[ Servant of Dong Cheng. Punished for talking with Yun Ying. Betrayed him to Cao Cao.
Officer Details
Wade-Giles: Ch‘in Ch‘ingt‘ung
Simplified Chinese: 秦庆童
Pronunciation: Qin2 Qing4tong2
Cantonese (Yale): Cheun Hingtung
Cantonese (Jyutpin): Ceon Hingtung
Other Names: Quin Quington, Qui Lici
Name Notes: Mistranslated as ‘Quin Quington’ in the online Brewitt-Taylor edition. Another calls him ‘Qui Lici’.
Literary Appearances
Romance of the Three Kingdoms: 23
Biography
While Dong Cheng was in the process of plotting with Wang Zifu, Wu Zilan, Wu Shi, Ma Teng, and Ji Ping to get Cao Cao killed—a plot which had been overheard by his servant, Qin Qingtong. Later, he found Qingtong whispering with his concubine, Yun Ying in a dark corner. This angered him, and his first reaction was to have the former executed. Yun Ying, however, convinced Dong Cheng to spare him, and as a result he was beaten 40 times with a cane and thrown in a dungeon. Qin Qingtong, angered and offended at his treatment, broke out of his cell at night, and fled to Cao Cao to report everything he had heard about the plot against him.
Cao Cao, wishing to flush out the plot, feigned a headache and invited Ji Ping to attend to him. Ji Ping, thinking his chance to kill Cao Cao had come, prepared a poison, and went to the palace. Cao Cao had him prepare a potion, which he mixed with the poison, but then pressed him to try it first. Ji Ping refused, realized he had been betrayed, and rushed forward to force Cao Cao to drink it, but he failed. It took a short while, but everyone, with the exception of Ma Teng, was rounded up and accused by Cao Cao using Qin Qingtong as a witness. They tried to dismiss Qingtong’s credibility on grounds of his involvement with Yun Ying, but Cao Cao wouldn’t hear it. As a result, Ji Ping, Wang Zifu, Wu Zilan, Wu Shi, and Dong Cheng, along with their full households, numbering over seven hundred in number, were executed at the gates of the city.