Contents
Biography & Historical Record
Yang Chou (杨丑, Dương Xú) was a subordinate officer under Zhang Yang (张杨, Chương Dương), one of the Eighteen Warlords who joined the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition. His brief notoriety comes from betraying Zhang Yang during the Xiapi crisis of 198 AD, when Cao Cao (曹操, Tào Tháo) besieged Lu Bu (吕布, Lã Bố).
When Zhang Yang prepared to march to Lu Bu’s aid, Yang Chou murdered his lord, intending to present the head to Cao Cao for reward and surrender. Before he could complete the defection, Zhang Yang’s loyalist Sui Gu (眭固, Tuy Cố) (also Mu Shun / Sui Gu in variant texts) killed Yang Chou. The episode shows how the old coalition network collapsed through internal treachery once Cao Cao dominated the Central Plains.
Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In Chapter 19, as Cao Cao surrounds Lu Bu at Xiapi, Zhang Yang plans a relief march. Yang Chou assassinates Zhang Yang to defect, but is himself slain by Sui Gu before delivering the head — a double betrayal that removes Zhang Yang from the war without aiding Cao Cao cleanly.
Yang Chou (杨丑) — Historical & Literary Timeline
Officer under Zhang Yang
Serves Zhang Yang, Henei warlord among the Eighteen Warlords against Dong Zhuo.
Assassinates Zhang Yang, slain by Sui Gu
Murders Zhang Yang to surrender to Cao Cao during the Xiapi siege; killed by Zhang Yang’s loyal subordinate before the plot succeeds.
Aftermath in the Eighteen Warlords Network
Zhang Yang had been one of the eighteen regional leaders who answered Cao Cao’s forged edict against Dong Zhuo in 190 AD. Two decades later his Henei force was still an independent northern piece on the board. Yang Chou’s assassination removed that piece at the exact moment Lu Bu needed relief at Xiapi, illustrating how the old coalition generation destroyed itself through greed just as Cao Cao finished absorbing the Central Plains. Historical notices are brief; the novel concentrates the treachery into a single Chapter 19 vignette that explains why no Henei army arrived to break the siege.
Readers should treat Yang Chou as a minor but consequential betrayer: without his murder of Zhang Yang, Cao Cao’s campaign against Lu Bu might have faced a second front. Sui Gu’s revenge kills the traitor but cannot restore Zhang Yang’s army as a coherent ally for Lu Bu.
Key Relationships
Family
- No information
Friends
- No lasting allies — betrayal defines his role.
Enemies
- Zhang Yang (张杨, Chương Dương): Lord he murdered.
- Sui Gu (眭固, Tuy Cố): Zhang Yang’s officer who killed Yang Chou in revenge.
Other
- Cao Cao (曹操, Tào Tháo): Intended recipient of Zhang Yang’s head as a surrender gift.
- Lu Bu (吕布, Lã Bố): Zhang Yang’s attempt to relieve him at Xiapi triggers the betrayal.
In Novel
Chapter 19
- Yang Chou (杨丑, Dương Xú): Subordinate of Zhang Yang (张杨, Chương Dương). When Zhang Yang prepares to relieve Lu Bu (吕布, Lã Bố) at Xiapi, Yang Chou murders his commander to take the head to Cao Cao (曹操, Tào Tháo). Before he can deliver it, Zhang Yang’s loyal general Sui Gu (眭固, Tuy Cố) kills Yang Chou — ending the Henei relief attempt through double treachery.
In History
Summary
- Yang Chou (杨丑, Dương Xú) was an officer under Zhang Yang who assassinated his lord during the late-Han warlord conflicts and was himself killed shortly after.
Year: 198 AD
- During Cao Cao’s campaign against Lu Bu, Zhang Yang considered intervening; Yang Chou killed Zhang Yang intending to surrender to Cao Cao, then was slain by Zhang Yang’s subordinate Sui Gu.
Historical Record
- Notices in Sanguozhi Wei materials on Zhang Yang’s death. Novel Chapter 19 dramatizes the betrayal. Classification: Historical (briefly attested).