Xu Kan (died c.August 322[1]) was a Chinese bandit and warlord during the Jin dynasty (266–420) and Sixteen Kingdoms period.
Originally an outlaw, Xu Kan was made the Administrator of Taishan by Jin in 318 after driving out the position's initial candidate.
Xu Kan had an unusual execution; he was ordered to be stuffed into a bag and thrown off a tall tower to his death before having his body cannibalized.
In response, the Jin emperor, Sima Rui issued Liu Xia, Cai Bao and Xu Kan to campaign against him.
Yang Jian camped himself at Xiapi while Cai Bao defeated Xu Kan at Tanqiu (檀丘, north-east of modern-day Linyi, Shandong).
When asked for reinforcements, Shi Le declined as he claimed was facing larger problems on his part, but on the contrary, he was also overly demanding toward Xu Kan.
[8] Relations between Shi Le and Xu Kan broke down further due to Wang Fudu's attitude.
Wang displayed an arrogant demeanour toward Xu Kan, refusing to treat him as his equal and violating his wife.
Xu Kan attacked Cai Bao's supply lines in Tanqiu and killed his generals Lu Dang (陸黨) and Liu Chong (留寵).
As a result, Shi Le ordered Xu Kan to be stuffed into a bag and thrown off the top of a tower which stood a hundred chi tall (roughly 23.7 metres or 77.8 ft) to his death.
Shi Le then ordered the wives and children of Wang Fudu and the Zhao soldiers that Xu Kan had killed to carve up his body for them to consume.