣的衙役，與平陽公主的奴婢衛少兒（為衛子夫、平陽公主的丈夫衛青的姐姐）私通，生下了霍去病。後霍仲孺回鄉另外娶妻，生下霍光。霍去病的姨母衛子夫被漢武帝看中入宮，數年後受到漢武帝寵愛生皇長子劉據而被立為皇后，衛氏家族從此平步青雲。因為漢武帝愛屋及烏，霍去病於16、17歲時出任負責保衛皇帝安全的侍中官，於18歲時隨舅衛青出征。

出擊匈奴

元朔六年（前123年），霍去病初次（這一年他共出征了兩次，原文「再從大將軍」）徵戰，年方十八，獲授驃姚校尉，率領八百騎兵，與部屬趙破奴、高不識、僕多等人，出征匈奴，在這次戰鬥中，斬殺了單于的祖父若侯產，俘虜了單于的叔父羅姑比，並斬殺匈奴二千餘人。漢武帝將其功勞列為全軍第一，獲封冠軍侯，食邑1,600戶。

元狩二年（前121年），漢武帝任命霍去病為驃騎將軍，發動了春、夏兩次對匈奴的河西戰役，大勝而回。於河西戰役的春季攻勢中，霍去病率一萬驃騎，北上并州，西出定襄，六天中轉戰西域五國，越過了焉支山，深入敵境一千多里後，在皋藍山下（今蘭州南部）重創匈奴，殲敵近九千人，俘獲匈奴祭天金人，因功加封食邑二千戶。就地休整補充兵源後，又發動夏季攻勢，則成果更大，在與共同出擊，作為另外一支夾擊部隊的公孫敖失去聯繫的情況下，霍去病率數萬精銳騎兵孤軍深入，在祁連山殲滅匈奴右賢王主力三萬餘人，俘虜匈奴五王，五王母，單於閼氏、王子五十九人，相國、將軍、當戶、都尉六十三人，讓匈奴的實力受到一次極大的打擊，又加封食邑五千戶，其部屬趙破奴、高不識與僕多皆以軍功封侯。《西河舊事》載當時的匈奴人唱道：「失我祁連山，使我六畜不蕃息，失我焉支山，使我婦女無顏色」。兩次河西戰役之後，漢朝完全控制了河西地區，先後設置酒泉郡（前121年）、張掖郡與敦煌郡（前111年）、武威郡（前101年）等河西四郡，河西走廊正式成為中國版圖，打通了漢朝和西域的道路，絲綢之路從此開通。在霍去病班師還朝的途中，再次經過平陽縣時，將同父異母的弟弟霍光（時年十七）帶回長安，從此開啟了霍光的政治生涯；後來他還出色地平息了匈奴降軍的騷亂，匈奴從此退到了漠北一帶。

元狩四年（前119年），漢武帝調集十萬騎兵，隨軍戰馬、步兵輜重無數，由衛青和霍去病各領五萬騎兵，東西兩路向漠北進軍，發動掃蕩匈奴的漠北戰役。攜三徵河西的銳氣，此次敢深入力戰的兵士都分配給霍去病，原本為了對抗單于；但是衛青部自定襄出發，卻和單于本部相遇，霍去病則率軍東出代郡，行軍兩千里，大敗左賢王，殲敵七萬餘人，左賢王部幾乎全軍覆沒。霍去病先是捕獲了匈奴伊稚斜單于的近臣，誅殺了小王比車耆，隨後攻擊左大將，斬殺敵將，奪取對方的軍旗和戰鼓。緊接著，漢軍翻越離侯山，渡過弓閭河，捕獲匈奴屯頭王、韓王及將軍、相國、當戶、都尉等高級官員83人。在這次長途奔襲中，霍去病封狼居胥山（今外蒙古肯特山）以祭天，禪姑衍山（肯特山以北）以祭地，得瀚海（貝加爾湖）而班師。自此，匈奴遷到更偏遠的地方，長城內外一片和平景象，中原人民安居樂，驃騎將軍霍去病（六次出擊匈奴，共殲滅十一萬餘人）因此和舅舅大將軍衛青（七次出擊匈奴，共殲滅五萬餘人）同時獲得加封新設置大司馬官職，特令驃騎將軍秩祿與大將軍同。

英年早逝

元狩六年（前117年），年僅二十四歲（虛歲）的霍去病忽然身亡，對於霍去病的死因，史記和漢書都沒有詳細的紀錄，史記：「元狩六年而卒」，漢書：「元狩六年薨」。但從其弟霍光的奏章：「臣兄驃騎將軍去病從軍有功，病死，賜謚景桓侯」，提及是「病死」 。

武帝很悲傷，調遣邊境五郡的鐵甲軍，從長安到茂陵排列成陣，給霍去病修的墳墓外形像祁連山的樣子，把勇武與擴地兩個原則加以合併，追諡為景桓侯。霍去病的墓至今仍然矗立在茂陵東北，墓前的馬踏匈奴的石像，象徵著他為國家立下的不朽功勳。

家族

霍去病的姨母是漢武帝的皇后衛子夫，舅舅是名將衛青。

霍去病長大後才知道霍仲孺是自己的父親。在他作為驃騎將軍北擊匈奴的途中，在經過河東時，特派官吏將自己的生父霍仲孺接來相見，為他購買了大量田宅、奴婢後才離去。到他班師回朝時，又順便將同父異母的弟弟霍光帶回長安。霍光後來得到武帝重用，成為託孤重臣輔佐漢昭帝，曾廢立皇帝，為漢宣帝麒麟閣十一功臣之首。

《史記.三王世家》記載，元狩六年（前117年）霍去病上疏請漢武帝立三子為諸侯王，因諸侯王須「就國」，即到封地居住，也就是請漢武帝儘快定了其他三個兒子名位離開長安，以維護衛太子劉據的地位。群臣莊青翟、張湯、公孫賀、任安等紛紛聯名上書響應。同年四月漢武帝下詔封三子為王。

霍去病的兒子霍嬗在霍去病死後繼承了冠軍侯，在元封元年（前110年）夭折了，冠軍侯國除。霍去病另有庶子所生兩個孫子霍山、霍雲在霍光死後繼續位居高官，前69年，因謀反被漢宣帝族滅。

評價

霍去病的忠君愛國，從一件軼事中可以表露。相傳漢武帝看到霍去病討伐匈奴馳騁沙場，立了大功，為了犒賞霍去病，特地指派了工匠修建一寬敞華宅。竣工後，漢武帝讓霍去病先去過目、了解是否如意，但是霍去病卻向漢武帝上奏說：「匈奴未滅，何以家為！」愛國忘家，壯志凌雲，成了流傳千古的名言。

然而霍去病也有缺點，他少年新貴，有紈絝習氣，不愛惜士兵。史書上說漢武帝專門令宮中服務部門為他準備飲食，竟然有十多輛車之多。還軍時，「重車餘棄粱肉而士有飢色」。在塞外時，戰士缺乏糧食，霍去病卻在軍營中踢蹴鞠的遊戲。但將士們仍然願意為其效命，漠北大戰之後，許多衛青的門客都來投靠了霍去病。

《史記》記載，漠北戰後一年（元狩五年），因部下李敢擊傷他的舅舅衛青，霍去病在不久後的一次打獵中將李敢射殺。肇因其父李廣在元狩四年前119年出征匈奴漠北時向漢武帝請求先鋒之職以求軍功，漢武帝熬不過李廣就口頭上答應，但私底下偷偷給衛青密信讓衛青不要讓李廣打先鋒，因此被安排到東路支援。之後李廣在沙漠中迷路延誤戰機導致單于逃走，由此受到衛青責問，由於李廣不願意受軍法調查因此自殺。李敢認為是衛青挾怨報復自己的父親，為此動手擊傷了衛青，衛青出於對李廣的同情，對這件事情沒有追究，但是他的外甥霍去病卻不能夠原諒下屬冒犯舅舅，不久後在甘泉宮射獵時借機將其射殺。漢武帝事後用「李敢被鹿撞死」了結此事。

但射殺李敢一年後，他患了不明疾病因而死去。死後他追封景桓侯，陪葬茂陵。

影視作品

• 2004年電視劇《大漢天子2 漢武雄風》，由李立飾演。

• 2005年電視劇《漢武大帝》，由李俊鋒飾演。

• 2014年電視劇《風中奇緣_(電視劇)》，由彭于晏飾演。

• 2014年電視劇《衛子夫 (電視劇)》，由張亞希飾演。

• 2015年電影《天將雄師》，由馮紹峰飾演。

• 2016年電視劇《霍去病》，由張若昀飾演。

相關條目

• 冠軍縣

• 漢武帝

• 衛青

• 李敢

• 霍光

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