Wei Yan
A Qing Dynasty illustration showing Wei Yan ruining Zhuge Liang's ritual for life at the Battle of Wuzhang Plains. This is an example on why Kongming is depicted as despising Wei Yan in most tales.
General of Shu Han
Born	(Unknown)
Died	234
Names
Simplified Chinese	魏延
Traditional Chinese	魏延
Pinyin	Wèi Yán
Wade-Giles	Wei Yen
Style name	Wenchang (文長)

Wei Yan (died 234)^[1] was a military general of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He became a soldier of Liu Bei when the latter fled Jing Province and seek protection from the eastern warlord Sun Quan in 208. In 211, Wei had climbed up the ranks and become a general in Liu Bei's invasion to Yi Province (益州, modern Sichuan and Chongqing).^[1] His talent and performance during battles helped him to become a major general of Liu Bei's army in a short period of time. He was later named Administrator of Hanzhong (漢中)^[2] and regional Area Commander in the year 219.^[1]

According to Chen Shou's Records of Three Kingdoms, Wei was a very arrogant man and others tended to avoid him. Some believed that he was an aggressive person, who was incompatible with the strategies and methods of Zhuge Liang, the chancellor of Shu Han. Moreover, Wei's personality caused Yang Yi, a scholarly official, to fear and despise him, with the two barely capable of avoiding fighting one another. Eventually Wei Yan lost his life and his family to this personal conflict.

Biography[link]

Early and mid-career[link]

Wei Yan was a native of Yiyang. As one of Liu Bei's personal retainers, he followed Liu Bei into the Yi province. He had many military accomplishments and was assigned as General of the Standard (牙門將軍). When Liu Bei became King of Hanzhong, he selected Wei Yan as the general who would guard Hanzhong and then honored him with the title, General Who Suppresses the North. This was despite Zhang Fei being considered by the majority and himself to be the likely candidate for the position, which assumed the imminent military responsibility to resist invasion from the leading warlord, Cao Cao. When Wei was nominated by Liu, the court was shocked. Liu then asked Wei in front of the mass how would he serve his new post, wherein Wei confidently replied: "If Cao Cao mustered all his forces and invaded, let me assist my lord to repel the enemies; if an Assistant-General came with 100,000 troops, let me engulf them for my Majesty."^[3] During his tenure, Wei Yan borrowed the concept of "double gates" from the ancient text, Zhou Yi (周易), and laid numerous camps along the outskirt and trail exits linking to Hanzhong. His defense mechanism was very effective in driving the enemy out, and his arrangement would be adopted by those who later succeeded his post.

In 223, Wei Yan was enfeoffed as Marquis of a Chief Village (都亭侯). In 227, Zhuge Liang, following Liu Bei's death, employed Wei Yan for the war with Cao Wei. Wei Yan was to supervise the front division with the rank of Major of the Prime Minister (丞相司馬) and Inspector of Liang province (涼州刺史). Wei was very good to his soldiers and was braver than others. On the other hand, he was boastful of his talents and his peers tended to avoid him. However, Yang Yi alone made no concession to him and thus Wei Yan was extremely resentful of him.

Northern Campaign[link]

When Zhuge became the regent of Shu, he launched several campaigns against the kingdom of Wei, whereins Wei Yan attended most of them, if not all. However, Wei was disappointed by his supposedly supervisor, on account the latter used Ma Su as the vanguard for the first campaign, which ended up with a total disaster. During the second campaign, Wei suggested Zhuge to attack Chang'an, but was refused, and the self-proclaimed 100,000 strong Shu forces laid a siege on Chencang, where they could only lament upon the staunch defense of the 1,000 defenders under Hao Zhao's command. In the fall of 230, the Cao-Wei regime launched a counter-offensive with a sizable army, Wei Yan and Wu Ban were then sent north as military attachés to join forces with the Qiang tribes to harass the Cao-Wei rear. Wei Yan swiftly led a mixed cavalry-infantry force to his destination, and sold the famous Chengdu silk brocades to the Qiang people in return for their military support, as well as horses and weapons. From the start the Cao-Wei attack ran into problems: heavy rain continued for more than 30 days, which rendered that the narrow valleys impassable, while Zhang He in the west was threatened by Wei Yan's pincer movement in his rear. After one and a half month of little progress, the ill-fated campaign was terminated. However, the Wei General of the Rear Army, Fei Yao, and the Inspector of Yong province, Guo Huai, decided to earn some merits before their retreat, so they attacked Wei Yan at Yangqi, where Wei heavily defeated his rivals. Thus, the Shu Han force behind the enemy line was able to make a prudence dictated return to Hanzhong. Wei was then promoted as Advisor of the Front Army (前軍師), General Who Conquers the West, and Marquis of Nanzheng.

Another Qing Dynasty illustration involving Wei Yan. This illustration, unlike most others of him, shows a heroic moment for himself when he trapped Sima Yi and his sons, Sima Zhao and Sima Shi during the campaigns north

During the fourth norther campaign, Zhuge sent Wei Yan to counter the enemy commander, Sima Yi, who was leading a frontal assault to Lu fortress from the central main road.^[4] Together with Wu Ban, and Gao Xiang, they resisted the enemy outside the city wall. In this particular battle, they killed 3000 armoured Cao Wei soldiers, and seized 5000 sets of armor and 3100 crossbows.^[5] If the above record from the Spring and Autumn Annal of Han and Jin Dynasty is true, Wei Yan had achieved the greatest deed during the five expeditions to the north.

The Ziwu Valley Plan[link]

Each time Wei Yan accompanied Zhuge Liang on expedition, he always wanted to lead ten thousand and go along different paths to meet up with Zhuge at the Tong Pass, based on the previous strategy of Han Xin. But Zhuge never allowed this plan and Wei Yan often said Zhuge was faint-hearted.

The Weilüe records Wei Yan's reasoning in detail: Wei Yan received intelligence that the defender of the strategic city Chang'an, Xiahou Mao, was fainthearted and without counsel. Thus, he reasoned, it would be easy for him to take five thousand troops (plus another five thousand to carry supplies) across the Qin Mountains via the Ziwu Valley and into Chang'an. Wei estimated that he would reach Chang'an in ten days and scare Xiahou into flight, leaving the grain in the storehouses of Hengmen for Shu Han's taking. There Wei Yan's force can wait for Zhuge Liang's main force to take the safer road out of Xie valley and rendezvous in Chang'an. This way, the region west of Xianyang could be settled in one stroke.

Upon Chen Shou's compilation on the unofficial works on Shu's history (Shu had no official logs on its history) in the Book of Shu, it only tells that Wei Yan wanted to spilt the force in two and meet at Tong Pass, not much detail was recorded due to fact that the position of Historian was banned by Zhuge Liang.^[6] The reason Zhuge rejected Wei's plan remained dubious, but it is generally believed Zhuge considered the plan to be dangerous and preferred to travel along the flat roads so that Longyou could be taken easily. He was certain that his plan would work out without any worry, and so did not accept Wei Yan's plan.

When Cao Wei received intelligence about Ziwu Valley Plan (子午谷計), the emperor immediately removed Xiahou Mao from his command and reassigned him to a civilian job in the imperial court as Imperial Secretariat (尚书).^[7] Thus, whether Wei Yan's plan could have succeeded, Zhuge had forfeited the chance to act on it. After Zhuge's own plan had failed as history manifests, Wei Yan then sighed that his talents were not used to their full potential. The viability of Wei Yan's Ziwu Valley Plan (before Xiahou's reassignment) would become a subject of debate over the generations.

Death[link]

In 234, Zhuge Liang set out on his last northern expedition against Cao Wei, with Wei Yan leading the Van. During the standoff in the Battle of Wuzhang Plains, Zhuge Liang fell sick and sent secret orders to the Chief Clerk (長史) Yang Yi, the Major Fei Yi, and the Protector of the Army, Jiang Wei for the armies to retreat after his death. Wei Yan was to guard the rear with Jiang Wei after him. If Wei Yan refused to accept the order, they were to retreat without him. Eventually, Zhuge Liang died, but his death was kept secret. Yang Yi ordered Fei Yi to go to Wei Yan and to discover his intentions. Wei Yan said:

Although the Prime Minister had died, I am still here. The officials belonging to the Office of Prime Minister may carry his mortal remains to be buried. I, on the other hand, should command the various troops and strike at the rebels. Because of the death of one man, must we neglect the affairs of the State? Besides, who am I, Wei Yan, that I should be commanded by Yang Yi to serve as general of the rearguard?

So Wei Yan and Fei Yi took charge of the troops left behind with Fei Yi writing a letter to be signed by both of them which was to be announced to the various generals. Fei Yi offered to go on Wei Yan's behalf and explain the situation to the Chief Clerk, Yang Yi, saying that the Chief Clerk is a civil official and is not experienced in military affairs, making it certain that Yang Yi would not disobey him. Wei Yan let him go, but immediately regretted it and went after him. He was unable to catch up to him in time. He then sent someone to Yang Yi and the others, and discovered that the various encampments were returning, according to Zhuge Liang's plan to retreat. Wei Yan had wanted to continue the campaign against Cao Wei despite Zhuge Liang's death, and was thus angry at this development. Intending to block the retreating Shu force, Wei Yan led his troops back to the South before Yang Yi's main force, and cut off the Shu retreat by burning the gallery roads.

Both Wei Yan and Yang Yi sent memorials, each accusing each other of treason. Within the same day, their memorials arrived and the Shu Emperor Liu Shan asked Dong Yun and Jiang Wan for their opinions. Both of them supported Yang Yi and were suspicious of Wei Yan. Yang Yi had trees hewn to make roads and marched day and night to get close behind Wei Yan. Wei Yan arrived first at the Southern Valley and ordered his troops to attack Yang Yi and the others. Yang Yi ordered Wang Ping forward to resist Wei Yan. Wang Ping was critical of Wei Yan and Wei Yan's soldiers knew their leader was in the wrong, thus they scattered.

Wei Yan, along with his sons and a few followers, fled to Hanzhong. Yang Yi sent Ma Dai to give chase. Ma Dai caught up to Wei Yan, decapitated him, and sent his severed head to Yang Yi. Yang Yi then ordered the execution of Wei Yan's family to the third degree. Before, Jiang Wan had led the various camps of the imperial bodyguards north to cope with the disorders. He travelled about ten li (1 quarter mile) when he heard news of Wei Yan's death, and so he returned.

Analysis[link]

Chen Shou, the compiler of Records of Three Kingdoms, analyzed Wei Yan's death as thus: In the beginning, Wei Yan did not go north to Wei but instead returned to the South. His desire was to kill Yang Yi and the others in disagreement with him, with the hope that opinion of the time would make him Zhuge Liang's successor. This was his actual aim and he did not think of rebelling. However, it was his own fault for bringing upon his downfall by being boastful and ignorant of discipline.

A similar, but somehow different and more detailed account exists in Weilüe. It states that when Zhuge Liang died, he said to Wei Yan and the others, "After I am dead, be cautious in guarding but do not return here". Wei Yan was ordered to take up Zhuge's authority and to not reveal news about Zhuge's death, and he did as he was told. When they reached the entrance of Bao, the death was announced and a funeral was held. Zhuge Liang's Chief Clerk, Yang Yi, was never in agreement with Wei Yan, and after noticing that Wei Yan was in charge of military affairs, feared that he would be harmed. So he disseminated rumours that Wei Yan was going to submit to the North and led his troops to attack him. In reality, Wei Yan had no intention to do such a thing, and so offered no resistance.^[8] Liu Song Dynasty compiler Pei Songzhi, when combining this account with Chen Shou's account in the Records of Three Kingdoms, argued that the Weilüe's account might be derived from hearsay or spies planted in an enemy state, and might not be reliable when compared to the account Chen Shou chose from Shu's folklore.

From a neoteric article by Shanghai University history professor Zhu Ziyan, the death of Wei Yan was explained in political terms (just as tons of other academic papers). In Injustise Treatment on Wei Yan (《魏延的千古奇冤》), Zhu says "Zhuge appointed Jiang Wan, Fei Yi, and Jiang Wei to succeed him, but Wei Yan's titles, as well as contributions, were far greater than theirs. The reason Zhuge needed to isolate Wei Yan is to clear the obstacle for his appointed successors.^[9]

In fiction[link]

In the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is suggested that Wei Yan originally served as a mid-ranking military officer under the warlord Liu Biao, though this fact is historically unattested. Before the Battle of Changban, Wei Yan tried to revolt against Cai Mao, who had already surrendered to Cao Cao, to give the city of Xiangyang to Liu Bei. Liu Bei, however, didn't want to bring chaos to Xiangyang and chose to go to Jiangling instead. Wei Yan was not able to rendezvous with Liu Bei and became a subject of Han Xuan. Liu Bei later came to invade Han Xuan's city of Changsha, and Han Xuan became suspicious of his top general Huang Zhong amidst the battle and wanted to execute him. Wei Yan, outraged at Han Xuan's distrust, killed Han Xuan, rescued Huang Zhong, and surrendered the city to Liu Bei. While Zhuge Liang welcomed Huang Zhong, he ordered Wei Yan executed, saying that Wei Yan had the complexion of a traitor. Nonetheless, Liu Bei ordered Wei Yan's life to be spared and welcomed him into his forces.

Wei Yan became a valuable asset to Liu Bei's military, and he continued to serve Liu Bei's state of Shu Han well until Zhuge Liang died. At the eve of his death, Zhuge Liang predicted that Wei Yan would rebel, and so laid out a secret plan that would remove this threat after his death. Wei Yan openly rebelled with Ma Dai after Zhuge Liang died, as predicted. In one particular standoff between Wei Yan and Wang Ping, Wei Yan repeatedly shouted the challenge: "Who dares to kill me?" Unbeknownst to Wei Yan, Ma Dai was actually involved in Zhuge Liang's plan to remove Wei. Responding to Wei Yan's challenge, Ma Dai then sprung out from Wei Yan's own ranks and decapitated him.

Modern references[link]

Wei Yan is featured as a playable character in Koei's Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi video game series. He also appears in Koei's Dynasty Tactics 2.

See also[link]

• List of people of the Three Kingdoms
• List of Dynasty Warriors characters

Notes[link]

References[link]