都督考

Abstract

According to the previous views, the government office known as dudu (commander-in-chief of a regional army) was formally established during the reign of Wendi 文帝, the second emperor of the Cao-Wei 曹魏 dynasty, and had its origin in the Cao Cao 曹操 Administration. A post called dudu, however, could be found in the armies of such regional warlords as Dong Zhuo 董卓, Lu Bu 呂布, Sun Ce 孫策, and Yuan Shao 袁紹 in the last years of the Later Han. The author calls it the 'proto-dudu.' It was not ranked along with the preexisting military offices like sima 司馬 xiaowei 校尉 , zhonglangjiang 中郎將, etc., but was one of the private military posts of the regional warlords, and its essential function was to maintain military discipline. This kind of 'proto-dudu' appears in Cao Cao's army under the title of 'shichijie-hangdudu-dujun 使持節･行都督･督軍'. Previously, the regional governors (zhou-mu 州牧), who were the regional inspector (zhoucishi 州刺史) concurrently holding the imperial-commissioned authority of 'shichijie-dujun 使持節･督軍' for suppression of rebels, had been sent out by the Later Han government to reestablish military control after the Yellow Turbans Rebellion. The dudu system of the Cao-Wei administration originated in the integration of the 'proto-dudu' as an unofficial post in Cao Cao's army with the legally commissioned authority of the regional governors.