Early life

Xiahou Shang was a distant younger relative of Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun, generals who served under Cao Cao, the warlord who rose to power in the late Eastern Han dynasty and laid the foundation for the Cao Wei state in the Three Kingdoms period. As a youth, he was already known for being well-versed in planning and strategy. Cao Pi, one of Cao Cao's sons, highly regarded Xiahou Shang and treated him as a close friend.

Service under Cao Cao

In the 200s, when Cao Cao was at war with his rival Yuan Shao for control over northern China, Xiahou Shang served as a major in Cao Cao's army and led cavalry forces into battle against Yuan Shao and his heirs. In 211, after Cao Pi was appointed General of the Household for All Purposes (五官中郎將) in the Han imperial court, Xiahou Shang served as a wenxue (文學; an officer of writings) under him. In 213, after Emperor Xian, the figurehead emperor of the Han Empire, enfeoffed Cao Cao as the Duke of Wei (魏公), Xiahou Shang was reassigned to be a Gentleman of the Yellow Gate in Cao Cao's dukedom. In 216, Emperor Xian elevated Cao Cao from the status of a duke to a vassal king under the title "King of Wei" (魏王).

When the Wuchendi (無臣氐) branch of the Wuhuan tribes started a rebellion in Dai Commandery (代郡; around present-day Yu County, Hebei) and Shanggu Commandery (上谷郡; around present-day Beijing) in May 218, Cao Cao ordered his son Cao Zhang to lead forces to quell the revolt. During this time, Xiahou Shang served as an army adviser under Cao Zhang and assisted him in defeating the Wuchendi.

Service under Cao Pi

In March 220, after Cao Cao died in Luoyang, Xiahou Shang received orders to lead the convoy escorting Cao Cao's coffin back to Ye (鄴; in present-day Handan, Hebei), the capital of the vassal Kingdom of Wei, for a proper funeral and burial. Cao Pi, as Cao Cao's heir apparent, succeeded his father as the King of Wei and Imperial Chancellor of the Han Empire. He first appointed Xiahou Shang as a Regular Mounted Attendant and later promoted him to Commandant of the Central Army. As a reward for Xiahou Shang's contributions, Cao Pi also enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Pingling Village (平陵亭侯).

In late 220, Cao Pi usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, ended the Eastern Han dynasty, and established the Cao Wei state with himself as the new emperor. After his coronation, he elevated Xiahou Shang from a village marquis to a district marquis under the title "Marquis of Pingling District". Xiahou Shang was also appointed as General Who Attacks the South and Inspector (刺史) of Jing Province, and put in charge of supervising military affairs in the southern frontiers of Wei.

Battle of Shangyong

During this time, Xiahou Shang proposed to Cao Pi to launch an attack on Shangyong Commandery (上庸郡; around present-day Zhushan County, Hubei), which was a territory of Cao Pi's rival Liu Bei. Cao Pi approved and ordered him and Xu Huang to lead troops to attack Shangyong Commandery. Xiahou Shang achieved success in his mission and pacified a total of three commanderies and nine counties. Cao Pi promoted him to Senior General Who Attacks the South in recognition of his achievements.

Battle of Jiangling

Sun Quan, another rival of Cao Pi, initially pledged allegiance to the Cao Wei state after Cao Pi became emperor in late 220. Cao Pi was so pleased that he awarded Sun Quan the title of a vassal king, "King of Wu", and recognised Sun Quan's claim to the territories in the Jiangdong region and southern Jing Province. Xiahou Shang knew that Sun Quan was only pretending to submit to Wei rule so he urged Cao Pi to maintain his guard against Sun Quan. As Xiahou Shang foresaw, Sun Quan broke ties with Cao Pi in 222 and declared himself the emperor of an independent Eastern Wu (or simply Wu) regime.

In 222, Cao Pi retaliated against Sun Quan by launching the first of a series of campaigns against Wu. He ordered Xiahou Shang, Cao Zhen and others to lead troops to attack Jiangling (江陵; present-day Jiangling County, Hubei), which was defended by the Wu general Zhu Ran, while he was stationed at Wan (宛; in present-day Nanyang, Henan) to provide backup. Sun Quan ordered his general Zhuge Jin to attack Xiahou Shang. Zhuge Jin deployed his naval forces across different locations in the river. That night, Xiahou Shang ordered some 10,000 troops to split up and board smaller boats to cross the river and launch a stealth attack on Zhuge Jin on both land and water. They scored a major victory over Zhuge Jin as they burnt down the Wu ships and destroyed some Wu camps on the opposite bank of the river. In 223, when an epidemic broke out while Wei forces were laying siege to Jiangling, Cao Pi ordered the Wei forces to pull back, thus bringing an end to the campaign. As a reward for Xiahou Shang's contributions during the campaign, Cao Pi awarded him an additional 600 taxable households in his marquisate, bringing the total number up to 1,900. He also gave Xiahou Shang a ceremonial axe and promoted him to Governor (牧) of Jing Province.

When Xiahou Shang assumed governorship of (northern) Jing Province, the lands were barren and infrastructure was in ruins after years of war. Most of the population have migrated to the lands south of the Han River which were Wu territory. Besides, there were various non-Han Chinese tribes living around Jing Province who occasionally started uprisings and caused trouble for the regional government. After conquering Shangyong Commandery (上庸郡; around present-day Zhushan County, Hubei) in 221, Xiahou Shang used it as a bridge to establish contact with the non-Han Chinese tribes living in the lands 700 li to the west and succeeded in pacifying them and gaining their support. Within five to six years, thousands of households pledged allegiance to Wei. In 224, Cao Pi changed Xiahou Shang's marquis title to "Marquis of Changling District"

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Family feud

Xiahou Shang married the younger sister of Cao Zhen, an adopted son of Cao Cao and a close childhood friend of Cao Pi. In his later years, Xiahou Shang took a concubine, whom he loved dearly. A family feud broke out when Xiahou Shang's concubine started fighting with Cao Zhen's sister to become Xiahou Shang's official spouse. When Cao Pi heard about it, he decided to intervene as a show of support for his fellow members of the Cao clan, so he had Xiahou Shang's concubine executed by strangulation.

Xiahou Shang was so upset by his concubine's death that he fell sick and his health started deteriorating. After burying his concubine, he stayed indoors all the time and refused to meet anyone. When Cao Pi heard about it, he remarked, "Maybe Du Xi had good reason(s) to look down on (Xiahou) Shang." Despite this incident, Cao Pi still highly favoured Xiahou Shang because he was a close childhood friend.

Death

In 225, when Xiahou Shang became critically ill, he had to be sent back to the Wei imperial capital, Luoyang, from his post in Jing Province. During this time, Cao Pi personally visited him, held his hand and sobbed with grief. Xiahou Shang died shortly after. Cao Pi honoured him with the posthumous title "Marquis Dao" (悼侯) and wrote an official eulogy for him: "(Xiahou) Shang had been a close companion to me since my childhood. He was loyal, sincere and faithful. Although we did not have the same parents, we were as close as brothers. He was like my stomach and heart, and like claws and teeth to me. He was intelligent, perceptive and exceptionally brilliant. It is a pity that his life ended so early. Alas, such is life! I hereby grant him the posthumous appointment of Senior General Who Attacks the South and award him the seal of the Marquis of Changling."

Family

Xiahou Shang married Cao Zhen's younger sister, whose personal name is unknown; she was referred to as the Lady of Deyang District. She bore him a son, Xiahou Xuan, and a daughter, Xiahou Hui. Xiahou Xuan inherited his father's peerage and marquisate as the Marquis of Changling (昌陵侯). Cao Pi removed 300 taxable households from the marquisate and awarded it to Xiahou Feng (夏侯奉), a nephew of Xiahou Shang who was enfeoffed as a Secondary Marquis.

Xiahou Shang had another daughter who married He You (和逌), He Qia's son, and bore He Jiao (和嶠).

Xiahou Shang also had a younger cousin Xiahou Ru (夏侯儒), according to the Weilüe, who served as a military officer in Cao Wei under Zhang Ji (Derong).

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Xiahou Shang is a minor character in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticises the historical figures and events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. He participates in the Battle of Mount Dingjun as a subordinate of Xiahou Yuan against Liu Bei's forces. During a skirmish, he is captured by the enemy and but is later released in exchange for the enemy officer Chen Shi, who was captured by Xiahou Yuan. During the exchange, Huang Zhong fires an arrow at him, which hits him in the back and seriously injures him.

生平

夏侯尚年輕的時候，與曹丕友好，其才智被曹丕所賞識。曹操平定冀州時，夏侯尚擔任軍司馬，跟隨曹操四處征戰。後來夏侯尚又擔任五官將文學，成為曹丕的部屬。曹操被封為魏王時，夏侯尚被遷為黃門侍郎。後來代郡一帶的少數民族發動叛亂，夏侯尚以參軍身份跟隨鄢陵侯曹彰出征平叛。

曹操去世後，夏侯尚持節奉迎曹操的靈柩返回鄴，被加封為平陵亭侯（屬汝南郡平輿縣），官拜散騎常侍，後來又昇遷為中領軍。

曹丕即位稱帝後，改封夏侯尚為平陵鄉侯，昇遷為征南將軍，領荊州刺史，假節都督南方諸軍事。夏侯尚提出應攻打劉備的領地上庸以除後患，並親自領兵，與蜀叛將孟達共同擊敗劉封、攻克上庸諸郡縣，升遷征南大將軍。當時孫權向曹魏稱臣，但夏侯尚認為不能掉以輕心，並做好與東吳交戰的準備；不久，孫權果真背叛曹魏。

222年，曹丕命令夏侯尚和曹真率軍圍攻江陵，夏侯尚的軍隊和吳將諸葛瑾對峙。夏侯尚在夜間使用火攻策略大敗諸葛瑾，並避免了稍後中洲之戰的大敗；但由於軍中流行瘟疫，曹丕只得將夏侯尚召回。此後夏侯尚又被增加600戶的封地，總共擁有1900戶的封地，得到假鉞的封賞，進官位為荊州牧。夏侯尚在荊州為官期間，招撫了上庸以西700里地的山民和少數民族共幾千家。

224年，夏侯尚被改封為昌陵鄉侯。

225年，夏侯尚病重，返回洛陽，曹丕數次前去看望，握著他的手流淚。

226年，四月，夏侯尚去世，被追諡為悼侯。

逸聞

夏侯尚與曹丕早年交好，深為曹丕所愛，甚至在尚擔任征南大將軍時賜其「作威作福，殺人活人」之權，但之後因蔣濟以為恩寵過度而被勸止。

杜襲早年即鄙視夏侯尚，稱尚「非有益之友」，然曹丕不以為意。及至後來夏侯尚因為寵幸愛妾而冷落了曹家宗室的正室夫人德陽鄉主，曹丕震怒，派人殺害尚妾。不料夏侯尚竟因悲傷過度，精神恍惚，做出挖墳、抱屍大哭的失態之舉，曹丕惱怒之餘道：「看來杜襲鄙視夏侯尚是有原因的。」但因念及舊誼，曹丕對夏侯尚的恩遇如故。

家庭

叔伯

• 夏侯淵

妻

• 德陽鄉主，曹真的妹妹。

兄弟

• 夏侯儒，夏侯尚的堂弟。

子女

• 夏侯玄，母德陽鄉主。

• 夏侯徽，司馬師的元配夫人，母德陽鄉主。

• 夏侯氏，和逌之妻。

侄子

• 夏侯奉，關內侯。

侄孫

• 夏侯本。夏侯玄被滅族後，因正元年間（254年-256年）續封功臣後代，被封為昌陵亭侯，食邑300戶，作為夏侯尚的後嗣。

評價

• 曹丕：「尚自少侍從，盡誠竭節，雖云異姓，其猶骨肉，是以入為腹心，出當爪牙。智略深敏，謀謨過人，不幸早殞，命也奈何！」

• 王沈：「尚有籌畫智略。」

• 陳壽：「夏侯、曹氏，世為婚姻，故惇、淵、仁、洪、休、尚、真等並以親舊肺腑，貴重于時，左右勳業，咸有效勞。」（《三國志 魏書九》）

藝術形象

三國演義

小說《三國演義》對夏侯尚的描寫並不多，主要寫了他在漢中戰役時敗於蜀將黃忠，被黃忠生擒的虛構情節。

影視

• 中國中央電視台電視劇《三國演義》（1994年）：焦志成

• 中國電視劇《大軍師司馬懿之軍師聯盟》（2017年）：張興哲

注釋