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Sīmǎ Shī 司馬師
An illustration depicting Sima Shi
Great general of Cao Wei
Incumbent
Assumed office 252-255
Monarch	Cao Fang Cao Mao
Preceded by	Cao Shuang
Succeeded by	Sima Zhao
Personal details
Born	208
Died	255 (aged 46/47)
Children	Sima You
Posthumous name	Zongwu 忠武 Prince Jing of Jin 晉景王 Emperor Jing of Jin 晉景帝
Temple name	Shizong 世宗
Military service
Rank	Great general

Sima Shi (208–255), style name Ziyuan (子元), was a military general and regent of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. In 249, he assisted his father Sima Yi in overthrowing the emperor Cao Fang's regent Cao Shuang, allowing the Sima family to become paramount authority in the state, and he inherited his father's authority after his father's death in 251. He maintained a tight grip on the political scene and, when the emperor Cao Fang considered action against him in 254, he had Cao Fang deposed and replaced with his cousin Cao Mao. This tight grip eventually allowed him to, at the time of his death in 255, transition his power to his younger brother Sima Zhao, whose son Sima Yan eventually usurped the throne and established the Jin Dynasty.

After Sima Yan became emperor, he, recognizing Sima Shi's role in his own imperial status, posthumously honored his uncle as the Emperor Jing of Jin (晉景帝), with the temple name Shizong (世宗).

Career up to 251[link]

It is not known when Sima Shi was born, but it is known that he was Sima Yi's oldest son, born of Sima Yi's wife, Lady Zhang Chunhua (張春華). When he was young, he was known for the elegance in his conduct and his intelligence. As his father was an important Cao Wei official, Sima Shi himself climbed up the ranks of officials fairly rapidly.

When Sima Yi planned a coup d'état against Cao Shuang in late 248; according to Jin Shu, Sima Yi confided only in Sima Shi, with even his younger brother Sima Zhao excluded from the discussion (although Sima Guang found this unlikely and, in his Zizhi Tongjian, opined that Sima Yi planned the coup with both Sima Shi and Sima Zhao). Sima Shi put together a group of 3,000 loyal men without knowledge by Cao Shuang or his associates, and when Sima Yi set to carry out his plans in 249, Sima Shi was able to quickly summon the men to carry out the coup.

Once Sima Yi overthrew Cao Shuang and replaced Cao as regent for the emperor Cao Fang, he rewarded his son with the title the Marquess of Changpingxiang. Sima Shi became his father's assistant, although there was no particular record of his accomplishments during these years. After Sima Yi died in 251, he took over his father's positions without significant opposition—after his father had, earlier that year, suppressed a failed rebellion by Wang Ling (王淩) and massacred the clans of Wang and his associates.

As paramount authority[link]

During Cao Fang's reign[link]

Sima Shi was a capable politician and administrator, but he also quickly wanted to prove his military reputation. In 252, he made a major attack against Eastern Wu, whose founding emperor Sun Quan had recently died and whose current emperor, Sun Liang, was under the regency of Zhuge Ke. Zhuge Ke was able to deal Sima Shi's forces a major blow, but Sima Shi maintained himself well by making humble admissions of faults to the public and promoting the generals who tried to stop his campaign. In 253, after Sima Shi defeated Zhuge Ke in a major battle, his reputation was established, while Zhuge Ke's own was undermined (due to Zhuge Ke's failure to admit fault), and Zhuge soon fell while Sima's power was affirmed.

In 254, Sima Shi made a violent move to consolidate his power, at Cao Fang's expense. Cao Fang had endeared himself to the minister Li Feng (李豐), and there had been suspicious by Sima Shi that they were plotting against him. He summoned and interrogated Li Feng, and when Li refused to disclose his conversations with the emperor, Sima Shi beat him to death with a sword handle and then accused Li Feng and his friends Xiahou Xuan (夏侯玄) and Zhang Ji (張緝) of treason, and had them and their families executed. Cao Fang was further forced to depose of his wife Empress Zhang, who was Zhang Ji's daughter. These moves further terrorized the officials into submission.

Cao Fang was very angry about the deaths of Li Feng and Zhang Ji, and later in 254, his associates submitted a plan to him—that when Sima Shi's brother Sima Zhao would arrive at the palace for an official visit before heading to his defense post at Chang'an, to kill Sima Zhao and seize his troops, and then use those troops to attack Sima Shi. Cao Fang was apprehensive and paralyzed, and did not implement the plan, but news was still leaked to Sima Shi. Sima Shi then forced Cao Fang to step down, although Sima spared his life and gave him his old title of the Prince of Qi. When Sima Shi notified Cao Fang's stepmother Empress Dowager Guo that he intended to make Cao Pi's brother Cao Ju (曹據), the Prince of Pengcheng, emperor, however, she managed to persuade him that such a succession would be improper—that since Cao Ju was the uncle of her husband Cao Rui, such a succession would leave Cao Rui effectively sonless with no heir. Sima Shi was forced to agree with her, and he made, as she suggested, Cao Mao emperor instead. (Cao Mao, although 13 years old at the time, was known for his intelligence, and Empress Dowager Guo might have believed that he, alone of the princes and dukes, might have had a chance of counteracting the Simas.)

During Cao Mao's reign[link]

Despite Empress Dowager Guo's intentions and Cao Mao's own intelligence, they made very little impact in trying to stem the tide of the Simas' growing power. In reaction to the removal of Cao Fang, in 255, the general Wuqiu Jian, the commander in the important eastern city of Shouchun (壽春, in modern Lu'an, Anhui), along with another general Wen Qin (文欽), raised a rebellion against the Simas, but were quickly crushed by Sima Shi's army. Wuqiu Jian was killed, and his clan was slaughtered. Wen Qin and his sons fled to Eastern Wu.

The campaign had its tolls on Sima Shi, however. He was ill with an eye disorder at the time that Wuqiu Jian and Wen Qin's rebellion started, and had just had an eye surgery. He was initially therefore reluctant to lead the forces himself and wanted his uncle Sima Fu to lead the forces against Wuqiu Jian and Wen Qin. At the urging of Zhong Hui and Fu Gu (傅嘏), he led the troops himself, which was important in the victory against Wuqiu Jian, but during one of the raids made by Wen Qin's son Wen Yang (文鴦), Sima Shi, in his anxiety, aggravated the eye that he had just had the operation in—causing his eye to pop out—and his conditions soon deteriorated greatly. Less than a month after he put down the rebellion, he died while at Xuchang (許昌, in modern Xuchang, Henan), with his brother Sima Zhao in attendance to succeed him.

Family[link]

• Father: Sima Yi

• Mother: Zhang Chunhua

• Spouses:
  • Lady Xiahou Hui, daughter of Xiahou Shang, bore five daughters, poisoned to death in 234, posthumously honoured as Empress Jinghuai
  • Lady Wu (吳氏), daughter of Wu Zhi, divorced in an unknown year
  • Yang Huiyu, sister of Yang Hu, died in 278

• Children:
  • Five daughters

• Foster children:
  • Sima You, nephew, Prince Xian of Qi, continued Sima Shi's family line

Modern references[link]

Sima Shi first appears as a playable character in the seventh installment of Koei's Dynasty Warriors video games series.

See also[link]

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

References[link]

• Fang Xuanling. Book of Jin, Volume 2, Biography of Emperor Jing.

Yue Jin (died 218) was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Han Dynasty of China. He was noted as much for his short stature as for his valor and ferocity on the battlefield. Yue Jin participated most of Cao Cao's early to middle wars, and gained multiple successes in campaigns against Lü Bu, Liu Bei and remnants of the Yellow Turbans and Yuan clan of northern China. He was particularly praised as a capable vanguard, but his most famed accomplishment came with his supporting role in the defense of Hefei against the advances of Sun Quan's forces in 208.

Chen Shou, author of the Records of Three Kingdoms, considered Yue Jin among the Five Elite Generals, along with Zhang Liao, Yu Jin, Zhang He and Xu Huang, and referred to him as the most ferocious of all Cao Cao's generals.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Yue Jin was originally a local of the Yangping Commandery (阳平卫国, present day county of Qingfeng, Henan), and little was known about him before he joined Cao Cao's army. Being a small-framed youth, he was initially made a clerk who handled paperworks in a camp. When Cao raised troops to join the coalition against Dong Zhuo, he was tasked to recruit soldiers for Cao's camp, in which he brought back 1,000 men from his hometown. For his effort, Yue was put into test as an acting Marshal and Formation Breaking Commandant.^[1] Thereafter, Yue assumed military positions and followed Cao in his futile war with Dong Zhuo. Although being defeated, Yue's physical strength and bravery earned him much trust from Cao, who would use him as the vanguard from time to time.

Solidifying Cao Cao's position[link]

The famed warrior, Lu Bu, stormed Cao Cao's base, Yan Province, when the latter was on his expedition against Tao Qian. Yue was assigned as the vanguard with Cao Hong for the returning army. The two forces fought several bitter battles around Poyang (濮陽), resulting in largely Cao's defeat, but Yue's merit in those battles was still recognized by his supervisor. Later, Lu Bu led his elite troops away for food when a large-scaled famine broke out around the area, and Yue took the opportunity to attack Lu's ally and subordinates, Zhang Chao (張超) at Yong Slope (雍丘) and Qiao Long (橋曨) at Ku (苦). He acted as the vanguard and was the first to break the enemy's defense in both battles; he was thus granted a title of Marquis, and highly valued in Cao's camp (Yue was the first among the five top generals of Wei to receive a Marquis title).^[2]

In AD 198, Yue followed Cao to subdue Zhang Xiu, who feigned surrender and wreaked havoc for Cao Cao when the latter was sleeping with Zhang's aunt. Much hardships were experienced during the campaign, but Yue, along Yu Jin, was recorded to earn merit during the battles. Due to the fact that Zhang was backed by Liu Biao of Jing Province, Cao realized Zhang could not be taken care of within a short period of time. Under the rationale that Liu Bei was asking for help in Xiaopei to fight Lu Bu, Cao finally relinquished his war against Zhang Xiu, and sent envoys to ask the latter to form an alliance, which Zhang agreed upon the term that a marriage be arranged between the two families. During the siege of Xiapi, Yue led a separate command and defeated Lu's deputy general outside the city before he joined the encirclement.

After Lu's demise, Cao focused on preparation to the upcoming war with Yuan Shao (who was still Cao's ally), and Yue Jin was assigned to the border. When the warlord of Bing Province, Zhang Yang, vacillated on the predicament upon choosing Cao or Yuan as ally, his subordinate, Yang Chou murdered him and took his head to Cao; but another general, Sui Gu (眭固), vindicated his lord when Yang was on his way to Xuchang. In order to merge Zhang Yang's remnants, Yue intercepted Sui when the latter attempted to go back north, and successfully hunted down his prey and took control of the Bing Province troops. He then brought his troops to join Cao's eastern campaign against the traitor, Liu Bei, who just usurped and killed the Governor of Xu Province. Within a very short time, Liu Bei was defeated, and his aide, Guan Yu, was captured alive.

Cao Cao's northern campaign[link]

Skirmishes[link]

Yue Jin had also participated in the pivotal Battle of Guandu, in which Cao Cao pitched his forces against those of rival warlord, Yuan Shao. Before Cao led the main army to the frontline, Yue was assigned several thousand soldiers to reinforce Yu Jin at Yan Ford (延津; north of modern-day Yanjin, Henan). After joining up with Yu, they selected 5,000 elite soldiers composed of infantry and cavalry, and raided Yuan Shao's detached encampments along the Yellow River southwest from Yan fortress. They snaked up as far as Ji (汲; 25 li southwest of modern Weihui, Henan), and crossed the river to raid Huojia (獲嘉; southeast of modern Huojia, Henan) to the north.^[3] In all, they had set fire to some thirty enemy camps, decapitated several thousand heads, captured several thousand men alive, and forced the surrender of some 20 generals including He Mao (何茂) and Wang Mo (王摩).

Major engagements[link]

However, the war was far from over because the ones that Yue destroyed were just some expendable pawns of the powerful northern regime of Yuan. Cao Cao then ordered Yu Jin to camp at Yuanwu (原武; modern-day Yuanyang, Henan), and summoned Yue Jin back to his side. A series of battles were fought, and several famed generals of Yuan had been killed, but the latter still possessed a huge army, which applied much pressure to Cao. The war had been dragging on for months, and Cao's supplies nearly depleted. When Cao thought about relinquishing resistance, he received a piece of intelligence concerning the whereabouts of his enemy's food storage, guarded by Yuan's most prominent general, Chunyu Qiong. Determined to bet on the information, he picked Yue Jin as his van in this desperate mission, and sneaked their way to Wuchao (烏巢; in modern Yanjin, Henan) with a 5,000-strong mixed force composed of mainly horsemen. Under the cover of night, they were unopposed until they arrived the enemy encampment, where they set a fire upon. Chuyu attempted to fight back with his larger force, but was slain by Yue Jin in the chaos. The success of this raid in Wuchao enabled Cao to overcome his archrival when Yuan was out of stock.

After the ultimate defeat and subsequent death of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao marched his troops northwards into Ji Province (冀州) and You Province (幽州) to stamp out Yuan Shao's heirs and supporters. Cao's progress was checked at Liyang (黎陽, northeast of present day Xunxian County, Henan), where the war entered a stalemate when the two forces fought on the open field.^[4] Yue Jin then targeted the unit of Yuan's general, Yan Jing (嚴敬), and had it routed. The defeat of Yan frightened the Yuan brothers, who went back into the city and fled during the night. Yue was promoted to Guerilla General (游擊將軍). He then followed Cao to besiege Ye city, and had it breached. During the battle of Nanpi, Yuan Tan personally led a counteroffensive, and inflicted considerable damage to the elite mounted force of Cao Cao – the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Nevertheless, Yue climbed the city and opened the east gate, and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry took its revenge by taking Yuan's head. For his efforts in the northern campaign, Yue Jin was promoted to General Who Breaks Conflicts (折冲将军).

Winding-up[link]

When a local gentry and relative to the Yuans, Gao Gan reneged on his surrender and revolted, Yue Jin was dispatched to cleanse the rebellion. He outflanked Gao by adopting a circuitous route to the north of Gao's position.^[5] However, Gao outmaneuvered his opponent by retreating to Hu Gate (壺關), where he relied on its strong defense. Several battles were fought on the field, resulting in defeats on Gao's side, but Hu Gate remained defiant, and Yue was unable to take it alone. When the reinforcement led by Cao arrived, they breached the fortress and had every defenders killed. Then, Yue, along Li Dian was assigned as vanguards to strike the pirate, Guan Cheng (管承), who was broke by them, and was forced to surrender later.^[6]

War with Sun Quan[link]

After Cao Cao successfully congregated central and northern China, he assembled a grandiose force upon Yangtze river, only to be destroyed by the southeastern warlord, Sun Quan, who formed an alliance with Liu Bei. The result of the Battle of Red Cliffs would lead to the development of the Three Kingdoms.

Battle of Jiangling[link]

As a result of the disastrous defeat at the Red Cliffs, Cao Cao's huge army was scattered around the Northern plain above the Yangtze River. Yue Jin was ordered to station inside the city of Xiangyang, in anticipation of Zhou Yu's counterstrike. When enemy general Guan Yu was attempting to cut the connection between Jiangling and Xiangyang, he was stymied by Yue Jin, who led his army out and defeated him. During Guan's second attempt to block the waterway of Xiangyang, Yue again spiked Guan on the water at Xiukou.

The war dragged on and Cao Cao side had had suffered high casualties in the battles. Knowing Cao's position in Nanjun became worse, Yue raised an army in Xiangyang and hurried down to Jiangling, where he attacked and won several skirmishes over the forces of Liu Bei. Yue forced the barbarians of southern Jing Province to surrender, and mimicked Guan's infiltration strategy to attack Liu's Prefect of Linju, Du Pu, and Prefect of Xinyang, Liang Dai. Du and Liang were unable to repel Yue Jin, and were totally routed.^[7] When Cao Ren was ordered to give up Jiangling due to continuous loss of materiel, Yue slithered back to Xiangyang.

Battle of Xiaoyao Ford[link]

After Cao Cao lost the Battle of Jiangling in 208, Sun Quan attacked Hefei, prompting the former to personally led reinforcements to the scene. Yue Jin was specifically granted the staff of authority on the way to Hefei.^[8] Receiving intelligence Cao had come in person, Sun retreated, and Yue, alongside Zhang Liao and Li Dian were left for the defense of Hefei fortress with 7,000 soldiers. Later, Sun led 100,000 naval forces to advance to Hefei. The 300,000 strong army of Xiahou Dun was unable to hinder Sun's progress. Following a direct order from Cao Cao, Xue Ti led a relief force into the city, and also served as a monitoring system to the three generals who were not in good terms with each other. Yue was ordered to stay behind to defend the city with the strategist, Xue Ti (who actually assumed a higher command than Zhang Liao, and was there to enforce the 3 to carry out Cao's orders), while Li and Zhang led a force of 800 men out to meet the enemy. The overconfident Sun Quan lost two generals on the first encounter, but his forces managed to force Zhang and Li back into the fortified citadel.

However, Sun Quan's forces were unable to climb the high walls of the Hefei Castle, and were subsequently infected with a plague. Thus, Sun grudgingly withdrew; in order to avoid being infected, Sun only had 1,000 troops with him on the northern part of Xiaoyao Ford (逍遥津). This news was received by Zhang Liao, who immediately led several thousand elite cavalry to pursue the enemy commander. During the chaos, Sun Quan was nearly killed if not saved by his general, Ling Tong, and the siege of Hefei Castle came to a complete victory for Cao Cao's side. Yue was then promoted to General of the Right (右将军) for his contributions in the miraculous defense of Hefei, along Zhang, they would later be labeled as two of the five top generals of the Kingdom of Wei.

Death[link]

Yue Jin eventually died in 218, but the cause was undocumented in historical records. He was given the posthumous title of Marquis Wei (威侯), literally meaning the awe-inspiring marquis. His son Yue Lin inherited his decisiveness and determination and was eventually promoted to governor of Yangzhou (杨州).

In fiction[link]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, was a romanticization of the events that occurred before and during the Three Kingdoms era. Yue Jin made his first appearance in Chapter 5, where he joined Cao Cao's camp when the latter was raising an army to join the coalition against Dong Zhuo, the tyrannical warlord who held the emperor hostage in the imperial court.

Unlike historical records, however, Luo Guanzhong had Yue Jin killed in the midst of battle in Chapter 68, shortly after the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford. This was probably because little about the last ten years of Yue Jin's life was documented in the first place.

According to the novel, during a confrontation with Wu troops along the shore of Ruxu River (濡须河), Yue Jin rode out to engage Ling Tong (凌统) in a duel. An arrow fired by Cao Xiu struck Ling Tong's horse, which in pain threw its rider off. Yue Jin was dashing forward to finish off his opponent when he was hit full in the face by an arrow fired by Wu general, Gan Ning.

See also[link]

• List of people of the Three Kingdoms

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Chen Shou (2002). San Guo Zhi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80665-198-5. 
• Luo Guanzhong (1986). San Guo Yan Yi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80520-013-0. 
• Lo Kuan-chung; tr. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor (2002). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-3467-9. 

Liu Shan
A portrait of Liu Shan.
Emperor of Shu Han
Born	207
Died	271 (aged 63–64)
Reign	223–263
Predecessor	Liu Bei
Names
Simplified Chinese	刘禅
Traditional Chinese	劉禪
Pinyin	Líu Shàn
Wade-Giles	Liu Sh'an
Style name	Gongsi (公嗣)
Posthumous name	Duke Si of Anle (安樂思公) Emperor Xiaohuai (孝懷皇帝)
Era names	Jianxing (建興) 223–237 Yanxi (延熙) 238–257 Jingyao (景耀) 258–263 Yanxing (炎興) 263
Other names	A'dou / E'dou (阿斗)

Liu Shan, (commonly mispronounced as Liu Chan^[1]), (207–271)^[2] was the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. As he ascended the throne at the young age of 16, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of the Chancellor Zhuge Liang and Imperial Secretariat Li Yan. During Liu Shan's reign, many campaigns were led against the rival state of Cao Wei, primarily by Zhuge Liang and his successor Jiang Wei, but to little avail. Liu Shan eventually surrendered to Wei in 263 after Deng Ai led a surprise attack on the Shu capital Chengdu. He was quickly relocated to Luoyang, capital of Wei, and enfeoffed as Duke Anle. There he enjoyed his last years peacefully before dying, most probably of natural causes, in 271.

Widely known by his infant name "A'dou" or "E'dou" (阿斗), Liu Shan was commonly perceived as an incapable, even mentally handicapped ruler. He was also accused of indulging in pleasures while neglecting state affairs. Some critics, however, believe that Liu Shan, like his father Liu Bei, had excellent people management skills, being able to balance the interests of the two major factions in his court, headed respectively by Zhuge Liang and Li Yan. These critics also praise Liu Shan for feigning incompetence in the most ingenious and natural way after the fall of Shu so as to avoid personal harm. Nevertheless, the name "A'dou" is today still commonly used to describe incapable people who would not achieve anything even with significant assistance.

The given name of Liu Shan, when combined with that of Liu Feng, whom Liu Bei adopted before the birth of Liu Shan, would become "fengshan" (封禪), meaning "to ascend the throne in a ceremony". Scholars like Yi Zhongtian believe that this is an implication of Liu Bei's ambition to become the emperor, even long before the abdication of Emperor Xian. This undermines Liu Bei's claim that he was forced to declare himself emperor so as to carry on the lineage of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

As Chen Shou, the author of Records of Three Kingdoms, noted, contrary to tradition, Zhuge Liang banned official historians at Liu Shan's court, and after Zhuge's death, it appeared Liu did not revive that post. Therefore many of the events during his reign were unrecorded, causing limited details about Liu Shan's reign in historic records.

Early life[link]

Born in 207, Liu Shan was the oldest son of the wandering warlord Liu Bei, by his concubine Lady Gan. In the next year, the warlord Cao Cao, who had by then occupied the entire northern China, launched a campaign against Jing Province (荆州; covering present-day Hubei and Hunan). During his retreat south, Liu Bei was caught up by an elite cavalry force led by Cao Cao at the Battle of Changban, and forced to leave behind Lady Gan and Liu Shan to resume his escape. Liu Bei's general Zhao Yun stayed behind to protect the family members of Liu Bei. Holding the infant Liu Shan in his arms, Zhao Yun led the mother and child to safety. (It appears likely that Lady Gan had died sometime before 209, because when Liu Bei's wife Lady Sun effectively divorced Liu Bei in 211, he was in her custody.)

An alternative story of Liu Shan's early life was given in A Brief History of Wei by Yu Huan. It was said that Liu Shan, then already several years old, was separated from Liu Bei when the latter was attacked by Cao Cao in Xiaopei (小沛; present-day Pei County, Jiangsu) in 200. He somehow landed in Hanzhong and was sold by human traffickers. Only when Liu Bei declared himself emperor in 221 was Liu Shan reunited with his father. However, this story was rejected by Pei Songzhi, annotator of the Records of Three Kingdoms, taking into account of various sources.

After Liu Bei declared himself the first emperor of Shu in 221, Liu Shan was formally made the crown prince. In the next year, Liu Bei left the capital Chengdu on a campaign against Sun Quan (then a nominal vassal of Wei who would soon declare his independence as the first emperor of Eastern Wu). Liu Bei was defeated at the Battle of Xiaoting and, having retreated to the city of Baidicheng, eventually died in 223. With his last breaths, Liu Bei entrusted the young Liu Shan to the care of his chancellor, Zhuge Liang. Liu Bei even told Zhuge Liang to take the throne if Liu Shan proved to be incapable.

Reign[link]

Zhuge Liang's regency[link]

During the early years of his reign, Liu Shan was not an unwise ruler. While Zhuge Liang was alive, Liu Shan treated him as a father figure, allowing Zhuge to handle all state affairs. Zhuge Liang recommended many trusted officials, including Fei Yi, Dong Yun, Guo Youzhi and Xiang Chong (向寵) into key positions. Under Zhuge Liang's advice, Liu Shan entered into an alliance with the state of Wu, helping both states to survive against the much larger state of Wei. During Zhuge Liang's regency, the government was largely efficient and not corrupt, allowing the relatively small state of Shu to prepare itself for military campaigns.

In 223, Liu Shan married Zhang Fei's daughter, Empress Zhang.

In the aftermaths of Liu Bei's death, the southern Nanman tribes had peeled away from Shu dominion. In 225, Zhuge Liang headed south and was able to, by both military victories and persuasion, reintegrate the southern region into the empire. For the rest of Zhuge Liang's regency, the southern Nanman people would be key contributors to Shu's campaigns against Wei.

Starting in 227, Zhuge Liang launched his five Northern Expeditions against Wei, but all except one were military failures (albeit not military disasters) in that Zhuge Liang's forces ran out of food before they were able to inflict significant damage on Wei and therefore were forced to withdraw. It was during one of Zhuge Liang's campaigns that the only real political crisis during Zhuge's regency would occur. In 231, unable to supply the troops sufficiently, Li Yan forged an edict by Liu Shan, ordering Zhuge Liang to retreat. When Zhuge Liang discovered this, he recommended that Li Yan be removed from his office and put under house arrest, and Liu Shan accepted the recommendation.

In 234, while Zhuge Liang was on his final campaign against Wei, he grew seriously ill. Hearing about Zhuge's illness, Liu Shan sent his secretary Li Fu (李福) to the front line to visit Zhuge Liang and to request Zhuge to leave instructions on important state matters. Among other things, Zhuge recommended that Jiang Wan succeed him, and that Fei Yi succeed Jiang Wan. Zhuge Liang refused to answer Li Fu's next question—who should succeed Fei Yi. Zhuge Liang died soon thereafter. Liu Shan followed Zhuge's instructions and installed Jiang Wan as the new regent.

Jiang Wan's regency[link]

Jiang Wan was a capable administrator, and he continued Zhuge Liang's domestic policies, leaving the government largely efficient. He was also known for his tolerance of dissension and his humility. Not having much military aptitude, however, he soon abandoned Zhuge Liang's policy of waging war against Wei, and indeed in 241 withdrew most of the troops from the important border city of Hanzhong to Fu County (涪縣; in present-day Mianyang, Sichuan). From that point on, Shu was generally in a defensive posture and no longer posed a threat to Wei. (This was in fact misinterpreted by many Wu officials as a sign that Shu was abandoning the alliance and entering into a treaty with Wei, but was correctly read by Wu's emperor Sun Quan as merely a sign of weakness, not an abandonment of the alliance.)

In 237, Empress Zhang died. That year, Liu Shan took her younger sister as a consort, and in 238 created her empress. Her title remained the same as her sister, Empress Zhang

In 243, Jiang Wan grew ill and transferred most of his authority to Fei Yi and Fei's assistant Dong Yun. In 244, when Wei's regent Cao Shuang attacked Hanzhong, it was Fei Yi who led the troops against Cao Shuang and dealt Wei a major defeat in the Battle of Xingshi. Jiang Wan, however, remained influential until his death in 245. Soon after Jiang Wan's death, Dong Yun also died — allowing the eunuch Huang Hao, a favorite of Liu Shan's, whose power Dong Yun had curbed, to start aggrandizing his power. Huang Hao was viewed as corrupt and highly manipulative in domestic matters, and the governmental efficiency that was achieved during Zhuge Liang's and Jiang Wan's regencies began to deteriorate.

Fei Yi's regency[link]

After Jiang Wan and Dong Yun's deaths, Liu Shan named Jiang Wei as Fei Yi's assistant, but both were largely involved only in military matters, as Liu Shan gradually became more self-assertive in non-military matters. It was also around this time that he became more interested in touring the countryside and increasing the use of luxury items, both of which added stress on the treasury, albeit not cripplingly so. Jiang Wei was interested in resuming Zhuge Liang's policies of attacking Wei aggressively, a strategy that Fei Yi partially agreed with — as he allowed Jiang Wei to make raids on Wei's borders, but never gave him a large amount of troops, reasoning that Shu was in no position for a major military confrontation with Wei.

In 253, Fei Yi was assassinated by the general Guo Xun (郭循) -- a former Wei general who had been forced to surrender but who secretly maintained his loyalty to Wei. Fei Yi's death left Jiang Wei as the leading official of the empire, but with a power vacuum in domestic matters, as Jiang Wei continued to be on the borders, conducting campaigns against Wei. Huang Hao's influence increased greatly as a result.

Jiang Wei's semi-regency[link]

After Fei Yi's death, Jiang Wei assumed command of Shu's troops and began a number of campaigns against Wei -- but while they were troubling to Wei's de facto rulers Sima Shi and Sima Zhao (who had rendered Wei's emperors figureheads after succeeding their father Sima Yi), the attacks largely inflicted no real damage against Wei, as Jiang Wei's campaigns were plagued by one problem that had plagued Zhuge Liang's -- the lack of adequate food supply—and largely had to be terminated after a short duration. These campaigns instead had a detrimental effect on Shu, whose government no longer had the efficiency that it had during Zhuge Liang's and Jiang Wan's regencies, and therefore was unable to cope with the drain of resources that Jiang Wei's campaigns were having.

In 253, Jiang Wei made a coordinated attack on Wei, along with Wu's regent Zhuge Ke, but was eventually forced to withdraw after his troops ran out of food supplies — allowing Sima Shi to concentrate against Zhuge Ke, dealing Wu forces a devastating defeat that eventually caused so much resentment that Zhuge Ke was assassinated. This was the last of the coordinated attacks by Shu and Wu on Wei in the duration of the Shu-Wu alliance.

In 255, on one of Jiang Wei's campaigns, he dealt Wei forces a major defeat in the Battle of Didao, nearly capturing the important Wei border city Didao (狄道; in present-day Dingxi, Gansu), but in 256, as he tried to again confront the Wei forces, he was instead dealt a defeat by Deng Ai, and this was a fairly devastating loss that left Jiang Wei with a weakened standing with the people. Many officials now openly questioned Jiang Wei's strategy, but Liu Shan took no actions to stop Jiang. Further, in 259, under Jiang Wei's suggestion, Liu Shan approved a plan where the main troops were withdrawn from major border cities to try to induce a Wei attack, with troops positioned in such a way as to intend a trapping of the Wei troops — a strategy that would be used several years later, in 263, when Wei did attack, but which would prove to be a failure.

By 261, Huang Hao's power appeared paramount. Among the key domestic officials, only Dong Jue and Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan were able to maintain their posts without flattering Huang Hao. In 262, Huang Hao would in fact try to remove Jiang Wei and replace him with his friend Yan Yu (閻宇). Upon hearing this, Jiang Wei advised Liu Shan to execute Huang Hao, but the emperor denied the request, saying that the eunuch was but a servant who ran errands. Fearing retaliation, Jiang Wei left Chengdu to garrison troops at Tazhong (沓中; northwest of present-day Zhouqu County, Gansu).

According to the Wu ambassador Xue Xu, who visited Shu in 261 at the order of Sun Xiu, the status that Shu was in at this point was:

The emperor is incompetent and does not know his errors; his subordinates just try to get by without causing trouble for themselves. When I was visiting them, I heard no honest words, and when I visited their countryside, the people looked hungry. I have heard of a story of swallows and sparrows making nests on top of mansions and being content, believing that it was the safest place, not realizing that the haystack and the support beams were on fire and that disaster was about to come. This might be what they are like.

Fall of Shu[link]

In 262, aggravated by Jiang Wei's constant attacks, Wei's regent Sima Zhao planned to carry out a major campaign to terminate the Shu threat once and for all. Upon hearing rumors of this plan, Jiang Wei submitted a request to Liu Shan, warning him about the mustering of Wei troops under the generals Deng Ai, Zhuge Xu, and Zhong Hui near the border. However, Huang Hao persuaded Liu Shan with fortunetelling to take no action on Jiang Wei's requests for war preparations.

In 263, Sima Zhao launched his attacks, led by Deng Ai, Zhuge Xu, and Zhong Hui. Liu Shan followed Jiang's previous plans and ordered the border troops to withdraw and prepare to trap Wei forces, rather than to confront them directly. The plan, however, had a fatal flaw—it assumed that Wei forces would siege the border cities, which, instead, Deng Ai and Zhong Hui ignored, and they advanced instead on Yang'an Pass (陽安關; in present-day Hanzhong, Shaanxi), capturing it. Jiang Wei was able to meet their troops and initially repel them, but Deng Ai led his army through a trecherous mountain pass and deep into Shu territory. There he launched a surprise attack on Jiangyou (江油; in present-day Mianyang, Sichuan). After defeating Zhuge Zhan there, Deng Ai had virtually no Shu troops left between his army and the capital Chengdu. Faced with the prospect of defending Chengdu against Deng Ai's troops with no defenses, Liu Shan took the advice of Secretary Qiao Zhou and promptly surrendered. While the surrender was criticized by many, Wang Yin (王隱) in his Records of Shu (蜀記) described the move as a policy that placed the welfare of the people on top.

In 264, the ambitious Zhong Hui would carry out an attempt to seize power — which Jiang Wei, who had surrendered to Zhong Hui, tried to take advantage of to revive Shu. He advised Zhong Hui to falsely accuse Deng Ai of treason and arrest him, and, with their combined troops, rebel against Sima Zhao. Zhong Hui did so, and Jiang Wei planned to next kill Zhong Hui and his followers, and then redeclare Shu's independence under emperor Liu Shan, and had in fact written Liu Shan to inform him of those plans. However, Zhong Hui's troops rebelled against him, and both Jiang Wei and Zhong Hui were killed in battle. Liu Shan himself was not harmed in the disturbance, although his crown prince Liu Xuan was killed in the confusion.

Life after the fall of Shu[link]

In 264, Liu Shan and his entire family was relocated to the Wei capital Luoyang. He was created the Duke of Anle (安樂公; literally meaning "duke of peace and comfort"), and his sons and grandsons were created marquesses. According to the Spring and Autumn Annals of Han and Jin (漢晉春秋) by Xi Zuochi (习鑿齒), Sima Zhao, the Duke of Jin and de facto ruler of Wei, one day invited Liu Shan and his followers to a feast, during which Sima Zhao arranged to have entertainers perform traditional Shu music and dance. The former Shu officials present were all saddened, but Liu Shan was visibly unmoved. When asked by Sima Zhao if he missed his former state, Liu Shan replied:

I enjoy life here and do not think of Shu at all. (此間樂，不思蜀)

This phrase became a Chinese idiom le bu si shu (樂不思蜀; literally meaning "too joyful to think about home", but often with a negative implication). This was noted by Sima Zhao as a sign that Liu Shan was an incompetent fool; however, some later historians believed that it showed Liu Shan's wisdom in intentionally displaying a lack of ambition so that Sima Zhao would not view him as a threat.

Liu Shan died in 271, in Luoyang, and was given the posthumous name Duke Si of Anle (安樂思公; literally "the deep-thinking duke of Anle"). His dukedom lasted several generations during Wei's successor state, the Jin Dynasty, before being extinguished in the turmoils caused by the Wu Hu. Liu Yuan, the founder of one of the Wu Hu Sixteen Kingdoms, Han Zhao, who claimed to be a legitimate successor of the Han Dynasty, gave Liu Shan the posthumous name Emperor Xiaohuai (孝懷皇帝; literally "the filial and kind emperor").

Family[link]

• Father: Liu Bei, Emperor Zhaolie

• Mother: Lady Gan, posthumously honoured as Empress Zhaolie

• Spouses:
  • Empress Jing'ai, older daughter of Zhang Fei, instated in 223, died in 237
  • Empress Zhang, younger daughter of Zhang Fei, instated in 238, followed Liu Shan to Luoyang after the fall of Shu Han
  • Consort Wang (王貴人), bore Liu Xuan and Liu Yao
  • Consort Li (李昭儀), committed suicide in 264 after the fall of Shu Han

• Children:
  • Liu Xuan, instated as crown prince at the age of 15, killed during Zhong Hui's rebellion in 264
  • Liu Yao (劉瑤), Prince of Anding, born in 238
  • Liu Cong (劉琮), the Prince of Xihe, born in 252, died in 262
  • Liu Zan (劉瓚), Prince of Xinping, born in 256
  • Liu Chen, Prince of Beidi, born in 242, committed suicide in 263
  • Liu Xun (劉恂), Prince of Xinxing, born in 259, inherited the title of Duke of Anle
  • Liu Qu (劉璩), Prince of Shangdang, born in 259

Titles held[link]

• Crown Prince (太子) of Shu
• Emperor of Shu
• Duke of Anle (安樂公)

The following titles were granted to Liu Shan posthumously

• Duke Si of Anle (安樂思公)
• Emperor Xiaohuai (孝懷皇帝)

In fiction[link]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a 14th century historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, is a romanticization of the events that occurred before and during the Three Kingdoms era. The novel generally portrays Liu Shan as an incapable ruler who was easily swayed by words, especially those from his favorite eunuch, Huang Hao. Two famous stories from the novel involving Liu Shan are:

Battle of Changban[link]

In 208, Liu Bei was routed by an elite cavalry force led by the powerful warlord Cao Cao at Changban (northeast of present-day Dangyang County, Hubei) and was forced to leave behind Lady Gan and Liu Shan in his retreat. The general Zhao Yun stayed behind to protect the family members of Liu Bei. Although in history Zhao Yun led both mother and child to safety without incident, the novel in Chapter 41 fabricated the suicide of Lady Mi, another consort of Liu Bei and younger sister of Mi Zhu, so that Zhao Yun could concentrate on protecting the infant Liu Shan.

Refusing to take the only horse Zhao Yun had, which was sorely needed to break out of the enemy ranks, Lady Mi leapt into a dried well and killed herself. Zhao Yun then pushed the well over to cover up Lady Mi's corpse for fear of desecration by the enemy, before securing Liu Shan to his chest. He singlehandedly broke out of the enemy encirclement. Cao Cao was so impressed with the general's bravery that he ordered his troops not to fire arrows in the hope of capturing Zhao Yun alive. When Zhao Yun did catch up with Liu Bei and the rest, however, Liu Bei threw the child onto the ground to show that his officers were more important to him than his own son.

Zhao Yun rescues A'dou from Lady Sun[link]

In Chapter 61, Sun Shangxiang, younger sister of Sun Quan, married Liu Bei to secure an alliance between the two warlords, returned to her homeland to visit her sick mother, Lady Wu. The sickness, however, was a lie to persuade Sun Shangxiang to bring along Liu Shan, who would then be used as a hostage to exchange for Jing Province with Liu Bei. When Zhao Yun learned of her departure, he rushed down to the quay, where Sun Shangxiang had already boarded the boat manned by Zhou Shan, whom Sun Quan sent to fetch his sister.

Grabbing hold of a small fishing boat, Zhao Yun caught up with the larger boat and leapt onto it. Zhou Shan's soldiers were not able to stop him. Although Zhao Yun was able to forcibly retrieve Liu Shan from his stepmother, he was not able to get off the boat, which was speeding down the river back to Jiangdong. Fortunately, the boat was intercepted by a fleet led by Zhang Fei. When Zhou Shan tried to resist, Zhang Fei slew him. The two generals then brought the only son of Liu Bei safely back while Sun Shangxiang returned to Jiangdong.

Modern references[link]

Liu Shan is first introduced as a playable character in the seventh installment of Koei's Dynasty Warriors video game series.

See also[link]

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

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Chen Shou (2002). San Guo Zhi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80665-198-5. 
• Luo Guanzhong (1986). San Guo Yan Yi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80520-013-0. 
• Lo Kuan-chung; tr. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor (2002). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-3467-9. 

External links[link]

• Translation of the biography of Liu Shan in the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms at Empire Divided

Yuan Shao
Portrait of Yuan Shao in a Qing Dynasty edition of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Warlord
Born	(Unknown)
Died	June 28, 202
Names
Simplified Chinese	袁绍
Traditional Chinese	袁紹
Pinyin	Yuán Shào
Wade-Giles	Yuan Shao
Style name	Benchu (本初)

Yuan Shao (died June 28, 202)^[1][2] was a warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil war that occurred towards the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms era. He was also the older half-brother of Yuan Shu, a warlord who controlled the Huai River region, though the two were not on good terms with each other.

One of the most powerful warlords of his time, Yuan Shao spearheaded a coalition of warlords against Dong Zhuo, who held Emperor Xian hostage in the capital Luoyang, but failed due to internal disunity. In 200, he launched a campaign against his rival Cao Cao but was defeated at the Battle of Guandu. He died of illness two years later in Ye. His eventual failure despite his powerful family background and geographical advantages was commonly blamed on his indecisiveness and inability to heed the advice of his advisors.

Biography[link]

Family background[link]

A local of Ruyang County, Yuan Shao was born in a family with many members who had been in prominent positions in the civil bureaucracy of the Han Dynasty since the first century AD. Descended from Yuan An, who served during the reign of Emperor Zhang, Yuan Shao's exact parentage was the source of controversy and the major cause of dispute between him and Yuan Shu. Yuan Shao was a son of Yuan Feng (袁逢) and an older half-brother of Yuan Shu. Both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were great-grandsons of Yuan An, as recorded in Wang Chen (王沈)'s Book of Wei (魏書). Yuan Shao's mother was originally a servant maid of Yuan Feng, and since Yuan Feng lacked male children, the birth of Yuan Shao elevated his mother's status from a maid to a concubine. Chen Shou's Records of Three Kingdoms claimed that Yuan Shao was an older cousin of Yuan Shu. The reason for this was that Yuan Feng's older brother also lacked male children, so Yuan Shao was adopted by Yuan Feng's older brother. The adoption infuriated Yuan Shu, because his mother had a higher status than Yuan Shao's mother, even though she was also a concubine of Yuan Feng. Yuan Shao's adoption by their uncle meant that Yuan Shao would become the eldest male child in their clan, and would enjoy more privileges than Yuan Shu. When Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu became involved in disputes later, Yuan Shu would use Yuan Shao's mother as an excuse to claim that Yuan Shao was not a true son of the Yuan family. As compared to Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao had a more serious appearance and he respected men of talent regardless of their background. As such, he was welcomed by many since his childhood, including Cao Cao and Zhang Miao.

Service under the Han Dynasty[link]

When Yuan Shao was young, he participated in saving some of the "partisans" from death or other terrible fates during the second of the Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions. After he entered into government service, Yuan Shao initially served as an aide to General-in-Chief He Jin and was heavily trusted by the latter. After the death of Emperor Ling in 189, He Jin and Yuan Shao plotted to eliminate the eunuch faction, headed by the Ten Attendants, but Empress Dowager He was against their idea. He Jin then summoned Dong Zhuo to lead troops into the capital Luoyang to pressure the empress dowager. The eunuchs became fearful and they forged an edict in the empress dowager's name, summoning He Jin into the inner palace. Yuan cautioned He Jin, reminding him that he should order an attack on the eunuchs instead of entering the palace. After He Jin refused to accept his advice thrice, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu led 200 elite troops to wait outside. Inside the palace, He Jin was ambushed and assassinated by the eunuchs, who tossed his severed head over the wall. He Jin's angered followers set fire to the palace and charged in, slaughtering every person (except females) without a moustache or beard; to the extreme that many young men without facial hair had to show their genitals to avoid being mistaken for eunuchs and killed.^[3] Over 2,000 people were killed in the massacre, while the young Emperor Shao and Prince of Chenliu (future Emperor Xian) escaped during the chaos. The resulting power vacuum provided Dong Zhuo, who found and rescued the emperor and prince, with an opportunity to seize control of the capital city when he arrived.

Dong then discussed with Yuan about his plan to depose Emperor Shao and replace him with the Prince of Chenliu, but Yuan disagreed. Relations between the two deteriorated and Yuan fled from Luoyang to Ji Province (present day southern Hebei). At the time Yuan just got out of the city gate, Dong thought about sending men after him, but Zhou Bi, Wu Qiong and He Yong secretly helped Yuan by convincing Dong to let him go. As suggested by the three men, Dong appointed Yuan as Governor of Bohai Commandery (near present day Cangzhou, Hebei) in a bid to appease the latter.^[3]

Coalition against Dong Zhuo[link]

Sun Jian's advancement[link]

By early 190, however, Yuan became openly hostile. A coalition of regional officials and commanders from the eastern provinces, including Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Han Fu, Zhang Miao and Bao Xin, formed up behind him in a campaign to oust Dong Zhuo. Yuan Shao declared himself "General of Chariots and Cavalry" (車騎將軍) and camped at Henei (河內), near a ford on the Yellow River just north of Luoyang. Dong ordered the execution of all members of the Yuan clan in Luoyang, and sent out emissaries with imperial edict to order the regional officials to disband. However, members of the coalition listened to Yuan Shao, and had all the emissaries executed instead (except Han Rong). Dong then sent Hu Zhen, Lü Bu, and Hua Xiong to deter the coalition vanguard led by Sun Jian. Despite initial success, Sun was able to capitalize on the internal conflict between Hu and Lü, and had them defeated at Yangren. After that loss, Dong decided to move the capital to Chang'an, where his home base of Liang Province was nearby. A year later, Dong burned Luoyang to the ground and withdrew to the west with the mass of refugees. Although lacking a logistic base, Sun Jian and Cao Cao requested to pursue Dong's retreating force, but Yuan and other members largely disagreed with their opinion.^[4][5] Sun was ordered to rendezvous with Yuan Shu, so Cao led his own men to go on the pursuit alone, and was soundly defeated by Dong's subordinate, Xu Rong.

Dissolution[link]

During this time, Yuan and Han Fu had intended to establish the legitimacy of the coalition by making Liu Yu, governor of You Province (present day northern Hebei), the emperor. However, believing that it would be faithless to Emperor Xian for him to accept, Liu Yu declined the offer. When the scene of the ruined capital coming into their eyes, the disunited leaders of the coalition realized the Han Dynasty was coming to an end, and started planning on strengthening their position, and soon returned to their respective home base.

However, Yuan's army had had been joined by volunteer troops around the country, and Bohai Commandery would be far from sufficient to supply his army. Thus, his strategist, Pang Ji suggested him to form a secret alliance with the warlord Gongsun Zan and incite the latter to attack Han Fu's Ji Province.^[6] Facing an imminent attack from Gongsun, Han was terrified, and listened to Yuan's lobbyists, Gao Gan and Xun Chen, to give up the governorship to Yuan in order to drive the invader back. Yuan then began to build a warlord state from the capital city of Ji Province, Ye. In order to curtail Yuan Shu's sphere of influence, Yuan Shao formed an alliance with Cao Cao and Zhang Miao, and named his follower, Zhou Yu (周喁) as Inspector of Yu Province, a title to which Sun Jian had already been entitled, and sent him to attack Sun Jian's territories in Yu province while the latter was on his way back from Luoyang. In response, Yuan Shu allied with Gongsun and Tao Qian, and ordered Sun Jian to fight his half-brother. Although Zhou was able to defeat the forces of Gongsun in the Battle of Yangcheng, he was defeated by Sun Jian in the following battles. The first battles between the brothers ended in Yuan Shu's favour: he had engaged and defeated Yuan Shao's forces in both Yangcheng and Jiujiang, restored the position in Yingchuan Commandery under Sun, and eliminated Zhou as a threat once and for all although Jiujiang was not yet conquered. For Yuan Shao, on the other hand, the situation was extremely difficult: besides the failure in the south, he was also under threat from Gongsun Zan, who held Yuan Shao responsible for the death of his younger brother, Gongsun Yue, in battle and formally declared war against him, rejecting all of Yuan Shao's protestations of goodwill.^[7] This led to the clash between Yuan Shao and Gongsun in the Battle of Jieqiao. The Battle of Yangcheng, being the first moves in the struggle between the two Yuan, marked the beginning of a new stage in the confusion of wars which brought the end of the Han Dynasty, and confirmed the death of the alliance against Dong Zhuo as the warlords of the North China Plain started to battle each other for the ultimate dominion of China.

Unifying northern China[link]

In order to focus on the conflicts with Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao entered into a general alliance with Liu Biao against Yuan Shu. In the winter of that year, Yuan Shao defeated the cavalry forces of Gongsun at the Battle of Jieqiao with the use of massed crossbowmen. An imperial edict requiring Yuan and Gongsun to cease fire was sent, and to eradicate the Heishan bandits, Yuan returned to Ye with his army. With the short-term help from Lü Bu, Yuan Shao managed to defeat numerous units of the bandits, yet heavy casualties were incurred on both sides.^[6] Anyway, the threat the Heishan bandits posted to his western flank was drastically reduced. Despite warnings from his advisor Ju Shou that the move could sow seeds for future trouble, Yuan Shao insisted on sending his first-born Yuan Tan away to "govern" Qing Province (present day eastern Shandong), while the Yuan forces only controlled the city of Pingyuan in the province.

In subsequent years, Yuan Shao achieved considerable success in consolidating his domain and his oldest son, Yuan Tan, was exceptionally successful on his expansion in Qing Province;^[3] in 195, Ju Shou suggested that he welcome Emperor Xian to his province so that he could effectively be in control of the imperial government, but the other strategists Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong opposed — under the faulty logic that if he did, he would have to yield to Emperor Xian on key decisions. Yuan listened to Guo and Chunyu and gave up the opportunity to welcome the emperor to Cao Cao.

In 196 his prominent position in northern China was recognized by the imperial court, which was controlled by Cao Cao at the time, as the position of General-in-Chief and the title of Marquis of Ye were granted to him, but Yuan Shao turned them down. In 198 Yuan Shao advanced against Gongsun Zan and encircled his remaining force at Yijing (present day Xiongxian County, Hebei). By early 199 Gongsun Zan had been defeated for good at the Battle of Yijing and Yuan Shao held absolute power over the four provinces north of the Yellow River. Then, after establishing alliance with the Wuhuan tribes on the northern frontier, Yuan Shao eventually turned his attention to Cao Cao, who had been consolidating his power south of the Yellow River.

Battle of Guandu[link]

Both sides made preparations for a decisive battle, which would come to be known as the Battle of Guandu. Towards the end of 199 skirmishes were already being fought at Liyang (northwest of present-day Xun County, Henan), a major crossing point of the Yellow River. Cao Cao prepared his defenses around Guandu (northeast of present day Zhongmu County, Henan), slightly south of the river. When Liu Bei defected from Cao Cao in the first month of 200 and planted a foothold in Xu Province, Cao left his northern front exposed to Yuan and turned east to deal with Liu's rebellion. Tian Feng urged Yuan to attack Cao while he was away, but Yuan refused to launch an all-out offensive, instead he sent small detachments to harass his enemy, but was daunted by Yu Jin, the defender of Yan Ford (see Battle of Dushi Ford).

Shortly after Cao Cao returned to Guandu, Yuan had Chen Lin draft a document condemning Cao in what was essentially a declaration of war, and marched his main army toward the forward base of Liyang north of the river. At the time, Yuan's army boasted of numbers over 100,000. Heavily outnumbering Cao and holding large cavalry force, Yuan's initial attacks almost overwhelmed his enemy's positions. It is recorded in the Records of Three Kingdoms that Cao Cao on several occasions considered relinquishing his position, and consulted his chief strategist, Xun Yu on that decision, which Xun strongly opposed and further encouraged Cao to hold on. Following an unexpected defection of one of Yuan Shao's strategists and personal friends, Xu You, Cao Cao received confidential information on the whereabout of Yuan Shao's food storage. A strike led by Cao Cao and Yue Jin at Yuan's supply depot in Wuchao in late 200 burned down most of the grains available to Yuan Shao's army, thus brought the northern army to a collapse. Zhang He and Gao Lan immediately defected once they got wind of what happened in Wuchao, and many generals followed suit, Yuan Shao was unable to stop the trend and fled north across the Yellow River with only hundreds of loyaltists.

Yuan's first major defeat was also a decisive one. Thereafter, he lost the advantage over Cao Cao and never regained it. In 201, his force was again defeated by Cao, this time at the Battle of Cangting (in present day Yanggu County, Shandong), and many cities formerly controlled by the Yuan family switched allegiance to Cao Cao.

Futile effort to turn the tide and death[link]

After the battle of Cangting, Cao Cao's troops were exhausted and returned south for a rest. Meanwhile, Yuan was able to reorganize his defeated armies to settle the rebellions in his own domain, soon reestablishing order and restored the status quo ante.^[8] Yuan Shao had three sons, and he favored his third son, Yuan Shang, due to his good look, and both Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were his choice for succession.^[3] However, Yuan was never able to finalize on his decision regarding who should inherit his legacy before he died in the fifth lunar month of 202, leaving his domain to be contested by his sons and Cao Cao.

Immediately after Yuan Shao's death, Shen Pei and Pang Ji, two influential advisors, supported Yuan Shang and pushed for him to succeed Yuan Shao, despite opposition from Yuan Tan.^[3] Yuan Shao's wife, Lady Liu, supported Yuan Shang, and Yuan Tan could not do anything to change the outcome when he rushed back from Qing Province. Then, Lady Liu, having the power now, killed Yuan Shao's other five consorts out of jealousy and disfigured them. True to Ju Shou's previous warning, chaos ensued within Yuan's forces, and Cao Cao was able to manipulate this internal turmoil, and by 207 had defeated the remnants of Yuan's forces.

Cao Cao paid his respects at Yuan Shao's tomb after annexing the Yuan's headquarters in Ye in 204. Cao wept bitterly for his former friend in front of his followers and gave Yuan Shao's family consolatory gifts and a government pension.^[9]

Cause of Yuan Shao's downfall[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (December 2010)

Yuan Shao's defeat at the Battle of Guandu is cited as an excellent example of how superior tactics and strategy can be used to defeat much larger forces. By using feints, counterattacks and strategic withdrawals, Cao Cao managed to render Yuan Shao's vastly superior manpower useless. It can be said Yuan Shao was simply outsmarted by his former friend Cao Cao. According to some sources, however, his defeat can be attributed to his failure to listen to his advisor Tian Feng. It is said that he lost his chance to defeat Cao Cao early on when he refused to mobilise his army, claiming his son was ill with a toothache.

Some believe Yuan Shao's defeat was caused by senility. They argue that it would explain how a man who managed to become for a good period of time the dominant force in China could suddenly fail so completely. It is possible that it was a combination of senility, inability to listen to advice and his unfortunate luck in finding such a cunning foe that was Yuan Shao's downfall.

Cao Cao had once analyzed Yuan Shao before the Battle of Guandu. Cao Cao said: Yuan Shao will be defeated during the war.

1. He is arrogant, self-centered, and senile;
2. His advisers fight against each other;
3. His generals have brawn but no brain, Yan Liang and Wen Chou were valiant but unskilled in terms of using tactics;
4. His sons' rivalry: All three brothers appear to be disunited
5. He did not respect his followers or troops

Yuan Shao was defeated not long after this analysis.

Family[link]

• Ancestors:
  • Yuan An, great-great-grandfather, served as Excellency over the Masses, and Excellency of Works
  • Yuan Jing (袁京), great-grandfather, served as Excellency of Works
  • Yuan Tang (袁湯), grandfather, served as Excellency over the Masses, Excellency of Works, and Grand Commandant

• Father: Yuan Feng (袁逢), served as Excellency of Works

• Siblings:
  • Yuan Ji (袁基), older half-brother, served as Minister Coachman
  • Yuan Shu, younger half-brother, warlord, declared himself Emperor of Zhong later

• Spouses:
  • Principal wife, bore Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi
  • Lady Liu (劉夫人), bore Yuan Shang
  • Five other concubines, all killed by Lady Liu

• Children:
  • Yuan Tan, oldest son, waged war on Yuan Shang after his father's death, killed by Cao Cao
  • Yuan Xi, second son, moved to You Province after Yuan Shao's death, later fled to Liaodong with Yuan Shang, killed by Gongsun Kang
  • Yuan Shang, third son, Yuan Shao's successor, waged war on Yuan Tan after his father's death, fled to Liaodong with Yuan Xi, killed by Gongsun Kang
  • Yuan Mai (袁買)

• Relatives:
  • Yuan Wei (袁隗), uncle, served as Excellency over the Masses, and Grand Tutor
  • Yuan Cheng (袁成), uncle
  • Yuan Yi, older cousin, served as Prefect of Chang'an, and Inspector of Yang Province
  • Yuan Xu (袁敘), younger cousin
  • Yuan Yin, younger cousin, served as Administrator of Danyang
  • Yuan Manlai (袁滿來), cousin
  • Yuan Yida (袁懿達), cousin
  • Yuan Renda (袁仁達), cousin
  • Gao Gan, nephew

Modern references[link]

Yuan Shao is featured as a playable character in Koei's Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi video game series. He also appears in all 11 installments of Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy game series. He also has a minor role in Koei's Kessen II.

See also[link]

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

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Chen Shou (2002). Records of Three Kingdoms, Volume 6, Biography of Yuan Shao. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 978-7-80665-198-8. 
• Fan, Ye. Book of the Later Han.
• de Crespigny, Rafe (1990), Generals of the South: The foundation and early history of the Three Kingdoms state of Wu, Canberra: Australian National University, http://www.anu.edu.au/asianstudies/decrespigny/gos_index.html . Internet Edition.

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