Wen Qin 文欽

Wen Qin 文欽, courtesy name Zhongruo 仲若, was a general of the state of Wei 曹魏 (220-265) during the Three Kingdoms period 三國 (220-280), and later defected to the state of Wu 吳 (222-280).

He hailed from Qiao 譙 (today's Boxian 亳縣, Anhui). During the reign of Emperor Ming 魏明帝 (r. 226－239 CE) he was commander of the five metropolitan garrisons (wuying xiaodu 五營校督) and then general of the headquarters (yamen jiang 牙門將), but the court refrained from promoting him further because of his cholerical character. He was even dismissed for a while, but then again taken into service as general in the headquarters of Huainan 淮南, and then transferred to the post of governor (taishou 太守) of the commandery of Lujiang 廬江, and later made General Flying up like an Eagle (yingyang jiangjun 鷹揚將軍).

When the regional inspector (cishi 刺史) of Yangzhou 揚州, Zhuge Dan 諸葛誕, fell ill, Wen Qin temporarily took over this post. He was at odds with Zhuge Dan, but on good terms with another high general, Guanqiu Jian 毌丘儉. Both feared that the Wei dynasty might be endangered by the growing power of the family Sima 司馬. They planned therefore an attack on general Sima Shi 司馬師 and therefore forged an imperial edict ordering them to bring down the rebel Sima Shi. While Guanqiu Jian was killed on the battlefield, Wen Qin fled to Wu after his plot had failed.

The court of Wu rewarded him with the titles of protector-general (duhu 都護) and official commissioned with a warrant (jiajie 假節), and then made him General Suppressing the North (zhenbei jiangjun 鎮北將軍) and regional governor (mu 牧) of the province of Youzhou 幽州. He was also granted the title of Marquis of Qiao 譙侯.