Chunyu Qiong
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Chunyu Qiong (淳于瓊; ? – 200) was a general serving under Yuan Shao during the last years of the Han Dynasty in China. He played a significant part in the Battle of Guandu in 200 AD.
Little is known about Chunyu Qiong's background other than that in 188, he was a Colonel of the newly created Western Garden Army along with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. He may have left the capital at around the same time as Yuan and joined the coalition against Dong Zhuo in 190. It is clear that by the end of the decade, Chunyu had become one of Yuan Shao's leading and most trusted commanders. In a later memorial submitted by Cao Cao, he is referred to as "the great general under Yuan Shao." (紹大將)
In 200, the warlord Cao Cao had become Yuan's main rival for domination of northern China. In the preparations for the Battle of Guandu campaign, Chunyu Qiong sided with Guo Tu against Ju Shou, calling for a more aggressive strategy against Cao Cao. As a result, he was given command of a third of the Yuan Shao's army along with Guo Tu. In ths spring of 200, he joined Guo Tu and Yan Liang in an attack on Baima, held by Cao Cao's commander Liu Yan.
In the latter stages of the campaign, Chunyu led more than 10,000 troops to Wuchao, about 90 km north of Yuan's main camp, to receive a new shipment of grain supplies. In early dawn, he was surprised by a raid led by Cao Cao himself. Yuan Shao's relief cavalry were routed and Chunyu Qiong was killed in the fighting. With the fall of Wuchao, Yuan Shao's positions collapsed and a number of his commanders, such as Gao Lan and Zhang He, defected to Cao Cao. Chunyu's defeat at Wuchao has earned him a reputation in Chinese folklore as a commander without any real ability.