Ling Tong, courtesy name Gongji, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
53 Facts About Ling Tong
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Ling Tong fought in numerous battles for his lord, including those against Huang Zu, Liu Bei and the Shanyue tribes, but is best known for his performance in the campaigns against Sun Quan's archrival Cao Cao, in which he displayed great skill and tact in extremely adverse situations.
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Ling Tong was from Yuhang County, Wu Commandery, which is present-day Yuhang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
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Ling Tong's father, Ling Cao, was a military officer serving under the warlord Sun Ce.
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Ling Tong Cao was killed in the midst of battle by a stray arrow fired by Huang Zu's subordinate, Gan Ning.
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Ling Tong participated in a campaign against bandits in the hilly regions of Wu.
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Ling Tong was upset by Chen Qin's insolence so he confronted him.
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Ling Tong was in tears but he refrained himself and did not respond to the acrimony.
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Unable to tolerate further swearword, Ling Tong injured Chen Qin with his sword.
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The side of the garrison which Ling Tong's army attacked fell immediately.
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Ling Tong was assigned as the leader of the vanguard force.
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Ling Tong sailed in his boat far ahead of the main army with only tens of his closest men with him, and emerged victorious in the first engagement by slaying Huang Zu's subordinate, Zhang Shuo, and capturing all of Zhang Shuo's mariners with his much smaller force.
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Ling Tong reported back to Sun Quan and led another attack on the enemy again, advancing on both land and water.
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Ling Tong successfully pressured Liu Cong, who had succeeded Liu Biao as the Governor of Jing Province, into surrendering.
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Ling Tong then formed an alliance with another warlord, Liu Bei, to resist Cao Cao.
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Ling Tong was left alone to engage the enemy in battle for about ten days under numerical disadvantage, but he managed to triumph against the odds by holding his ground firmly while his comrades were away.
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Ling Tong was promoted to Colonel for his achievements in the battle.
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Ling Tong later moved east and followed Lu Meng and Gan Ning to attack Cao Cao's garrison at Wan County.
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Ling Tong was promoted to General of the Household Who Defeats Bandits and was appointed as the Chancellor of Pei.
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In 215, Ling Tong joined Lu Meng in capturing Liu Bei's three commanderies of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang.
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Ling Tong had never forgiven Gan Ning for killing his father Ling Cao.
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Ling Tong served as a Commandant of the Right Section during this campaign.
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Ling Tong led 300 men to break into the enemy encirclement to rescue his lord.
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Ling Tong sustained several wounds all over his body and all his men were killed.
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Ling Tong only retreated when he assessed the situation and concluded that Sun Quan was safe.
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Ling Tong was very saddened as all his close aides had died and he could not contain his sorrow.
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Ling Tong was promoted to Lieutenant-General later and given twice the number of troops he originally commanded.
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However, Ling Tong attempted a different approach to deal with the Shanyue.
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Ling Tong proposed that Sun Quan attempt to win the hearts of the Shanyue and assimilate them instead of purely using military force to hamper them.
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Ling Tong reasoned that if they could impress the Shanyue with the dignity of Sun Quan's administration and potential rewards, the Shanyue would succumb to them without bloodshed.
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Ling Tong then selected 10,000 able-bodied men to form a unit and returned.
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Ling Tong treated the townsfolk with the utmost respect and humility even though he had achieved fame and glory.
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Ling Tong died of illness on the return journey at the age of 28.
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When Ling Tong Lie became older, in recognition of his father's meritorious service, Sun Quan granted him the title of a village marquis and placed him in charge of the unit which used to be commanded by his father.
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Ling Tong Lie lost his marquis title later and was discharged from service because he committed an offence; the title and military post were passed on to Ling Tong Feng.
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Ling Tong viewed righteousness and loyalty as important values and saw wealth as inferior.
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Ling Tong was thus praised by Chen Shou as a guoshi.
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Ling Tong was asleep when he heard that Sheng Xian had arrived to meet his lord.
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Ling Tong immediately got out of bed to receive Sheng Xian and held Sheng's hand while leading him to meet Sun Quan.
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Ling Tong was reputed to have a strong sense of righteousness.
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Ling Tong proposed to Zhou Yu that Ling Tong stay behind to keep Cao Ren in check while the rest of the generals go to reinforce Gan Ning.
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Lu Meng boldly asserted that he had confidence that Ling Tong could hold on for ten days.
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Ling Tong countered Cao Ren's attacks alone, and bought time for the other generals to rescue Gan Ning.
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Ling Tong was brave in admitting his mistakes and displayed fervent determination in his actions.
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Ling Tong then fought recklessly in the battle against the bandits after exclaiming that only through death could he cleanse his deep guilt.
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Ling Tong is a character in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticises the historical events before and during the Three Kingdoms period.
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Later, Ling Tong is surprised to learn that it was Gan Ning who saved him.
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Ling Tong kneels down, thanks Gan Ning for saving his life, and begs for forgiveness.
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Since then, Ling Tong forgets his past feud with Gan Ning and they become close friends.
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Ling Tong is featured as a playable character in Koei's Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi video game series.
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Ling Tong appears in all instalments of Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms series.