Battle of Quebei | |||||||
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Part of the wars of the Three Kingdoms period | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Cao Wei | Eastern Wu | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Wang Ling Sun Li | Quan Cong Zhuge Ke Zhang Xiu Gu Cheng |
Battle of Quebei | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 芍陂之役 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 芍陂之役 | ||||||
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The Battle of Quebei [1] [2] was a military offensive launched in 241 by the state of Eastern Wu against its rival state,Cao Wei,during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The campaign was initiated by Wu's founding emperor,Sun Quan,two years after the death of the second Wei emperor,Cao Rui. The campaign ended with an overall failure. Despite its name,Quebei being the location where most of the fighting took place,the campaign was actually a two-front attack and covered a wide area in Anhui and Hubei.
In the spring of 241,Sun Quan prepared to launch a campaign against Wei. Yin Zha (殷札),the administrator of Wu Commandery,advised Sun Quan to attack Wei in coordination with their ally state,Shu Han. According to Yin Zha's suggested plan,the Shu forces would attack Wei from the west of Chang'an,while the Wu forces would attack Wei from three directions:Zhuge Jin and Zhu Ran to attack Xiangyang;Lu Xun to attack Shouchun (壽春;present-day Shou County,Anhui);Sun Quan to attack the Huai River region and enter Xu Province. Yin Zha explained that this coordinated campaign would wear down Wei's defences because they were unable to fend off attacks on two fronts. However,Sun Quan did not follow his plan. [3]
Sometime between 28 April and 27 May,Wu forces attacked Wei at four different locations:Quan Cong attacked the Huai River region and clashed with Wei forces at Quebei (芍陂;south of present-day Shou County,Anhui);Zhuge Ke attacked Lu'an;Zhu Ran and Sun Lun (孫倫) attacked Fancheng (樊城;present-day Fancheng District,Xiangyang,Hubei);Zhuge Jin and Bu Zhi attacked Zhazhong (柤中;in present-day Xiangyang,Hubei).
Wang Ling and Sun Li led an army to resist Quan Cong at Quebei,defeating several Wu detachments. In an effort to prevent a total rout,Zhang Xiu and Gu Cheng led troops to intercept Wang Ling and managed to halt their advance. Taking an advantage of their progress,Quan Cong's eldest son Quan Xu (全緒) and relative Quan Duan (全端),who were also serving in the Wu army,led their troops to attack the Wei forces after they stopped advancing,and succeeded in driving them back. [4] When Zhu Ran was defeated in the Battle of Fancheng by the Wei regent Sima Yi,Sun Quan ordered the complete withdrawal of the Wu army,forcing Zhuge Ke to retreat from Lu'an.
After the battle,when Sun Quan was giving rewards to the officers who participated in the battle,he deemed Zhang Xiu and Gu Cheng's contributions greater than those of Quan Xu and Quan Duan because he believed that it was more difficult to halt the enemy advance than to drive the enemy back. As a result,he promoted Zhang Xiu and Gu Cheng to the rank of general,while Quan Xu and Quan Duan were respectively promoted to lieutenant-general and major-general only. Due to this incident,the Quans bore a grudge against Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu and,by extension,against Gu Cheng's brother Gu Tan as well. [5]
After successfully repelling the Wu invasion,the Wei imperial court wanted to promote agriculture and build up an abundant stockpile of food supplies in Yang and Yu provinces in preparation for a future campaign against Wu. Deng Ai was sent to survey the lands in the Huai River region from Chen Commandery (陳郡;around present-day Zhoukou,Henan) east to Shouchun,and he proposed constructing a series of canals to irrigate the lands. Sima Yi approved Deng Ai's plan. The project commenced in the following year and helped to resolve not only food shortages but also flooding problems once it was in place. [6]
Two years later,in 243,Zhuge Ke sent spies to scout the strategic locations near Shouchun (壽春;present-day Shou County,Anhui) in preparation for an attack on Shouchun. In October 243,Sima Yi led troops from Luoyang to attack Zhuge Ke at Wan (皖;present-day Qianshan County,Anhui). When Sima Yi and the Wei army reached Shu County (舒縣;present-day Shucheng County,Anhui),Zhuge Ke gave orders to burn down all the supplies stockpiled in Wan,abandon the garrison and retreat. [7] Sun Quan eventually reassigned Zhuge Ke to guard Chaisang Commandery (柴桑郡;near present-day Jiujiang,Jiangxi). [8] LüJu,a son of the Wu veteran general LüFan,was also promoted to lieutenant-general (偏將軍) for his contributions in the campaign. [9]
The Quans later found an opportunity to report Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu for committing serious offences,claiming that they had secretly collaborated with the staff officer Chen Xun (陳恂) to make false submissions about their contributions during the battle. [10] [11] As a result,Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu were imprisoned,while Gu Cheng's brother Gu Tan was implicated in the case because of his relationship with them. Sun Quan was reluctant to punish them but sought to appease the Quan clan,so he ordered Gu Tan to publicly apologise with the intention of pardoning the three men. However,Gu Tan refused to capitulate,stating:"Your Majesty,how can you let baseless accusations have their way?" [12] [13] An official accused Gu Tan of displaying great disrespect towards the emperor when he protested his innocence and lobbied to have him executed. Sun Quan took into consideration that Gu Tan's grandfather Gu Yong had rendered meritorious service in the past,and decided to have Gu Tan,Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu exiled to Jiao Province instead. [14] As the official Sun Hong had previously feuded with Zhang Xiu,he seized the opportunity to accuse him of further crimes,which resulted in Zhang Xiu being forced to commit suicide by imperial order. [15]
Ding Feng,courtesy name Chengyuan,was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Zhuge Dan,courtesy name Gongxiu,was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. When he held key military appointments throughout his middle to late career,he was involved in all of the three rebellions which broke out in Shouchun between 251 and 258. During the second rebellion,he actively assisted the Wei regent Sima Shi in suppressing the revolt. After the rebellion,the Wei government put him in charge of Shouchun. As the Sima clan became more powerful and established themselves as the de facto rulers of Wei,Zhuge Dan feared that he would end up slain like Wang Ling and Guanqiu Jian –the leaders of the first two rebellions –so he started the third rebellion against Sima Zhao,who succeeded Sima Shi as regent of Wei in 255. Although he received some support from Wei's rival state Eastern Wu,his rebellion was eventually suppressed by Wei imperial forces and he met his end at the hands of Hu Fen,a military officer under Sima Zhao.
Zhuge Ke,courtesy name Yuanxun (元逊),was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the eldest son of Zhuge Jin,a military general who served under Wu's founding emperor,Sun Quan. After Sun Quan's death in 252,Zhuge Ke served as regent for Sun Quan's son and successor,Sun Liang,but the regency proved to be militarily disastrous due to Zhuge Ke's aggressive foreign policy towards Wu's rival state,Cao Wei. In 253,he was ousted from power in a coup d'état and killed along with his family.
Fei Yi,courtesy name Wenwei,was a Chinese diplomat,military general,politician,and regent of the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty,Fei Yi started his career as an attendant to Liu Shan,the eldest son and heir apparent of Liu Bei,a warlord who became the founding emperor of Shu. After Liu Shan became emperor in 223,Fei Yi gradually rose to prominence under the regency of Zhuge Liang,the Imperial Chancellor of Shu. During this time,he concurrently served as a military adviser under Zhuge Liang and as Shu's ambassador to its ally state Wu. He also played a significant role in the conflict between the Shu general Wei Yan and Zhuge Liang's chief clerk Yang Yi. After Zhuge Liang's death in 234,Fei Yi served as a deputy to the new regent Jiang Wan and progressively assumed greater responsibilities as Jiang Wan gradually relinquished his powers due to poor health. In 244,Fei Yi led Shu forces to victory at the Battle of Xingshi against their rival state Wei and succeeded Jiang Wan as regent of Shu two years later following the latter's death. On the first day of the Chinese New Year in 253,Fei Yi was assassinated by a Wei defector,Guo Xiu.
Sun He,courtesy name Zixiao,was an imperial prince of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the third son of Sun Quan,the founding emperor of Wu. In 242,he became the crown prince after the death of his brother Sun Deng,the eldest son and first heir apparent of Sun Quan. In the 240s,a power struggle broke out between Sun He and his fourth brother,Sun Ba,over the succession to their father's throne. The conflict ended in 250 when Sun Quan forced Sun Ba to commit suicide,deposed Sun He and replaced him with Sun Liang. In 253,during Sun Liang's reign,the regent Sun Jun reduced Sun He to commoner status and forced him to commit suicide. In 264,one of Sun He's sons,Sun Hao,became the fourth emperor of Eastern Wu. After his coronation,Sun Hao honoured his father with the posthumous title Emperor Wen.
Quan Cong,courtesy name Zihuang,was a Chinese military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in present-day Hangzhou towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty,Quan Cong became famous at a young age when he performed acts of charity by giving grain to people suffering from famine and providing shelter to refugees from central China. He started his career under the warlord Sun Quan as a military officer and achieved success in his early career by pacifying the restive Shanyue tribes in the Jiangdong territories. After Sun Quan became an independent ruler of Wu in 222,Quan Cong rose to the rank of General and participated in battles against Wu's rival state Wei. He also pacified rebellions by local tribes in Danyang,Wu and Kuaiji commanderies. After Sun Quan became emperor in 229,Quan Cong married his daughter Sun Luban and became one of his most trusted generals. During this time,although he was less active in battles,he became more outspoken on state affairs. He strongly objected to Sun Quan's decision to let his heir apparent Sun Deng lead troops into battle because it was against traditions,and attempted to dissuade Sun Quan from launching an invasion of Zhuya and Yizhou. Towards the end of his life,he became embroiled in a power struggle between Sun Quan's sons Sun He and Sun Ba over the succession to their father's throne. Although he supported Sun Ba,he died before he could see the power struggle end in 250 with neither Sun He nor Sun Ba becoming the new heir apparent. Throughout his life,Quan Cong was known for being a respectful and agreeable man who remained humble despite his high social status and prestige. As a military commander,he was known for being courageous and decisive,and for conducting himself with dignity and often taking the bigger picture into consideration.
Wu Can,courtesy name Kongxiu,was an official of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Gu Tan,courtesy name Zimo,was an official of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Bu Zhi,courtesy name Zishan,was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a scholar of humble background,he became a subordinate of the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty and gradually rose through the ranks. Between 210 and 220,he served as the governor of the remote and restive Jiao Province in southern China. During the Battle of Xiaoting/Yiling of 221–222,he quelled local uprisings in Sun Quan's territories in southern Jing Province and maintained peace in the area. After Sun Quan became emperor in 229,Bu Zhi oversaw the Wu armed forces guarding the Wu–Shu border at Xiling for about 20 years. During this time,he also gave advice to Sun Quan's first heir apparent,Sun Deng,and spoke up for officials affected by LüYi's abuses of power. In 246,he became the fourth Imperial Chancellor of Wu,but died in office in the following year.
Zhu Huan (177–238),courtesy name Xiumu,was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Although he started his career early under the warlord Sun Quan,he did not receive any important responsibilities until after the Battle of Jiangling in 209. Since then,Zhu Huan had taken charge of some local defences and successfully quelled a few rebellions. Between 222 and 225,when Cao Pi,the emperor of Wu's rival state Wei,launched a three-pronged invasion of Wu,Sun Quan appointed Zhu Huan as a military commander to resist the Wei invaders. Zhu Huan defeated the Wei general Cao Ren at the Battle of Ruxu (222–223).
Zong Yu,courtesy name Deyan,was a military general and diplomat of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Like Liao Hua and Zhang Yi,Zong was one of few officials who served the Shu-Han state throughout its entire existence.
The Battle of Dongxing,also known as the Battle of Dongguan,was fought from January to February 253 between the states of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The battle concluded with a tactical victory for Wu.
Zhang Xiu,courtesy name Shusi,was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
This article contains the family trees of members of the Sun clan,who ruled the state of Eastern Wu (229–280),in the Three Kingdoms period (220–280),in China.
Zhang Wen (193–230),courtesy name Huishu,was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Liu Zan (183–255),courtesy name Zhengming,was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty.
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.
Shi Ji,also known as Zhu Ji,courtesy name Gongxu,was a Chinese military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the son of Zhu Ran,a general who served under Wu's founding emperor Sun Quan.
Gu Cheng,courtesy name Zizhi,was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
The Battle of Fancheng was a military offensive launched in 241 by the state of Eastern Wu against its rival state,Cao Wei,during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The campaign was initiated by Wu's founding emperor,Sun Quan,two years after the death of the second Wei emperor,Cao Rui. The campaign ended with a decisive defeat for the Wu forces.