Battle of Jieting | |||||||
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Part of the first of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions | |||||||
A Qing dynasty illustration of Ma Su's execution | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Cao Wei | Shu Han | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Zhang He | Ma Su Wang Ping | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
Battle of Jieting | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 街亭之戰 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 街亭之战 | ||||||
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The Battle of Jieting was fought between the states of Cao Wei and Shu Han in 228 during the Three Kingdoms period in China. The battle was part of the first Northern Expedition led by Shu's chancellor-regent,Zhuge Liang,to attack Wei. The battle concluded with a decisive victory for Wei.
Zhuge Liang first sent generals Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi as a decoy force to Ji Valley (箕谷) and pretend to attack Mei County (郿縣;southeast of present-day Fufeng County,Shaanxi) via Xie Valley (斜谷) as a way to lure the main Wei forces of the region,while Zhuge Liang personally led a force towards Mount Qi. Cao Zhen led his army to oppose Zhao Yun while the three Wei-controlled commanderies –Nan'an (南安;around present-day Longxi County,Gansu),Tianshui and Anding (安定;around present-day Zhenyuan County,Gansu) –responded to the Shu invasion by defecting to the Shu side. [2] [3]
People of Wei saw Liu Bei as the main hero of Shu Han. Following his death,there were a few years of peace. Thus,the western lands were unprepared for such a dire situation. [4] When they learned that there was a massive risk of losing the Guanzhong region. Cao Rui,the emperor of Wei,personally moved to Chang'an and assembled a secondary force under Zhang He to attack Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang chose generals Ma Su as the vanguard commander along with Wang Ping to intercept Zhang He,rather than the suggested veterans officers Wei Yan or Wu Yi. [5] [6]
Jieting was a crucial region for the securing of supplies,and Zhuge Liang sent Ma Su and Wang Ping to guard the region. Ma Su went accompanied by Wang Ping but did not listen to his sound military advice. Relying purely on books of military tactics,Ma Su chose to "take the high ground" and set his base on the mountains instead of in a city as it has been instructed by Zhuge Liang. Ignoring Wang Ping's advice to make camp in a valley well supplied with water. Wang Ping,however,managed to persuade Ma Su to give him command of a portion of the troops,and later Wang Ping set up his base camp near Ma Su's camp,in order to offer assistance when Ma Su was in danger. [7] [8]
Due to this tactical mistake,the Wei army led by Zhang He encircled the hill and cut off the water supply to the Shu troops and defeated them. [9] Amidst the panic,Ma Su is recorded to have left his post leaving the army with no commander. [10] Wang Ping rallied Ma Su's army and with only a handful of soldiers did his best to keep the retreat organized and ordered his soldiers to beat their drums loudly to create the impression that reinforcements had arrived. Zhang He believed this to possibly be a sign of an ambush and so he did not pursue. [11] When Zhuge Liang arrived,he attempted to defeat Zhang He however he didn't find a way to take a position and so the Shu army had to retreat to Hanzhong. [12]
Though he survived the battle,Ma Su's army suffered a heavy defeat (Wang Ping was able to regroup Ma Su's remaining troops and gather the Shu army's scattered supplies.),so he was soon arrested and sentenced to execution by a reluctant and tearful Zhuge Liang. [13] [lower-alpha 1]
A large number of Shu Han's generals were punished. Ma Su was sentenced to death by Zhuge Liang as a way to soothe the masses. [14] Zhang Xiu (張休) and Li Sheng (李盛) were also executed. [15] According to the Jin Shu,Chen Shou's father [lower-alpha 2] was implicated and sentenced to kun (髡),a punishment involving the shaving of a person's head. [16] Xiang Lang was dismissed from his position as Chief Clerk because he didn't report that Ma Su fled due to their friendship. [17] Huang Xi (黃襲) and other generals were relieved of the command of their soldiers by Zhuge Liang. Wang Ping,on the other hand,was promoted to General Who Attacks Bandits (討寇將軍) for his efforts in minimizing casualties and for trying to prevent Ma Su's actions. Zhuge Liang,himself sent a memorial to the Emperor Liu Shan requesting to be demoted for the defeat at Jieting which he was. [18]
Before his execution Ma Su wrote a letter to Zhuge Liang:"You wise lord regarded me like a son and myself looked upon you as a father. I dearly hope that this is the righteousness of the execution of Gun leading to the rise of Yu the Great. May our whole life's relationship not be reduced by this. Though I shall die,I shall bear no resentments against the yellow earth." [19] At the time,many among the army wept for his death. [20]
Because of the loss of Jieting,the supply situation became dire for Zhuge Liang's army and he had to retreat to his main base at Hanzhong while the Wei forces under Cao Zhen and Zhang He then used the opportunity to quell the rebellions in the three commanderies and restore peace. The defeat at Jieting caused the First Northern Expedition to result in failure. [21]
The exact location of the battle is not certain,according to research by the Gansu Financial Daily newspaper,there are several plausible locations: [22]
A memorial of the battle is located in Longcheng town. Topographical evidence and weapons found suggest that Longcheng is the most likely location,although there is no consensus among experts. [22]
In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms ,Ma Su was executed on the order of a tearful Zhuge Liang,whose continued high appraisal for Ma's intelligence made that a very reluctant decision. The scene has also been reenacted in Chinese opera. A Chinese proverb,"wiping away tears and executing Ma Su" (挥泪斩马谡;揮淚斬馬謖;HuīLèi Zhán MǎSù),refers specifically to this incident,meaning "punishing a person for his wrongdoings regardless of relations or his abilities. A Japanese equivalent is "tearfully executing Ma Su" (泣いて馬謖を斬る,Naite Bashoku wo kiru).
In the novel,the loss of Jieting exposed Zhuge Liang's current location,the defenceless Xicheng (西城). Zhuge Liang used the Empty Fort Strategy to ward off the enemy before retreating.
In many stories,including the novel,the battle includes Sima Yi on the Wei side,but this event is impossible according to his biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms. Moss Roberts comments on this in his fourth volume of his English translation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms on (page 2179 under Chapter 95 Notes,fourth and last paragraph of the chapter notes):
In the abstract theory above,Roberts explains and compares historic history with fictional tales and the most likely reason Sima Yi was included before the Battle of Mount Qi. Based on Robert's view of the fictional novel's tendency to build up the rivalry between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang,and the contradiction of Sima Yi's location at the time of this event,some share Robert's opinion that the event did not happen. However,many historians agree that Sima Yi's absence alone cannot disprove the occurrence. The historical basis for the event comes from an anecdote shared by Guo Chong (郭沖) in the early Jin dynasty (266–420). The anecdote is translated as follows:
"Zhuge Liang garrisoned at Yangping (陽平;around present-day Hanzhong,Shaanxi) and ordered Wei Yan to lead the troops east. He left behind only 10,000 men to defend Yangping. Sima Yi led 200,000 troops to attack Zhuge Liang and he took a shortcut,bypassing Wei Yan's army and arriving at a place 60 li away from Zhuge Liang's location. Upon inspection,Sima Yi realised that Zhuge Liang's city was weakly defended. Zhuge Liang knew that Sima Yi was near,so he thought of recalling Wei Yan's army back to counter Sima Yi,but it was too late already and his men were worried and terrified. Zhuge Liang remained calm and instructed his men to hide all flags and banners and silence the war drums. He then ordered all the gates to be opened and told his men to sweep and dust the ground. Sima Yi was under the impression that Zhuge Liang was cautious and prudent,and he was baffled by the sight before him and suspected that there was an ambush. He then withdrew his troops. The following day,Zhuge Liang clapped his hands,laughed,and told an aide that Sima Yi thought that there was an ambush and had retreated. Later,his scouts returned and reported that Sima Yi had indeed retreated. Sima Yi was very upset when he found out later."
Later,in the fifth century,Pei Songzhi added the anecdote as an annotation to Zhuge Liang's biography in the Sanguozhi. Since Zhuge Liang wrote on the use of this tactic in his compilation work,"Thirty Six Stratagems",going so far as to detail how the psychology employed works,and why:
"When the enemy is superior in numbers and your situation is such that you expect to be overrun at any moment,then drop all pretense of military preparedness,act calmly,and taunt the enemy,so that the enemy will think you have a huge ambush hidden for them. It works best by acting calm and at ease when your enemy expects you to be tense. This ploy is only successful if in most cases you do have a powerful hidden force and only sparsely use the empty fort strategy."
Also worthy of note is that Zhuge Liang wrote this passage in his sixth chapter,titled "Desperate Stratagems",(敗戰計/败战计,Bài zhàn jì),further supporting the implication that he had experience in using this tactic,and his description does match the situation described by Guo Chong. However,there are a number of texts that dispute the accuracy of Guo Chong's anecdote.
Zhao Yun, courtesy name Zilong (子龍), was a military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a subordinate of the northern warlord Gongsun Zan, Zhao Yun later came to serve another warlord, Liu Bei, and had since accompanied him on most of his military exploits, from the Battle of Changban (208) to the Hanzhong Campaign (217–219). He continued serving in the state of Shu Han – founded by Liu Bei in 221 – in the Three Kingdoms period and participated in the first of the Northern Expeditions until his death in 229. While many facts about Zhao Yun's life remain unclear due to limited information in historical sources, some aspects and activities in his life have been dramatised or exaggerated in folklore and fiction. In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he was lauded as a member of the Five Tiger Generals under Liu Bei.
Jiang Wei, courtesy name Boyue, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in Ji County, Jiang Wei started his career as a military officer in his native Tianshui Commandery, which was a territory of Wei. In 228, when Wei's rival state Shu launched an invasion led by Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei was distrusted by Ma Zun, then administrator of Tianshui Commandery. As such, Jiang Wei had to defect to Shu. Zhuge Liang, the Imperial Chancellor and regent of Shu, highly regarded Jiang Wei and appointed him as a general in Shu. After Zhuge Liang's death in 234, Jiang Wei continued serving as a military commander during the regencies Jiang Wan and Fei Yi, eventually rising to the highest military rank of General-In-Chief (大將軍) after Fei Yi's death in 253. Between 240 and 262, he continued Zhuge Liang's legacy of waging war against Wei by leading another 11 military campaigns. However, Jiang Wei's campaigns were relatively constrained in terms of both scale and duration due to Shu's limited resources and inadequate food supplies, as well as internal political faultlines. In 263, when Wei launched a massive invasion of Shu, Jiang Wei led Shu forces to resist the invaders at Tazhong, Yinping and Jiange, himself defending Jiange which was under Zhong Hui's attack. While Jiang Wei managed to temporarily stall Wei's main force led by Zhong Hui, Deng Ai, another military commander of Wei, took a shortcut via Yinping and showed up at Chengdu unexpectedly. Liu Shan surrendered to Deng Ai without putting up resistance and ordered Jiang Wei to surrender to the Wei general Zhong Hui; this event marked the end of Shu's existence. In the following year, Jiang Wei instigated Zhong Hui to launch a rebellion in Chengdu against the Wei regent Sima Zhao and hoped to use the opportunity to gain military power and restore Shu. However, some of Zhong Hui's officers were unwilling to participate in the rebellion and started a mutiny, killing Jiang Wei and Zhong Hui.
Zhang He, courtesy name Junyi, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei under its first two rulers, Cao Pi and Cao Rui, during the Three Kingdoms period until his death.
Ma Su (190–228), courtesy name Youchang, was a military general and strategist of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. Ma Su had conspicuous talent in military theories and was admired by the Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang. However, a tactical blunder by Ma Su at the Battle of Jieting resulted in Shu being dealt a huge defeat by Zhang He, a general of the rival state of Wei. He was a younger brother of Ma Liang.
Sima Yi, courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Wei Yan, courtesy name Wenchang, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a subordinate of the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty, Wei Yan rose through the ranks and became a general when Liu Bei seized control of Yi Province in 214. His performance in battle helped him to become a prominent figure in the Shu military in a short period of time. He was later appointed as the Administrator of Hanzhong Commandery and as an Area Commander in 219. Between 228 and 234, he participated actively in the Northern Expeditions led by the Shu regent Zhuge Liang against Shu's rival state, Cao Wei. After Zhuge Liang's death in c.September 234, Wei Yan was killed by another Shu general, Ma Dai, for alleged treason.
Chen Shou, courtesy name Chengzuo (承祚), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is most known for his most celebrated work, the Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi), which records the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. Chen Shou wrote the Sanguozhi primarily in the form of biographies of notable persons of those eras. Today, Chen's Records of the Three Kingdoms is part of the Twenty-Four Histories canon of ancient Chinese history.
Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions were a series of five military campaigns launched by the state of Shu Han against the rival state of Cao Wei from 228 to 234 during the Three Kingdoms period in China. All five expeditions were led by Zhuge Liang, the Imperial Chancellor and regent of Shu. Although they proved unsuccessful and ended up as a stalemate, the expeditions have become some of the best known conflicts of the Three Kingdoms period and one of the few battles during it where each side fought against each other with hundreds of thousands of troops, as opposed to other battles where one side had a huge numerical advantage.
Cao Zhen, courtesy name Zidan, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was an adopted son of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power in the late Eastern Han dynasty and laid the foundation for Wei. After Cao Cao's death and the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Cao Zhen served under Cao Pi and Cao Rui, the first two emperors of Wei. He is best known for leading a successful defence of Wei from the first two of a series of invasions by Wei's rival state, Shu Han, between 228 and 229.
Wang Ping, courtesy name Zijun, was a military general of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a military officer serving under the warlord Cao Cao. In 219, he defected to Cao Cao's rival Liu Bei during the Hanzhong Campaign. Although he was a talented orator, Wang Ping never learned to read because he joined the army at a young age. However, he did not let this disadvantage stop him and had his clerk help him with his reports. Known for his self discipline, he steadily rose through the ranks to become a senior general. During his career, he defeated Zhang He, quelled Wei Yan's alleged rebellion and was the leading commander of the Shu forces during the Battle of Xingshi. The highest position he reached was Senior General Who Guards the North (鎮北大將軍).
Guo Huai, courtesy name Boji, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao as a subordinate of Cao Cao's generals Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He. During the Three Kingdoms period, he served in Wei, the state established by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi, and lived through the reigns of four Wei emperors. From the 220s until his death in 255, he governed and defended Wei's western borders in Yong and Liang provinces. During this time, he resisted multiple invasions by Wei's rival state, Shu Han, and quelled some rebellions by local Qiang, Di and other non-Han Chinese tribes.
Hao Zhao, courtesy name Bodao, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He is best known for his victory at the siege of Chencang in 229 when he led a successful defence of Chencang against an invasion by a much larger army from Wei's rival state Shu Han. However, he died of illness not long after that.
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Deng Zhi, courtesy name Bomiao, was a government official, diplomat and military general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. A descendant of Deng Yu, Deng Zhi started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Liu Bei as a low-level officer in Pi County. After Liu Bei discovered his talent, Deng Zhi steadily rose through the ranks to become a county prefect and later a commandery administrator and imperial secretary. In 223, the Shu regent Zhuge Liang sent him as Shu's envoy to meet Sun Quan, the ruler of Shu's ally state Wu, and reestablish the Wu–Shu alliance against their common rival state Wei. Deng Zhi succeeded in his mission and earned praise from Sun Quan for strengthening Wu–Shu ties. In 227, Deng Zhi became a military general and he participated in the first Shu invasion of Wei by leading a decoy force with Zhao Yun to distract the Wei general Cao Zhen. Although they lost the battle, Deng Zhi and Zhao Yun managed to rally their troops to put up a firm defence during their retreat and minimise their losses. Following Zhuge Liang's death in 234, Deng Zhi rose to higher general ranks and was stationed in present-day Chongqing for about 10 years before he was recalled back to the Shu capital Chengdu in his 70s to serve as General of Chariots and Cavalry. In 248, he suppressed a rebellion in Fuling. He died in 251.
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Ma Zhong, courtesy name Dexin, originally named Hu Du, was a military general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Liu Bei was quite impressed by Ma Zhong and praised him highly, comparing him to the recently defected Huang Quan, Ma Zhong was trusted and respected by the following head of the government Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wan and Fei Yi. After Liu Bei's death, he served under Zhuge Liang during the Southern Campaign and helped to quell the rebellion. He was appointed as the area commander in the south after Li Hui's death. He spends most of his life pacify the region and protecting the people of the south often with the help of Zhang Ni. Ma Zhong was known as a generous and whimsical man but he was also decisive in handling affairs. Hence the southern tribes both feared him and respected him. His duty in the south could be comparable to Wang Ping in the north and Deng Zhi in the east. After his death, the foreigners sorely missed him and later established a temple in his honor.
The Xincheng Rebellion was a revolt that took place in the state of Cao Wei between late 227 and early 228 CE during the Three Kingdoms period. The rebellion was initiated by Meng Da, a former Shu Han general who defected to Wei and was placed in charge of Xincheng Commandery in Jing Province. The revolt was swiftly suppressed within a month by the Wei general Sima Yi. Meng Da was captured and executed.
The Battle of Mount Qi was a military conflict which took place around Mount Qi between the states of Cao Wei and Shu Han in 231 during the Three Kingdoms period of China. It was also the most vigorous of the five Shu invasions of Wei, resulting in thousands of deaths on both sides. Although Zhuge Liang was able to make significant achievement in the beginning of the battle, the battle finally concluded with a strategic Wei victory due to the insufficient food supply for the Shu Han army. The insufficient food supply was caused by heavy rain and mistakes made by Li Yan. The Shu regent, Zhuge Liang, spent three years recuperating before launching another invasion on Wei in 234.
Zhuge Rong, courtesy name Shuchang, was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the third son of Zhuge Jin, a military general who served under Wu's founding emperor Sun Quan, and a younger brother of Zhuge Ke, a military general who briefly served as regent for Sun Quan's successor, Sun Liang.