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Tao Kan was born in the fourth year of Ganlu in the Cao Wei Dynasty. His courtesy name was Shixing. He was from Taojia Chong, Zuoli Township, Fuyang County, Poyang Prefecture, Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Tao Kan was from a poor family and worked as a clerk in Xunyang County. Fan Kui, a filial and honest official from Poyang, once visited Tao Kan's home. Tao Kan's mother, Zhan, cut off her hair in exchange for fine wine and delicious food to entertain him.

Tao Kan had a very pleasant conversation with Fan Kui, and expressed to him his distress about having no chance to enter the officialdom.

Later, Fan Kui recommended Tao Kan to Zhang Kui, the prefect of Lujiang. Zhang Kui summoned Tao Kan to be the Inspector and concurrently the magistrate of Congyang County. Soon after, he was promoted to the position of Chief Clerk.

"When Tao Kan was the chief clerk in Lujiang, Changsha governor Wan Si passed by Lujiang. After talking with Tao Kan, he admired him very much and thought that his great name would be passed down to future generations. He asked his son to make friends with Tao Kan."

"Later, Zhang Kui recommended Tao Kan as a filial and honest official. When passing through Luoyang, Tao Kan went to see Zhang Hua and was appointed as a doctor. Later, he was summoned by General Fu Bo, Sun Xiu, to be a servant."

"At that time, Yang Xu, a fellow villager of Tao Kan, was serving as the Minister of the Imperial Academy of Yuzhang. His talent and virtue were unanimously praised by the local public opinion. Tao Kan went to pay a visit to him. Yang Xu admired him very much and went with him to pay a visit to Gu Rong, a famous scholar in Jiangnan. Gu Rong also admired him."

"At that time, the leader of the Qing Tan, Le Guang, wanted to meet with famous scholars from the south. Huang Qing, the commander of the Wuku, recommended Tao Kan. Later, when Huang Qing was appointed as the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, he recommended Tao Kan as the magistrate of Wugang County in Shaoling Prefecture."

"After Tao Kan took office, he had a disagreement with Shaoling Governor Lü Yue, so he resigned and returned home. Later, he served as a minor Zhongzheng in the county."

"In the second year of Tai'an in the Western Jin Dynasty, Liu Hong was appointed governor of Jingzhou and Tao Kan was appointed as the chief historian of the Southern Barbarians."

"At that time, Xinye King Sima Xin governed Jingzhou harshly and ungraciously, which aroused resentment among the local people."

"In May, the imperial court summoned the brave men of Jingzhou to go to Yizhou to attack Li Liu. The people of Jingzhou were reluctant to go, but the imperial edict urged them to go very urgently."

"Zhang Chang, the leader of the Yiyang barbarians who had served as a county official, gathered people to revolt at Shiyan Mountain in Anlu City. Refugees from Jingzhou and young men who had escaped military service joined in."

"The imperial court sent Gong Qin and Jin Man to attack Zhang Chang, but both were defeated by Zhang Chang."

"Zhang Chang further spread rumors that the court would kill all the rebels. People in the Yangtze River and Mian River areas responded to Zhang Chang. The court sent Hua Hong to attack again, but he was defeated by Zhang Chang again."

"In May of the same year, Xinye King Sima Xin was killed by Zhang Chang, and Jin Hui Emperor Sima Zhong issued an edict to appoint Ningshuo General Liu Hong as Sima Xin's successor as Zhennan General and Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of Jingzhou."

"In June, Liu Hong appointed Tao Kan, the chief of the Southern Barbarians, as the Grand Protector General and sent him to Xiangyang to attack Zhang Chang."

"While Tao Kan was defending Xiangyang, Zhang Chang gathered all his troops to surround Wan County, defeated the troops of the former general Zhao Xiang, and killed the general who pacified the south, Yang Yi."

"Liu Hong had no choice but to retreat to Liang County, while Zhang Chang took advantage of the victory to attack Xiangyang, but was unable to capture it."

"In July of the second year of Tai'an, most of the counties in the five states of Jingzhou, Jiangzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, and Yuzhou were occupied by Zhang Chang."

"Liu Hong ordered Tao Kan and others to lead the army to attack Jingling County where Zhang Chang was located. Tao Kan and others fought with Zhang Chang many times and defeated him, killing tens of thousands of people."

"Zhang Chang fled to Xiajun Mountain, and all his followers surrendered. Thus, Jingzhou was pacified."

"After suppressing Zhang Chang's rebellion, Liu Hong told Tao Kan that Yang Hu once thought he could reach Yang Gong's position, and now he also thought Tao Kan would inherit his current position."

"Afterwards, Tao Kan was granted the title of Marquis of Dongxiang for his military merits, with a fief of 1,000 households."

"In the second year of Tai'an, during Zhang Chang's rebellion, Chen Min killed Zhang Chang's generals and pacified Yangzhou and Xuzhou, making great contributions."

"In the second year of Yongxing, Chen Min had the intention of separatist Jiangdong."

"In December of the same year, Chen Min raised an army in rebellion, appointed himself the commander-in-chief of Liaodong military affairs, the Grand Marshal, and the Duke of Chu, and falsely claimed to have received an imperial edict and went north to welcome Emperor Hui of Jin."

"And expelled the governor of Yangzhou, Liu Ji, and others, and occupied the land of Wu and Yue."

"At that time, Liu Hong was the governor of Jiangxia. After learning that Chen Min had rebelled, Liu Hong ordered Tao Kan to station at Xiakou."

Du Mu: Sui County Magistrate Hu Huai reminded Liu Hong that Tao Kan and Chen Min were from the same hometown and had a large number of troops under their command. If they showed any ulterior motives, Jingzhou would lose its east gate.

After hearing the news, Tao Kan sent his son Tao Hong and nephew Tao Zhen to meet Liu Hong as hostages. Liu Hong appointed the two as military officers and let them go back, saying that real men will never forget the kindness of their friendship.

At this time, Chen Min appointed his younger brother Chen Hui as the governor of Jingzhou to attack Wuchang. Liu Hong promoted Tao Kan to be the vanguard supervisor and interceptor. Tao Kan converted the grain transport ship into a warship.

Everyone thought it was not possible, but Tao Kan said frankly that there was nothing wrong with using the country's ships to attack the country's bandits.

Tao Kan fought with Chen Hui's army many times and defeated Chen Hui's attacks several times.

Later, he joined forces with Pi Chu, Zhang Guang and Miao Guang to defeat Qian Duan, a general under Chen Min, in Changqi.

Tao Kan was strict in military discipline. He distributed all the materials captured in the war to his soldiers and did not keep any personal property for himself.

In the first year of Guangxi, Liu Hong died of illness while serving in Jingzhou.

Soon, Tao Kan resigned from his post to mourn his mother's death. After the mourning period was over, he was appointed as a military officer of Sima Yue, King of Donghai.

The governor of Jiangzhou, Hua Yi, recommended Tao Kan as General Yangwu and stationed his troops in Xiakou. He also appointed his nephew Tao Zhen as a military officer of Jiangzhou.

Hua Yi was at odds with Sima Rui, the Prince of Langya. Tao Zhen was worried that Hua Yi would be in trouble in the future, so he returned to Tao Kan on the pretext of being sick.

He told Tao Kan that Hua Yi had great ambitions but no talent, and had conflicts with the King of Langya, and that disaster would soon befall him.

Tao Kan was furious and sent Tao Zhen to Hua Yi, but Tao Zhen turned east and went to Sima Rui.

Sima Rui appointed Tao Zhen as a military officer, and promoted Tao Kan to the title of General Fenwei, and gave him a chariot with red banners, curved canopies, and drums and trumpets.

From then on, Tao Kan also joined Sima Rui's army and cut off contact with Hua Yi.

In the fifth year of Yongjia, the Yongjia Rebellion broke out, Luoyang was captured by Liu Yuan, and Emperor Huai of Jin was captured. Sikong Xunfan recommended Sima Rui as the leader of the alliance, but Hua Yi refused.

Sima Rui then sent General Wang Dun to lead Gan Zhuo, Zhou Fang, Song Dian, Zhao You and others to attack Hua Yi, who was defeated and beheaded.

Sima Rui appointed Gan Zhuo as the governor of Xiangzhou, Zhou Fang as the prefect of Xunyang, and appointed General Yangwu Tao Kan as General Longxiang and concurrently the prefect of Wuchang.

When Tao Kan was in Wuchang, there was famine throughout the country and bandits in the mountains often intercepted ships on the Yangtze River and robbed them.

Tao Kan arranged for his subordinates to pretend to be merchants and lure thieves on board the merchant ship, and the thieves fell into the trap and were caught.

After interrogation, Tao Kan learned that these thieves were actually subordinates of Sima Ying, King of Xiyang, so he sent troops to force Sima Ying to hand over the remaining thieves.

Under pressure, Sima Ying tied up and sent out twenty of his own men, but Tao Kan killed them all. From then on, water and land transportation became safe and smooth, and those who had fled outside returned one after another.

Tao Kan did his best to support them financially so that they could settle down, and at the same time he set up a market in the east of the county to trade with the Yi people, making a lot of profit.

In the sixth year of Yongjia, Fu Mi, the leader of the refugees who fled from Jianping County, gathered his people and raised an army to welcome Du Tao, the leader of the refugees from Bashu.

Sima Rui sent Tao Kan to attack Du Tao, and ordered General Zhenwei Zhou Fang and General Guangwu Zhao You to follow Tao Kan's command.

Tao Kan ordered two generals to be the vanguard and his nephew Tao Yu to be the left wing, and launched an attack on Du Tao and defeated him. In the first year of Jianxing, Zhou Ji, the governor of Jingzhou, was besieged by Du Tao in Xunshui City. Tao Kan sent his general Zhu Si, the general of Mingwei, to lead an army to rescue him, and Du Tao retreated to Lingkou.

Tao Kan judged that Du Tao would definitely launch a surprise attack on Wuchang, so he asked Zhu Si to return to Wuchang from a small road and wait. Du Tao indeed attacked the city, and Tao Kan ordered Zhu Si to fight against him. Du Tao was defeated and fled back to Changsha County.

"Zhou Ji set out from Xunshui and went to Yuzhang County to seek refuge with the expeditionary governor Wang Dun, who kept Zhou Ji."

"Tao Kan sent his military officer Wang Gong to present the victory report to Wang Dun. Wang Dun believed that without Tao Kan, Jingzhou would have been lost, so he recommended and appointed Tao Kan as the governor of Jingzhou and stationed him at the Mian River."

"After defeating Du Tao, Tao Kan sent Zhu Si and others to eliminate the Jiangxia rebels."

"The bandit Wang Chong appointed himself the governor of Jingzhou and occupied Jiangling."

"Wang Gong returned to Jingling and falsely conveyed Tao Kan's order to appoint the leader of the mutiny, Du Zeng, as the vanguard commander-in-chief and ordered him to attack the leader of the mutiny in Jingzhou, Wang Chong. Du Zeng killed Wang Chong and took over his subordinates."

"Tao Kan summoned Du Zeng, but Du Zeng did not go to see him. Wang Gong was afraid that he would be found guilty of falsely conveying the order, so he rebelled with Du Zeng, and the two of them jointly attacked Tao Kan."

"Wang Gong defeated Tao Kan's military officer Zheng Pan and Mingwei General Zhu Si successively. Tao Kan was ready to move his troops to retreat. His general Zhang Yi thought that moving the troops when the enemy was approaching would be disadvantageous to everyone, so Tao Kan did not move his troops."

"Not long after, Wang Gong's army arrived and Tao Kan was badly defeated. Zhu Si fought hard and Tao Kan managed to escape danger."

"Zhang Yi defected to the rebels, and Tao Kan was also dismissed from his post because of this failure. Wang Dun recommended him to serve as a civilian."

"In the first year of Jianxing, Tao Kan led Xunyang governor Zhou Fang and others to attack the rebel leader Du Tao and defeated him."

"Tao Kan's subordinate Zuo Shi reported Tao Kan's merits and virtues to Wang Dun, believing that Tao Kan's contribution to the defense of the imperial court was indispensable."

"In the second year of Jianxing, Wang Zhen, a general under Du Tao, attacked Linzhang where Tao Kan was. Tao Kan was unable to resist and fled to Luozhong. Zhou Fang rescued Tao Kan and defeated the rebels' attack."

"In the third year of Jianxing, Wang Dun sent Tao Kan, Gan Zhuo and others to attack Du Tao many times. Du Tao's soldiers suffered heavy casualties. He asked Sima Rui to surrender, but Sima Rui refused."

"Du Tao wrote a letter to Nanping Governor Ying Zhan, asking him to consider their past friendship and explain his sincerity to the leader of the alliance on his behalf."

"Ying Zhan forwarded Du Tao's letter to Sima Rui, who sent Wang Yun, the governor of Nanhai, to accept Du Tao's surrender, pardoned Du Tao's crimes, and appointed him as the military supervisor of Badong County."

"In February of the third year of Jianxing, after Du Tao accepted the imperial appointment, generals continued to attack him. Du Tao was furious, so he killed Wang Yun and rebelled again."

"Du Tao sent his generals Du Hong and Zhang Yan to kill Linchuan's internal historian Xie Qi, and then captured Yuzhang."

"In March, Zhou Fang defeated the rebels and killed Zhang Yan. Du Hong fled to Linhe County."

"Tao Kan was ordered to fight Du Tao again. Du Tao ordered his general Wang Gong to lead elite troops to attack Wuchang."

"Tao Kan sent Zheng Pan and General Fu Bo Tao Yan to march into Baling overnight and defeated Wang Gong, who retreated back to Xiangcheng."

"At this time, conflicts arose within the rebel army. Du Tao suspected Zhang Yi and killed him. The rebel army was shaken and more people surrendered."

"When Wang Gong challenged Tao Kan again, Tao Kan took the opportunity to persuade him not to do anything wrong with a villain like Du Tao, and cut off his hair as a token of the oath, and Wang Gong surrendered to Tao Kan."

"Tao Kan led his army to capture Changsha, captured Du Tao's generals Mao Bao, Gao Bao, and Liang Kan, and then returned to the army. Du Tao escaped and died on the way."

"In the third year of Jianxing, after Tao Kan defeated Du Tao, he took advantage of the victory to attack Du Zeng, and he looked down on Du Zeng a little."

"Tao Kan's Sima Lu Tian believed that none of Tao Kan's generals could compare to Du Zeng, and advised him not to look down on him."

"Tao Kan ignored the advice and marched forward to surround Du Zeng in Shicheng. Du Zeng's army had more cavalry, so he secretly opened the city gate and used his cavalry to break through Tao Kan's formation. He also attacked Tao Kan from behind. Tao Kan's army was defeated and hundreds of people jumped into the water and died."

"After defeating Tao Kan, Du Zeng was about to march to Shunyang. He dismounted, saluted Tao Kan, and left."

Su Shi: At that time, Xun Song was the commander-in-chief of the military forces in Jingzhou and north of the Yangtze River and was stationed in Wancheng. Du Zeng led his troops to surround him.

Xun Song had few soldiers and no food, so he asked for help from Shi Lan, the governor of Xiangcheng, and Zhou Fang, the general of the Southern Army.

Zhou Fang sent his son Zhou Fu with 3,000 soldiers to rescue Xun Song together with Shi Lan, and Du Zeng then escaped.

Du Zeng wrote another letter to Xun Song, requesting him to fight against the bandits in Danshui County and serve the court, and Xun Song agreed to his request.

Tao Kan wrote a letter to Xun Song saying that Du Zeng should not be trusted easily, as Jingzhou would not be at peace as long as Du Zeng was not dead.

Because Xun Song had few soldiers in the Wancheng army and wanted to borrow Du Zeng's power as external aid, he did not listen to Tao Kan's dissuasion.

As expected, Du Zeng rebelled again and led more than 2,000 exiles to besiege Xiangyang for several days, but failed to capture it and had to retreat.

Tao Kan made many military achievements, and Wang Dun was very jealous of Tao Kan's contributions.

Tao Kan was about to return to Jiangling and prepare to bid farewell to Wang Dun. Huangfu Fanghui, Zhu Si and others advised Tao Kan not to go.

Tao Kan insisted on going, and Wang Dun really kept Tao Kan and demoted him to the position of Governor of Guangzhou and General of Pingyue, and let his cousin Wang Yi replace Tao Kan as Governor of Jingzhou.

Tao Kan's former subordinates, including Zheng Pan, Su Wen, and Ma Jun, were unwilling to go south to Guangzhou, so they went west to invite Du Zeng to resist Wang Yi.

Wang Dun believed that Zheng Pan did this because of Tao Kan's intention, so he wanted to kill Tao Kan, but he gave up because he was afraid that Tao Kan's relative was Zhou Fang.

Wang Dun held a farewell banquet for Tao Kan, but left his son Tao Zhan as a military officer.

Tao Kan set out south overnight and arrived at Shixing County soon after.

At that time, Du Hong and Wen Shao, the remnants of Du Tao, occupied Jiaozhou. Some people advised Tao Kan to stay in Shixing to observe the situation and wait for an opportunity to act. However, Tao Kan did not listen to the advice and went straight to Guangzhou.

Du Hong sent envoys to pretend to surrender and prepare for a surprise attack, but Tao Kan saw through their plan, deployed his troops and defeated Du Hong.

The generals requested to pursue and attack Wen Shao, but Tao Kan thought that there was no need to resort to military force and that Wen Shao could be captured by just issuing a notice.

So a notice was issued, and Wen Shao fled because of fear, but the pursuing troops captured him in Shixing. Tao Kan was promoted to Marquis of Chaisang for his merits, and his fief was increased to 4,000 households.

In the first year of Taixing, Tao Kan was promoted to General Pingnan. Soon after, he was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of Jiaozhou Military Affairs.

In the first year of Yongchang, Wang Dun raised an army in Wuchang and attacked Jiankang in the east in the name of punishing the treacherous minister Liu Wei.

In March of the same year, Sima Rui wore armor and went to the suburbs to review the troops in person. He also issued an edict to Tao Kan to concurrently serve as the governor of Jiangzhou and ordered him to lead the army to attack Wang Dun.

After Wang Dun entered Jiankang and took control of the government, he restored Tao Kan to his original position and appointed him as Palace Attendant.

Liang Shuo, the powerful governor of Xinchang County in Jiaozhou at that time, resisted the governor sent by the court and took the post of governor of Jiaozhi himself. At the same time, he sent people to invite Xiu Zhan, the son of the former governor Xiu Ze, to take charge of Jiaozhou affairs.

In October of the same year, Wang Dun sent Wuchang governor Wang Liang as governor of Jiaozhou and ordered him to arrest and execute Liang Shuo and Xiu Zhan. (End of this chapter)