Battle of Yijing

Last updated
Battle of Yijing
Part of the wars at the end of the Han dynasty
Date198 – March 199
Location
Xiong County, Hebei, China
Result Yuan Shao victory
Belligerents
Yuan Shao
Liu Yu's remnants
Wuhuan
Xiongnu [1]
Xianbei 		Gongsun Zan
Heishan bandits
Commanders and leaders
Yuan Shao
Tadun
Qian Zhao		 Gongsun Zan   †
Zhang Yan
Gongsun Xu   †
Tian Kai   †
Guan Jing   †
Tian Yu
Strength
100,000 (Xianyu Fu's and Wuhuan forces) [2]
7,000 Xianbei cavalry		 100,000+ (Zhang Yan's forces)
Battle of Yijing
Traditional Chinese 易京之戰
Simplified Chinese 易京之战

The Battle of Yijing was a military conflict which took place in northern China from 198 to 199 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. It was fought between Gongsun Zan, a warlord known as the "White Horse General", and Yuan Shao, a scion of the esteemed Yuan clan and former leader of the coalition against Dong Zhuo.

Contents

Background

The two warlords had been fighting for dominion over northern China for some time, but eventually Yuan Shao gained the upper hand. However, Gongsun Zan still had a large army which could cause trouble if not finished off.

Gongsun Zan, after recent military defeats in addition to a famine in his lands, decided to secure his supplies. He built a fortress, Yijing (易京; northwest of present-day Xiong County, Hebei), where he built many large towers on top of mounds where he and his generals lived. There were ten moats around the fortress and the towers had iron doors with huge grain supplies for Gongsun Zan to use to live out the civil wars in northern China. In doing so, Gongsun Zan let his armies away from his fortress fight for themselves thinking they would see the only option they had was to fight hard. Instead, the soldiers killed their commanders and surrendered or died easily while fighting.

Battle

In time Yuan Shao's army reached the gates of Yijing, but the fortress withstood several attacks from Yuan Shao's army for years until 198. Gongsun Zan sent his son Gongsun Xu to request help from the Heishan bandits in the Taihang Mountains. Gongsun Zan's idea was to break through the siege with his cavalry and group with the Heishan bandits, then attack Ji Province and cut off Yuan Shao's line of retreat, forcing him to abandon the siege. However, Guan Jing advised against the plan, saying that the defenders were only willing to fight to protect their families in Yijing and could not be relied on to defend Yijing if Gongsun Zan left. Gongsun Zan then took Guan Jing's suggestion to withstand the siege until the time when Yuan Shao would be forced to retreat.

After Gongsun Xu left, Gongsun Zan had sent a message to his son, instructing him to lay an ambush of 5,000 elite cavalry on low ground north of Yijing. They would then signal to Gongsun Zan to charge out of Yijing with his troops and surround Yuan Shao's troops. However, Yuan Shao's troops caught the messenger and laid their own troops in ambush. Yuan Shao's forces then signalled Gongsun Zan and lured him into the ambush, where they routed his troops and forced him to return to Yijing. Yuan Shao's troops followed up their success by digging tunnels under Yijing and then supporting them with beams, which they later torched. The tunnel went into the centre of Yijing and its collapse caused Gongsun Zan's towers to crumble as well. Realising his doom, Gongsun Zan killed his sisters and wives and committed suicide by self-immolation. Yuan Shao's men climbed into the citadel and cut off Gongsun Zan's head, which was sent to Xuchang to report Yuan Shao's victory to the imperial court.

Feeling that his advice had doomed his lord, Guan Jing charged his horse into Yuan Shao's army to his death, with the intention to follow his lord. By the time Gongsun Xu and Zhang Yan returned to Yijing with 100,000 troops, it was too late as Gongsun Zan had already lost the battle and committed suicide.

Related Research Articles

Zhao Yun Chinese military general (died 229)

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.

Yuan Shao Han Dynasty warlord (154-202)

Yuan Shao, courtesy name Benchu (本初), was a Chinese military general, politician, warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred towards the end of the Han dynasty. He was also an elder half-brother of Yuan Shu, a warlord who controlled the Huai River region, though the two were not on good terms with each other.

Yuan Shu Chinese general and warlord (died 199)

Yuan Shu, courtesy name Gonglu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the Han central government in 189. He declared himslef Emperor of China in 197 under the short-lived Zhong dynasty, two years before his death in 199.

The Battle of Jieqiao, also known as the Battle of Jie Bridge, was fought between the warlords Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan in 191 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. It was the first significant clash of arms between the rival warlords in the contest for dominion of Ji and Qing provinces in northern China. The site of the battle is generally considered to be a site east of Guangzong County, Julu Commandery.

Military history of the Three Kingdoms

The military history of the Three Kingdoms period encompasses roughly a century's worth of prolonged warfare and disorder. After the assassination of General-in-chief He Jin in September 189, the administrative structures of the Han government became increasingly irrelevant. By the time of death of Cao Cao, the most successful warlord of North China, in 220, the Han empire was divided between the three rival states of Cao Wei, Shu Han and Eastern Wu. Due to the ensuing turmoil, the competing powers of the Three Kingdoms era found no shortage of willing recruits for their armies, although press-ganging as well as forcible enlistment of prisoners from defeated armies still occurred. Following four centuries of rule under the Han dynasty, the Three Kingdoms brought about a new era of conflict in China that shifted institutions in favor of a more permanent and selective system of military recruitment. This ultimately included the creation of a hereditary military class as well as increasing reliance on non-Chinese cavalry forces and the end of universal conscription.

Gongsun Zan Chinese warlord and general (died 199)

Gongsun Zan, courtesy name Bogui, was a military general and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.

Yuan Tan, courtesy name Xiansi, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who was the eldest son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who occupied much of northern China during the late Eastern Han dynasty. After Yuan Shao's death, Yuan Tan engaged his younger brother, Yuan Shang, in a power struggle over their father's territories. He sought help from his father's rival, Cao Cao, and defeated Yuan Shang with Cao's help. However, the alliance between Yuan Tan and Cao Cao was eventually broken and Yuan was defeated and killed in the Battle of Nanpi by Cao Cao's troops.

Tian Feng Han Dynasty official and advisor (died 200)

Tian Feng, courtesy name Yuanhao, was an official and adviser serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.

Yuan Xi, courtesy name Xianyi or Xianyong, was the second son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who controlled much of northern China during the late Eastern Han dynasty.

Han Fu, courtesy name Wenjie, was a government official and minor warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the governor of Ji Province when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in 184.

Liu Yu was a noble, official and minor warlord who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China.

End of the Han dynasty Historical era of China (189-220)

The end of the Han dynasty refers to the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE, which roughly coincides with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler, Emperor Xian. During this period, the country was thrown into turmoil by the Yellow Turban Rebellion (184–205). Meanwhile, the Han Empire's institutions were destroyed by the warlord Dong Zhuo and fractured into regional regimes ruled by various warlords, some of whom were nobles and officials of the Han imperial court. Eventually, one of those warlords, Cao Cao, was able to gradually reunify the empire, ostensibly under Emperor Xian's rule, but the empire was actually controlled by Cao Cao himself.

Zhang Yan, born Chu Yan, also known as Zhang Feiyan, was the leader of the Heishan bandits during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He rose from a common criminal to a powerful warlord who was eventually acknowledged as a high-ranking official and granted a marquisate which his family maintained after his death.

Yuan Shang, courtesy name Xianfu, was a warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the third son and successor of the warlord Yuan Shao. In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Yuan Shang was described as "strong but arrogant", and he was his father's favourite son.

Xun Chen, courtesy name Youruo, was an official who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Born in the influential Xun family of Yingchuan Commandery, he was the fourth brother of Xun Yu and a second cousins once removed of Xun You. He initially served as an adviser to the warlord Han Fu and later to another warlord, Yuan Shao.

Tian Kai was an official serving under the warlord Gongsun Zan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.

Guan Jing, courtesy name Shiqi, was an official serving under the warlord Gongsun Zan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. In 198, during Yuan Shao's invasion in the Battle of Yijing, Gongsun Zan wished to ride out and cut off Yuan Shao's rear, but Guan Jing recommended against this action, and for Gongsun Zan to stay within the city of Yijing. In 199, Yuan Shao tricked and ambushed Gongsun Zan as the latter rode out, expecting to meet reinforcements from Gongsun Zan's son Gongsun Xu and Zhang Yan. After this defeat, Gongsun Zan committed suicide by self-immolation. Guan Jing expressed regret that he could not convince Gongsun Zan to stay in the end, and rode into the army of Yuan Shao and died.

Zou Jing was a military officer who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China.

Campaign against Dong Zhuo Coalition of officials and warlords against Chinese warlord Dong Zhuo (190)

The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against the warlord Dong Zhuo in 190 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The members of the coalition claimed that Dong had the intention of usurping the throne by holding Emperor Xian hostage and by establishing a strong influence in the imperial court. They justified their campaign as to remove Dong from power. The campaign led to the evacuation of the capital Luoyang and the shifting of the imperial court to Chang'an. It was a prelude to the end of the Han dynasty and, subsequently, the Three Kingdoms period.

The Heishan bandits or Black Mountain bandits was a bandit confederacy in the Taihang Mountain range during the later years of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. They played a part in the internecine feuds that followed the Eastern Han dynasty's descent into chaos preceding the Three Kingdoms period, during which they eventually surrendered to the warlord Cao Cao.

References

  1. ↑ ((閻)柔招誘胡漢數萬人，與瓚所置漁陽太守鄒丹戰於潞北) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 61.
  2. ↑ (烏桓峭王感虞恩德，率種人及鮮卑七千餘騎，共(鮮于)輔南迎虞子和，與袁紹將曲義合兵十萬，共攻瓚。) Houhanshu vol. 73.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.