Bao Xin

Bao Xin (onyomi: Hō Shin) is a general of Liu Dai who later invited Cao Cao to govern Yan Province.

Role in Games
Bao Xin appears as a general for Cao Cao in Dynasty Warriors 7. He fights the Yellow Turbans at the battle of Yan Province and leads Cao Cao's army through the middle part to the north along with Yu Jin. In Dynasty Warriors 8, Bao Xin appears in the game's Ambition Mode and can be recruited as an allied officer.

Bao Xin is a decent general in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, whose stats range mostly in the 70's. His intelligence stat is in the low 80's, making him a possible strategist choice in the early game. He is best suited with pike units and, due to his skill, often assists allied units when leading his own unit. Bao Xin appears in the early scenarios as a general of He Jin and Cao Cao, while the Rise of Heroes scenario has him serve under Liu Dai.

Historical Information
Bao Xin was from Taishan commandery in Yan Province. He entered the service of the imperial army and worked his way up to become Chief Commandant of the Cavalry during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He fought the rebels along with the other imperial commanders and achieved some success. He was appointed as Chancellor of Jibei and transferred to Yan Province. Later, he joined the campaign against Dong Zhuo but did not actively participate in battle. Instead, his younger brother Bao Tao led his forces, but he was killed in battle.

In 192, Yan Province came under attack from remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels. The governor of Yan, Liu Dai, wished to attack the rebels, but Bao Xin advised against it. Liu Dai ignored Bao Xin and led his forces to attack the Yellow Turbans in Dongping, where he was killed in battle. Bao Xin gathered Liu Dai's remnant forces and led them to Dongjun. Later that year, Cao Cao led a force from Chenliu to destroy the rebels and take control of Yan Province. Bao Xin met Cao Cao personally and invited him to become the new Inspector of Yan Province. Bao Xin joined Cao Cao's attack on the Yellow Turban fortress in Shouzhang but was killed during the conflict. His son, Bao Xun, served as a minister of Cao Cao and Cao Pi. His outspoken nature made Cao Pi demote him several times until he was executed for his behaviour.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In the novel, Bao Xin served as the Commandant of the Rear Army under the Han Dynasty. In 189, Bao Xin received a letter from He Jin encouraging him to join the fight against the Ten Eunuchs. Bao Xin accepted and led his forces to the capital, only to see that the eunuchs had been massacred. He, Wang Yun and others then formed a search party to find Emperor Shao and his younger brother Liu Xie. They found them and led them back to Luoyang. On the way back, they met Dong Zhuo and his army, who escorted them to the capital. Later, Bao Xin urged Yuan Shao to attack Dong Zhuo, suspecting that the general might want to take power from himself. Yuan Shao refused to listen and Bao Xin left the capital.

Bao Xin then joined the alliance against Dong Zhuo together with his younger brother Bao Zhong and his general Yu Jin. He grew weary of Sun Jian and, in an attempt to gain glory for himself, he disobeyed Yuan Shao's orders and sent Bao Zhong to attack Sishui Gate. However, Bao Zhong was struck down by Hua Xiong with one blow. After Hua Xiong's death, Bao Xin and the other lords attacked Lu Bu at Hulao Gate and forced him to withdraw, but the alliance against Dong Zhuo eventually broke apart.

Bao Xin eventually joined forces with Cao Cao. They lead their forces to Shouzhang in an attempt to destroy the Yellow Turban rebels. However, Bao Xin was ambushed during the battle by numerous Yellow Turban soldiers and slain. After the battle, Cao Cao ordered his men to build a wooden statue of Bao Xin and held his funeral with the wooden statue in place of Bao Xin.