Monday, September 8, 2008

Yuan Tan

Yuán Tán was the eldest son of the powerful warlord Yuan Shao, and served as a military commander under his father during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. After Yuan Shao's death, Yuan Tan split with his youngest brother Yuan Shang over the successorship to their father's realm. Yuan Tan sought help from the powerful warlord Cao Cao and defeated Yuan Shang. The alliance, however, eventually broke and Yuan Tan was defeated and executed by Cao Cao.

Life



Yuan Tan was born the eldest son of the powerful warlord, Yuan Shao. He accompanied his father to the famous Battle of Guandu against rival warlord Cao Cao in 200. Yuan Shao, however, was utterly defeated in the conflict and fell sick shortly after returning to his base city of . All along, Yuan Shao had intended to pass on his legacy to his youngest son Yuan Shang , who was said to be extremely handsome, but the successorship had not been clearly established by the time Yuan Shao died in 202.

Many officials intended to make Yuan Tan the successor according to seniority of the heirs but Shen Pei and Feng Ji , two influential advisors, supported Yuan Shang and pushed for him to inherit Yuan Shao's legacy. When Yuan Tan rushed back from his duty elsewhere, he could not revert the situation so instead he proclaimed himself General of Chariots and Cavalry , his father's former title.

In autumn of the same year, Cao Cao launched an offensive against the Yuan brothers. Yuan Tan stationed his troops in against the attack but his request for more troops was turned down by his brother, who feared Yuan Tan would take over military control. Yuan Shang then left Shen Pei to defend Ye and personally led a force to Liyang to assist in the defense. For half a year the battle went on but the Yuan brothers eventually gave up the city and retreated to Ye.

Cao Cao's advisor Guo Jia then suggested that the Yuan brothers would fight between themselves in the absence of an external enemy. Cao Cao took the counsel and withdrew his troops to attack Liu Biao in . Meanwhile, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang indeed began to battle each other. After suffering initial defeats, Yuan Tan retreated to and sent out an emissary seeking to ally with Cao Cao. Cao Cao agreed and even married a daughter to Yuan Tan to strengthen the alliance.

Yuan Shang soon led a force to attack his brother again but had to retreat when he heard news of Cao Cao's siege on Ye. His force tried to converge with that in the city but the attempt was foiled. The defeated Yuan Shang then escaped north deep into the Wuhuan territory. Meanwhile, Yuan Tan violated the alliance by taking Ganling , Anping County , Bohai Commandery and Hejian into his realm. He also took over some former troops of Yuan Shang after the latter went into exile. Cao Cao then turned his force against Yuan Tan, who retreated to . In 205, Yuan Tan was eventually defeated and executed by Cao Cao.

Yuan Tan in Romance of the Three Kingdoms



''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', a 14th century historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, was a romanticization of the events that occurred before and during the Three Kingdoms era. In Chapter 33, Yuan Tan was said to have sent Xin Ping as an emissary to Cao Cao while besieged in Nanpi County to seek surrender but was declined. When Xin Ping returned, Yuan Tan accused him of treason since his brother Xin Pi served in Cao Cao's camp. The undue accusation angered Xin Ping so much that he soon died, much to Yuan Tan's regret.

The next morning, Yuan Tan placed the commoners, who were hastily armed during the night, in front of his troops and marched into battle with Cao Cao outside the city. Yuan Tan was subsequently killed in battle by Cao Hong .

Yuan Xi

Yuán Xī was the second son of the warlord Yuán Shào and a military general under his father during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era in ancient China. After he was defeated in battle against Cáo Cāo, he fled to Liaodong with his younger brother Yuán Shàng and was betrayed and killed by Gongsun Kang, governor of Liaodong, who sent his head to Cáo Cāo. His wife Zhen Luo was seized by Cao Pi and became Cao Pi's wife. He could be the father of Cao Rui, the future Emperor Ming of Wei. This was due to the fact that Cao Rui was apparently born only eight months after Cao Pi married Lady Zhen, although this appeared to be rather unlikely given that Yuan Xi had been away from for quite some time before the marriage. It was because of this that Lady Zhen eventually lost Cao Pi's favor altogether.

Yuan Shao

Yuan Shao was a powerful warlord during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. He occupied the northern territories of ancient China during the massive civil war towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms era. He was also the elder brother of Yuan Shu, a warlord who controlled the Huai River region, though the two were not in good terms with each other.

One of the most powerful warlords of his time, Yuan Shao spearheaded a coalition of warlords against the tyrannical Dong Zhuo, who held hostage in the capital Luoyang, but failed due to internal disunity. In 200, he launched a campaign against rival warlord Cao Cao but was defeated utterly at the decisive Battle of Guandu. He died of sickness two years later in . 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.

Life


Early life and career


A local of the county of , Yuan Shao was born in the noble family, whose members had since the 1st century been prominent in the civil bureaucracy of the Han Dynasty. Descended from the Interior Minister Yuan An, who served under , Yuan Shao's exact parentage was the source of controversy and the major cause of dispute between him and Yuan Shu. Yuan Shao was an offspring of the Minister of Agriculture Yuan Feng , and an elder half-brother of Yuan Feng's son, Yuan Shu, both were great-grandson of Yuan An, as recorded by the ''Book of Wei'' by . Yuan Shao's mother was originally a maid in Yuan Feng's house, and since Yuan Feng lacked male offspring, the birth of Yuan Shao elevated his mother's status from a maid to a concubine. The '''' claimed that Yuan Shao was elder cousin to Yuan Shu. The reason for this was that Yuan Feng's older brother also lacked any male offsprings so Yuan Shao was adopted by Yuan Feng's older brother as his son. This adoption infuriated Yuan Shu, because despite also being a concubine's son, the younger Yuan Shu had a mother originally with higher status. The adoption of Yuan Shao by their elder uncle meant that Yuan Shao had become the eldest son of the clan, and would enjoy all the privileges associated with being the eldest. In their disputes in the later years, Yuan Shu would use the Yuan Shao's mother as an excuse to claim that Yuan Shao was really not a true son of the Yuan family, which inevitably would infuriate Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao was also a childhood friend of his future rival, Cao Cao.

When Yuan Shao was young, he participated in saving some of the "partisans" from death or other terrible fates during the second . 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 in 189, He Jin and Yuan Shao jointly plotted to execute the powerful eunuch faction but the empress dowager was against the move. He Jin then summoned Dong Zhuo to lead troops into the capital Luoyang to lay pressure on the empress dowager. Meanwhile, however, He Jin was assassinated by the eunuch faction, which was then involved in a bloody clash with Yuan Shao and other followers of He Jin. The resulting power vacuum provided an excellent opportunity for Dong Zhuo to seize control of the capital when he arrived.

Dong Zhuo then discussed with Yuan Shao about his plan to depose the young successor to Emperor Ling in favor of Emperor Xian, but Yuan Shao disagreed. Relationship between the two deteriorated sharply and Yuan Shao fled the capital to Ji province . Fearing the many connections the influential Yuan family had, Dong Zhuo then assigned Yuan Shao to governor of Bohai Commandery in a bid to appease the latter.

Coalition against Dong Zhuo



By early 190, however, Yuan Shao 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" and camped at , near a ford on the Yellow River just north of Luoyang. Dong Zhuo then had the emperor taken to the strategically defensive Chang'an and a year later, he burned Luoyang to the ground and withdrew to the west himself.

During this time, Yuan Shao and Han Fu had intended to boost the righteousness of the coalition by making , governor of You province , the emperor. However, believing that it would be faithless to Emperor Xian for him to accept, Liu Yu declined the offer. By 191, the confrontation with Dong Zhuo had largely turned into a stalemate and the disunited leaders of the coalition soon disbanded.

Warlord state


In 191, Han Fu, governor of Ji province, gave up the governorship to Yuan Shao in the face of an imminent attack by Gongsun Zan from the north. Yuan Shao then began to build a warlord state from his base city at . He engaged in a general alliance with Liu Biao against his own cousin Yuan Shu so as to focus on the conflicts with Gongsun Zan. In the winter of that year, Yuan Shao successfully defeated the cavalry forces of Gongsun Zan at the Battle of Jieqiao with the use of massed crossbowmen. Yuan Shao then turned southwest to eradicate the Heishan bandits. With the short-term help from Lü Bu, Yuan Shao managed to defeat the bandit leader Zhang Yan and removed the threat to his western flank.

In subsequent years, Yuan Shao achieved considerable success in consolidating his domain and absorbing the smaller powers around him. In 196 his prominent position in northern China was recognized by Emperor Xian, who granted him the position of General-in-Chief and the title of Marquis of Ye, but Yuan Shao turned them down. In 198 Yuan Shao advanced against Gongsun Zan and encircled his remaining force at . By early 199 Gongsun Zan had been defeated for good at the decisive Battle of Yijing and Yuan Shao held absolute power over the four provinces north of the Yellow River. 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 . 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





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, a major crossing point of the Yellow River. Cao Cao prepared his defenses around Guandu , slightly south of the river. Heavily outnumbering Cao Cao and holding large cavalry force, Yuan Shao's initial attacks almost overwhelmed his enemy's positions. A strike at Yuan Shao's supply lines in late 200, however, brought the northern army to a collapse. As many of his generals defected, Yuan Shao fled north across the Yellow River with his sons.

His first major defeat was also a decisive one. Thereafter, Yuan Shao lost the initiative and never regained it. In 202, he was again defeated, this time at Cangting . He died shortly after. His first wife, so filled with jealousy, killed his other five consorts and disfigured their faces to prevent them from meeting him in the underworld. True to Ju Shou's previous warning, Yuan Shao's legacy was left to contention between his eldest and youngest sons, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang. Cao Cao was able to manipulate this internal rivalry, and by 207 had defeated both.

It is said that Cao Cao paid respect to Yuan Shao's tomb after his total annexation of his former countries, Cao Cao was showing remorse in front of his generals and made a comment that it was unavoidable for turning his former friend into an enemy.

Cause of his defeat


Yuan Shao's defeat to Cao Cao at 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 highly likely 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 analysed Yuan Shao before the Battle of Guandu. Cao Cao said: Yuan Shao will be defeated during the war.

#He is arrogant, self-centred, and senile;
#His advisers fight against each other;
#His generals have brawn but no brain, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, valiant but stupid in terms of using tactics;
#His sons' rivalry: All 3 brothers can't seem to unite
#he did not respect his officers or troops

These reasons Cao Cao noted were indeed true, Yuan Shao was defeated not long after this analysis.

Modern citations



*Yuan Shao has appeared in Koei's ''Dynasty Warriors'' and ''Dynasty Tactics'' video game series.

*In ''Warriors Orochi'' a crossover game between Dynasty Warriors and ''Samurai Warriors'', Yuan Shao leads a resistance army with the aid of Yukimura Sanada. After his defeat at Cheng Du he and his forces are captured by Orochi, but are rescued by the resistance army led by Zhao Yun. He then joins Zhao Yun in the fight against Orochi.

*Yuan Shao has a minor role in Koei's ''Kessen II'' title. In the game, the Battle of Guandu distracts Cao Cao, allowing Liu Bei, an ally of Yuan Shao and the player's character, to advance to , setting the stage for the game's second level.

*He also is in each of the 11 versions of Koei's strategical simulation, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He is portrayed very closely to that of his novel persona, and has stats that follow the same pattern as Cao Cao's in the game, but lower.

*He is also mentioned in Squaresoft's '''': There is a location called the Yuanshao Peninsula.

Zhang Fei

Zhang Fei was a military general of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of China.

Zhang Fei was shown to have been a masterful general rather than simply a warrior. He treated his superiors with respect, but had little respect for his underlings. He was often warned by Liu Bei that his habit of over-punishing his own soldiers by lashing and killing would eventually bring himself disaster.

Zhang Fei married Xiahou Yuan's daughter, who was captured by Zhang Fei's troops as she was out gathering firewood. They had a total of two daughters, and the older daughter became the empress of Shu Han after marrying Liu Shan, with Zhuge Liang as the matchmaker. After Zhang Fei's eldest daughter had passed away due to natural causes, Zhuge Liang once again played the role of matchmaker, and Liu Shan married Zhang Fei's younger daughter, who thus succeeded her older sister to become the empress of Shu Han.

Zhang Fei is best portrayed through his description and actions depicted in ''Records of Three Kingdoms'' biography by Chen Shou. Some claim that Zhang Fei was also an excellent painter.

Zhang Fei was killed by his own men Zhang Da and Fan Jiang, while preparing his troops to attack the rival Eastern Wu to avenge the death of Guan Yu. Zhang Da and Fan Jiang went on to defect to Wu.

Life


To the end of Eastern Han, Zhang Fei, alongside Guan Yu, joined Liu Bei's militia against the Yellow Turbans Rebellion. He then became Liu Bei's bodyguard and such a friend as close as brothers with Liu Bei and Guan Yu that they even often slept on the same bed.

When Liu Bei was chased by Cao Cao's army at the Battle of Changban, Zhang Fei, with twenty cavalries, demolished a bridge to slow Cao Cao's pursuit. Zhang Fei stood beside the broken bridge and shouted in challenge at Cao Cao's army, but no one dared make a move against him. He then destroyed the bridge, giving Liu Bei time to escape.

After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Liu Bei took over the southern part of Jing province and made Zhang Fei the Administrator of . When Liu Bei Zhang Fei was commanded to attack Jiangzhou, where he captured an enemy general, Yan Yan. Facing Zhang's insults, Yan Yan condemned him for invading Yi province. Yan Yan was originally ordered to be executed by the angry Zhang Fei, but Yan Yan's fearlessness of death impressed Zhang Fei and his life was pardoned. Yan Yan then surrendered to Liu Bei.

Zhang Fei's victory during the western expedition resulted in the capture of the whole Yizhou. After resisting the force led by Zhang He of Cao army, Zhang Fei led a force upon Hanzhong, which was under Cao's control then, but failed. After Liu Bei finally annexed the important Hanzhong, Zhang Fei was regarded by many as a proper choice for the Administrator, but Wei Yan was appointed instead, to Zhang Fei's disappointment.

After Liu Bei declared himself the Emperor of Shu-Han, he led an army to retake Jing province, which had been taken by Sun Quan. Zhang Fei was preparing to lead ten thousand men to join the campaign. However, two men in Zhang's camp, Fan Jiang and Zhang Da, assassinated him and carried his head to Eastern Wu. When Liu Bei saw Zhang Fei's assistant who was going to report Zhang's death, he sighed, "Oh! Zhang Fei is dead."

Zhang Fei had two sons, Zhang Bao and Zhang Shao . Zhang Bao died young and Zhang Shao worked as an officer of Shu Han. Zhang Bao's son, Zhang Zun , died resisting the army that eventually ended the southwestern reign of Shu Han.

In fiction


In the historical novel ''Romance of Three Kingdoms'', Zhang Fei is styled Yìdé instead of Yìdé . He was originally a butcher, then eventually became the second member of the Five Tiger Generals. According to the legend, he swore an oath of brotherhood with Liu Bei and Guan Yu, known as the Oath of the Peach Garden. In the novel, he has an obsession with wine that affected his judgement from time to time; however, that is apparently an invention of the author Luo Guanzhong for the novel as Zhang Fei was not known as an alcoholic historically.

At the Battle of Changban, Zhang Fei spotted the tired Zhao Yun and the baby Liu Shan, who Zhao was carrying, pass by. Facing an impending army of thousands, Zhang Fei rode out alone on the Changban Bridge to hold off the pursuing army of Cao Cao to insure Zhao Yun's escape. He glared and pointed his spear, shouting, "I am Zhang Fei of Yan, and anyone who wants to can come and challenge me to fight to the death," which was so effective that it was said to have frightened and held off 10,000 troops and scared Xiahou Jie to immediate death. None of the army dared to proceed and even upon the arrival of Cao Cao himself they were still wavering. Cao Cao, fearing an ambush devised by Zhuge Liang, eventually decided not to attack Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei, however, was later rebuked by Liu Bei for ordering his soldiers to burn Changban Bridge down so as to delay the pursuit of Cao Cao's forces. Zhang Fei was unhappy about this, and Liu Bei was later proven right when Cao Cao guessed correctly that Zhang Fei had burned the bridge out of fear. Ironically, Zhang Fei had successfully pulled off a ruse against Cao Cao when he commanded his soldiers to attach logs to their horses so as to raise large dust clouds, creating the illusion that Zhang had a large ambush army with him.

Throughout ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', Zhang Fei is shown as exceedingly loyal and known for his strength and skill as a warrior, but also short-tempered, which often got him into problems more often than not on the battlefield. Zhang Fei's fierce sense of loyalty was demonstrated when Guan Yu had left Cao Cao to return to Liu Bei - he had taken refuge when Cao under the condition that he would leave upon discovering his elder brother's whereabouts - and Zhang Fei refused to believe that Guan Yu had not defected to Cao already. Zhang Fei fought with Guan Yu in three fierce rounds, but the latter held back throughout, trying to explain to Zhang the truth. Thankfully, it was resolved without any bloodshed from the brothers.

Zhang Fei had a son , an equally competent general who served the Shu kingdom dutifully. Zhang Bao later personally executed Zhang Da and Fan Jiang, his father's assassins, when Sun Quan, the ruler of Wu, sent them both back to Shu Han as a goodwill gift to negotiate for peace, as Liu Bei had personally led an army against Wu.

Zhang Fei also appears on the Kunqu stage as a hualian. Particularly famous is the scene "The Swaying Reeds", in which he ambushes, humiliates and sets free Zhou Yu.

Zhang Fei had two daughters whom both married Liu Shan, the son of Liu Bei and the second and last ruler of Shu.

Modern depictions



* Zhang Fei appears in multiple video game titles under Koei's umbrella historical simulation series. These include '''', ''Dynasty Warriors'' and ''Dynasty Tactics''. In ''Dynasty Warriors'', he carries a snake spear called the "Viper Blade", which recives another blade at the end in ''Dynasty Warriors 6''.

* He also appears in ''Kessen II'', the one title in the ''Kessen'' series to portray the Three Kingdoms era. In many of these titles, Zhang Fei, just as with other characters of the novel, is exaggerated in personality and appearance. Zhang Fei's drunkenness and brutish bearing are two such embellished traits.

* Zhang Fei was present in ''Warriors Orochi'', in which he and Guan Yu were forced to work for Orochi under the threat that Liu Bei would be executed. He and Guan Yu later reconciled and joined Zhao Yun's Coalition, in an attempt to rescue Liu Bei.

*Zhang Fei also appears in a number of non-Koei titles, such as ''Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon'' and ''Destiny of an Emperor''.

* Zhang Fei is also present in 's , portrayed much as he appears in the novel.

Trivia


*Legend has it, that on the night Zhang Fei was murdered by Zhang Da and Fan Jiang, his assassins found him sleeping with his eyes wide open and were about to abandon their plot, but his snoring revealed that he was indeed asleep. In modern China, when someone sleeps in caution or with half-opened eyes they are sometimes referred to as "Zhang Fei eyes".

*Zhang Fei enjoyed gardening. There are some trees he planted in Chengdu that exist to this day.

Zhang Lu

Zhang Lu was a warlord during the Three Kingdoms era of China. After his grandfather, and then father, he was the third leader of Tianshi Dao , a religious group. He controlled the Hanzhong region, which he had named Han'ning until 215, when he surrendered to Cao Cao, who he would serve until his death one year later.

Life



Warlord of Hanzhong


Upon the death of his father, , Zhang Lu inherited control of the Celestial Masters religious group, and therefore became its third leader. The religion enjoyed its greatest popularity in Yizhou , but when Zhang Lu took control of the group, it was being challenged in the area by a shamanistic religion lead by Zhang Xiu .

Against this background, both Zhang Lu and Zhang Xiu were abruptly ordered by to go together to attack the forces of the official governor of Hanzhong, Su Gu and take over his territory. However, having his own designs, Zhang Lu killed Zhang Xiu and absorbed his armies and religious followers into his own group before he went off for the campaign against Hanzhong. He successfully manged to defeat Su Gu, and upon taking control of Hanzhong, renamed the region Han'ning , ruling it by the principles of his religion. It is worth noting that although he nominally followed the orders of Liu Yan, when succeeded him many years later, Zhang Lu refused to follow Liu Zhang's orders. As a result, Zhang Lu's mother, younger brothers, and many other family members were executed by Liu Zhang.

It is said that Zhang Lu's rulership over his territory was for its time very humane and civilized. Roads were built throughout the territory with rest stops and foods provided free of charge. The taxes and donations taken from the people were not to be used for amusement, but instead for the support of the common people. In addition, under his leadership was a powerful army and strong defences such that neither Cao Cao nor Li Jue could easily defeat him. His authority was recognized by the Han court, who granted him generalship and named him official Governor of Han'ning . According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, he was then presented with a jeweled seal by the common people of his realm, which was a sign from Heaven that he was to become a king. Many of his subordinates urged him to declare himself a king, but his advisor Yan Pu warned that to do so would bring disaster. Zhang Lu heeded his advice.

Surrender to Cao Cao


In the year 211, Zhong Yao, an advisor of Cao Cao, suggested an invasion of Zhang Lu's territory. However, Ma Chao and Han Sui, whose territory was between Cao Cao's and Zhang Lu's, interpreted the massing of forces as an attempt to invade their own lands. They rebelled against Cao Cao, and after much fighting, Cao Cao's forces were victorious. However, they were in no shape to continue the invasion to Hanzhong. Ma Chao retreated to Hanzhong and pledged allegiance to Zhang Lu, who considered marrying his daughter to him. However, a servant of Zhang Lu's, Yang Bo , said, "A man like that, who has no love for even his parents , cannot love another." and the marriage proposal was scrapped. Ma Chao then borrowed soldiers from Zhang Lu and attempted to regain some of his lost territory from Cao Cao, but was ultimately unsuccessful. His failures caused the relationship between the two to sour. When Liu Bei's forces had surrounded Liu Zhang, Ma Chao chose this time to take his leave of Hanzhong, and with his personal army he joined Liu Bei. Ma Chao's subordinate Pang De, however, remained in Zhang Lu's service.

In 215, Cao Cao again launched a campaign to conquer Hanzhong. Initially, Zhang Lu had no hope of standing against Cao Cao's armies, and planned to surrender. His younger brother Zhang Wei, however, insisted on fighting and lead his army against the invading forces. He was soon killed in battle, and again Zhang Lu considered surrendering. His advisor Yan Pu, told him that surrendering so easily, they would have no position to negotiate from. Instead, Zhang Lu retreated to his fortress at Bazhong . When leaving his capital, he did not destroy his wealth and treasures, nor attempt to take them with him, instead leaving them behind saying "These things belong to the country, not to me." Cao Cao was greatly impressed by this, and sent a messenger to Zhang Lu asking him to surrender. Yan Pu's plan was successful, as Zhang Lu and his forces were warmly welcomed by Cao Cao. He was given the title General who Suppresses the South and his five sons were granted the rank of marquis. He married his daughter to the son of Cao Cao, Cao Yu . As further proof of the bad blood between Zhang Lu and Ma Chao, when Cao Cao turned Ma Chao's son Ma Qiu over to Zhang Lu, he immediately executed him.

When Zhang Lu died, not long after surrendering to Cao Cao, he was created a marquis . The Five Pecks of Rice religion was continued by his sons, later to evolve into the Taoist religion known as Zhengyi Dao.

Zhang Lu in ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''


In the historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', a fictionalized and dramaticised account of the Three Kingdoms era, Zhang Lu is portrayed as strongly craving the title of King of Han'ning, and attempting to aggressively expand his territory. In the novel he attempts to invade Liu Zhang's Yizhou, only to be stopped. When Ma Chao left his service, he sent a servant Yang Bo along to spy on him. However, when Ma Chao joined Liu Bei, he killed Yang Bo.

Family


*Zhang Daoling
*
*Zhang Wei
*Zhang Fu
*Zhang Cheng
He had three more sons, and one daughter, whose names are not recorded.

Zhang Qian

Zhang Qian was an imperial envoy to the outside world in the 2nd century BC, during the time of the Han Dynasty. He was the first official diplomat to bring back reliable information about Central Asia to the Chinese imperial court, then under Emperor Wu of Han, and played an important pioneering role in the Chinese colonization and conquest of the region now known as Xinjiang.

Today Zhang Qian's travels are associated with the major route of transcontinental trade, the Silk Road. In essence, his missions opened up to China the many kingdoms and products of an unknown and new part of the world. Zhang Qian's accounts of his explorations of Central Asia are detailed in the Early Han historical chronicles , compiled by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC . Today Zhang Qian is considered a national hero for the key role he played in opening China to the world of commercial trade.

Zhang Qian's Missions



Zhang Qian was born just east of Hanzhong in the north central province of Shaanxi, China. in modern Tajikistan. However to get to the territory of the Yuezhi he was forced to pass through land controlled by the Xiongnu who captured him and enslaved him for ten years. During this time he married a Xiongnu wife and gained the trust of the Xiongnu leader.

Zhang and Ganfu were eventually able to escape and, passing Lop Nor and following the northern edge of the Tarim Basin, around the Kunlun Mountains and through small fortified areas in the middle of oases in what is now Xinjiang until they made their way to Dayuan and eventually to the land of the Yuezhi. The Yuezhi were agricultural people who produced strong horses and many unknown crops including alfalfa for animal fodder. However, the Yuezhi were too settled to desire war against the Xiongnu. Zhang spent a year in Yuezhi and the adjacent Bactrian territory, documenting their cultures, lifestyles and economy, before beginning his return trip to China, this time following the southern edge of the Tarim Basin.. Upon Zhang Qian's return to China he was honoured with a position of palace counselor. Although he was unable develop commercial ties between China and these far-off lands, his efforts did eventually result in trade mission to the Wu-sun people in 119 BC which led to trade between China and .

On his mission Zhang Qian had noticed products from an area now known as northern India However, the task remained to find a trade route not obstructed by the Xiongnue to India. Zhang Qian set out on a second mission to forge a route from China to India via Sichuan, but after many attempts this effort proved unsuccessful. In 115 BC Zhang Qian was sent on a third mission by the emperor, to develop ties with the Wusun people living southeast of Lake Balkhash in what is now theIli Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture.

Although Zhang Quian's journeys had promoted a great variety of economic and cultural exchanges between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions, because silk was the dominant product traded this trade link became known as the Silk Route.

Zhao Xin

Zhao Xin , was originally a marquis of Xiongnu stock, who previously surrendered to the Han Dynasty. His name Zhao Xin was probably adopted through during his service at Han. He was one of the six generals led by Wei Qing during an expedition in 123 BC, and led a 3,000-strong vanguard forces along with fellow general Su Jian. Upon clashing with the Xiongnu forces, he defected back to Xiongnu, while Su Jian managed to escape after his forces were annihilated. A Xiongnu fortress named after him was constructed near the Khangai Mountains, soon after his submission to Yixixie Chanyu. That fortress was later completely destroyed by Wei Qing's forces during the finishing phase of the Battle of Mobei.

Zheng Ji (Han Dynasty general)

Zheng Ji , born in , was a general during Han Dynasty, and served the first Protector General of the Western Regions in the 60 BC.

Zhou Yafu

Zhou Yafu was a renowned Han Dynasty general who put down the Rebellion of the Seven States, but whose honesty and integrity eventually cost him the favor of and his life. Zhou is viewed in Chinese history as the epitome of proper military discipline.

Early career


Zhou's father, Zhou Bo was one of the key generals for Liu Bang during the Chu Han Contention who would continue to play important roles in government and who was instrumental in the ascension to the throne by Emperor Jing's father . For his accomplishments, Zhou Bo was created the Marquess of Jiang. After Zhou Bo died in 169 BC, his son and Zhou Yafu's older brother Zhou Shengzhi inherited the , but after one year he was accused of murder and executed. In his stead, Zhou Yafu was created a marquess, but of a different march . Later made the governor of the Commandery of Taiyuan , Zhou quickly gained the reputation of being a capable administrator and military commander.

In 158 BC, when Xiongnu made a major incursion into the Commanderies of Shang and Yunzhong , Emperor Wen made a visit to the camps of armies preparing to defend the capital Chang'an against a potential Xiongnu attack. It was on this occasion when he became impressed with Zhou as a military commander -- compared to the other generals, who, upon the emperor's arrival, dropped all things and did what they could to make the emperor feel welcome, Zhou remained on military alert and required the imperial guards to submit to proper military order before he would allow the imperial train to enter. Later, Emperor Wen would leave instructions for Crown Prince Liu Qi that if military emergencies arose, he should make Zhou his commander of armed forces.

Actions during the Rebellion of the Seven States


After Crown Prince Qi became emperor in 157 BC, a military emergency would in fact arise. Afraid of the princes of collateral lines of the imperial clan becoming overly powerful, Emperor Jing, under the advice of Chao Cuo , attempted to reduce the size of the principalities, and seven principalities, led by the powerful Principalities of Wu and Chu rebelled in a war later known as the Rebellion of the Seven States. In accordance with Emperor Wen's instructions, Emperor Jing made Zhou the commander of the armed forces. At that time, the Wu and Chu forces were fiercely attacking the Principality of Liang , whose prince Liu Wu was Emperor Jing's beloved younger brother, and Emperor Jing ordered Zhou to immediately head to Liang to save it. Zhou refused, reasoning that the proper strategy would involve first cutting off the Wu and Chu supply lines, thus starving them, so he headed to the northeast side of Liang and around the Wu and Chu forces to cut off their supplies. The strategy was effective. Wu and Chu, unable to capture Liang quickly and realizing that their supplies were dwindling, headed northeast to attack Zhou. After being unable to get a decisive victory against Zhou, the Wu and Chu forces collapsed from starvation. Liu Pi fled to Donghai, which killed him and sought peace with Han. Liu Wu, the Prince of Chu, committed suicide. The other principalities involved were all eventually defeated as well. Zhou's effective strategy was praised and admired by the other generals, but not by Prince Wu of Liang, who would bear a grudge against Zhou for the rest of their lives for Zhou's refusal to save him first. His cause was also taken up by his and Emperor Jing's mother, , who favored her young son greatly.

Post-Rebellion career


In the aftermaths of the war, Zhou was made prime minister and became well-trusted by Emperor Jing. After Zhou unsuccessfully tried to persuade Emperor Jing not to Liu Rong in 150 BC, however, Zhou lost the favor of the emperor. Prince Wu and Empress Dowager Dou, still bearing grudges, also attacked him incessantly whenever they could. Soon, joining their side would be Emperor Jing's empress and her brother Wang Xin, whom Empress Dowager Dou wanted to create a marquess but whose candidacy was repeatedly rebuffed by Zhou. After a further disagreement over policy with Xiongnu defectors -- Emperor Jing wanted to bestow them with honors to encourage future Xiongnu defectors while Zhou, opining that they were traitors, wanted to simply let them live in obscurity -- Emperor Jing removed Zhou as prime minister in 147 BC.

Death


In 143 BC, on one occasion, Zhou was summoned to dinner with the emperor, when the emperor had a large piece of meat placed before him, but not cut into small pieces, and no chopsticks were provided to him. Zhou requested chopsticks from the imperial attendants. Emperor Jing looked at him and smiled and said, "Are you not satisfied?" Zhou saw that this was a setup, and immediately apologized and withdrew. After he left, Emperor Jing made the comment, "This complainer is no subject for my son when he becomes emperor!"

Later that year, when Zhou's son, in anticipation of his death, purchased retired armor and weapons from the imperial armory to serve as burial decorations. Zhou's son refused to pay the delivery workers, and the delivery workers, in retaliation, accused the Zhous of treason because at the time unauthorized purchase of weapons was treated as treason and punishable by death. Emperor Jing sent investigators to interrogate Zhou, who refused to talk to them. Offended, Emperor Jing had Zhou Yafu arrested and interrogated in prison, and the interrogator, when told by Zhou that the armor and weapons were for burial purposes, accused him of "underground treason" -- i.e., ready to commit treason against the spirits of the emperors after he himself dies. Zhou, who initially wanted to commit suicide when he was arrested but was persuaded not to by his wife, eventually committed suicide in prison by starvation.

Impact on Chinese history


Zhou's legacy in history is mixed. He is greatly admired for his military strategies, but even more so for his style of military discipline. He also is admired for his honesty and integrity. Those same characteristics, however, would eventually lead to his terrible fate, for they caused him to offend powerful individuals that he could not afford to offend -- including, eventually, the emperor himself. His death was also one black mark on the otherwise highly regarded reign of Emperor Jing.

Zhou Yu

Zhou Yu was a famous and one of the most capable military strategists for Sun Ce and his successor Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms era; the turbulent years leading to the end of Han Dynasty in China.

Life


Early life


Zhou Yu was born in . Zhou Yu was born into a cultured family that produced many officials, and when Sun Jian was attacking Dong Zhuo, he moved his family to live together with Zhou Yu's family. Sun Jian's son Sun Ce and Zhou Yu studied together and became lifelong friends. Soon, Zhou Yu's uncle became the governor of Danyang, and the whole family relocated to Danyang, where they served Yuan Shu.

Sun Ce, under a commission from Yuan Shu, entered Yangzhou in order to aid his relatives, Wu Jing and Sun Ben, who were attacked by . Zhou Yu and his uncle, Zhou Shang, were among the first to join Sun Ce's army, superseded only by a fellow officer of Yuan Shu, Lü Fan, and the former retainers of Sun Jian. After Sun Ce defeated Liu Yao and his allies, Zhou Yu and his uncle were summoned to return to Yuan Shu while Sun Ce continued his conquests.

In 197, confident that he had Sun Ce's support, Yuan Shu declared himself Emperor. Sun Ce, citing loyalty to , declared independence and allied with Lü Bu, Cao Cao, and Liu Bei to oppose his former master. It was at this time that Zhou Yu returned to Sun Ce's army, this time bringing a wealthy merchant named Lu Su, who would go on to serve the Sun family as Zhou Yu's successor.

It was around this time that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce wed the Two Qiaos, daughters of Qiao Xuan, a famed scholar and critic. Very soon afterwards, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu pacified most of Yangzhou Province south of Yangtze and extended their power both south into the native Yue area and north into the Huai River region, defeating Liu Xun and the remnant forces of Yuan Shu in the north as well as Huang Zu and the forces of Liu Biao to the west.

Campaigns against Huang Zu and Cao Cao


In 200, Sun Ce was assassinated and he passed down his power to his brother, Sun Quan. Zhou Yu took over the military affairs while Zhang Zhao was given the domestic affairs. Around this time, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and he demanded that Sun Quan send a family member hostage. Zhou Yu advised against sending a hostage. This raised Zhou Yu's respect within the Sun family, and he was treated as an elder brother by Sun Quan. In 206, Zhou Yu attacked the local bandits and captured over ten thousand people and resettled them. Then he repelled an attack by Liu Biao and captured enemy general Deng Long.

In 208, Sun Quan ordered an attack on Jiangxia, which was protected by the Sun family's nemesis, Huang Zu. Zhou Yu led the navy, and along with Gan Ning, Lü Meng, Dong Xi and Xu Sheng, defeated Huang Zu at Xiakou, killing him. It was not shortly thereafter that Cao Cao began a general campaign aimed at wiping out all opposition in southern China and reunify the empire. As his army conquered Jingzhou and was closing in on Sun Quan, Sun Quan's court was divided on the issue of whether to surrender or resist. Sun Quan consulted Zhou Yu, who replied: "Although Cao Cao pretends to be a minister of Han, he is actually a thief who is attempting to steal the empire from Han. Your majesty, with your brilliant talent and your father and brother's military prowess, have ruled and pacified Eastern Wu. The territory stretches thousand of '''', the soldier are well trained, brilliant advisors of great talents are at your disposal. It is the time to get rid Cao Cao and help the Han dynasty to reunify China. Cao Cao came down south and presented himself as an opportunity for you, your majesty. Now I will analyse for you the dire situation Cao Cao has placed himself into: Even if the north has been completely unified, can Cao Cao's ground based army fight against our superior navy and marines? The truth is that the north has not been completely pacified. Ma Chao will remain a thorn in Cao Cao's flesh. Cao Cao's superior cavalry is useless against the mountainous and watery terrain of the south. Winter is upon us, and yet Cao Cao's large army has to depend on a long supply line halfway across China. Cao Cao's army are mainly composed of northerners, and they are not used to the environment of the south, thus they will easily become sick. With all of these problems, I promise you that with thirty thousand men, I can easily break him." Greatly relieved, Sun Quan decided to fight.


The famous Battle of Red Cliffs ensued. Contrary to popular belief, Zhuge Liang did not contribute much and Zhou Yu was the supreme commander of the united forces against Cao Cao. In this battle, a series of stratagems were employed by Zhou Yu to destroy Cao Cao's giant fleet. Huang Gai proposed a plan in which he pretended to surrender to Cao Cao and infiltrated Cao Cao's camp. There, he set his own ships on fire and rammed them into Cao Cao's ships before jumping into the river. Much of Cao Cao's ships were destroyed and Cao Cao was forced to flee back to Xuchang.

Afterwards, Zhou Yu led his army in pursue and laid siege to the strategic town of Nanjun . While on the front lines, Zhou Yu was struck by a stray arrow and seriously wounded. He withdrew from the frontlines, leaving Cheng Pu, who had shared command responsibilities with Zhou Yu, to command the siege. Cao Ren, the defending general, heard of Zhou Yu's wounds and attempted to launch a counterattack, but Zhou Yu personally inspected his troops and sent them into battle, nearly slaying Cao Ren's officer, Niu Jin. After a year of siege, Nanjun was taken and Zhou Yu was named Governor of Nanjun.

Death


In 210, Zhou Yu proposed to Sun Quan his plan to attack Liu Zhang of Yizhou and unify all of southern China under Sun Quan against northern China under Cao Cao. Further, he proposed an alliance with Zhang Lu of Hanzhong and Ma Chao of Xiliang, whom Zhou Yu correctly predicted would soon oppose Cao Cao . While preparing for the long expedition, he died at age thirty-five in Baqiu .

He was buried in his ancestral home in Lujiang. He was succeeded in his military command by Lu Su and in his nobility rank by his eldest son, .

Qualities


Zhou Yu was intelligent and young, and he was also considered a very handsome man by his contemporaries. He was very open and made friends with his humbleness. Cheng Pu was an elder general of Sun Jian and he made fun of Zhou Yu's youth. Yet Zhou Yu took all of the abuse stoically and they eventually became great friends. He was a man of many talents, who was also well versed in music and poems. There was a saying at that time: "Should the tune be in error, Zhou Yu takes note."

He was also famous for his loyalty. Even though Sun Quan saw Zhou Yu as an older brother, Zhou Yu never crossed the line, and he always served Sun Quan with humility and care.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms and classical culture


In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', Zhou Yu was portrayed as a jealous man who relentlessly tried—and failed—to outwit Zhuge Liang. Furthermore, his role was deliberately overshadowed by Zhuge Liang, especially in the Battle of Red Cliffs. For example, the arrow-stealing ploy employed by Zhuge Liang is attributed to Sun Quan in many other texts. Zhuge Liang even causes Zhou Yu's death: having been poisoned by in a previous ambush, Zhou Yu is thrice provoked by Zhuge Liang and dies a bitter man, his last words being: "Having born Yu, whyfore also Liang?"

On the Kunqu stage, Zhou Yu appears as a zhiweisheng, as in the scene "The Swaying Reeds", where he is captured and ultimately set free by Zhang Fei.

In Chinese opera, Zhou Yu is played by the ''xiaosheng'' or ''wusheng'' , even when sharing the stage with Zhuge Liang, who was actually the younger of the two.

Modern references




*In the anime series ''Ikki Tousen'', the character of ''Shuuyu Koukin'' is roughly based upon Zhou Yu. His cousin and ward, , is based on Zhou Yu's close friend Sun Ce. Like his counterpart in ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', Shuuyu Koukin resents Zhuge Liang, though for a different reason.

*In the anime series ''Koutetsu Sangokushi'', Zhou Yu was not able to prevent Sun Ce's assassination, but serves as Sun Quan's level-headed advisor and admiral, as well as something of a story foil to the more impulsive and brash Taishi Ci .

*In the Koei video game series ''Dynasty Warriors'' , Zhou Yu is portrayed as a powerful, highly intelligent and handsome man. He wears a red gown with gold decorations and wields a very long, lavishly decorated called the "Elder's Sword." In ''Dynasty Warriors 6'' he has a ponytail and wields a bo staff.

*In Warriors Orochi, he was a prisoner of Orochi but was freed by his best friend Sun Ce. He fought alongside him and helped him search for his father Sun Jian. In the Shu storyline, Zhou Yu fought alongside Sun Ce against Sima Yi. They were in danger of being captured but Zhao Yun, Yukimura Sanada and their allies came to their aid. In the Wei storyline he is seen on a ship alongside Sun Ce after Cao Pi allows them to escape. He also aided Nobunaga in the battle against Orochi by orders of Sun Ce, but Zhou Yu said it was Nobunaga that inspired him to fight Orochi.

*A film currently showing in theatre titled '''', directed by John Woo featured Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Zhou Yu.

Family


*Great grandfather
**Zhou Rong - the Imperial Secretary in charge of reading and interpreting reports to the emperor.

*Grandfather
**Zhou Jing - first the governor of Yuzhou , and then became Imperial Secretary and finally Imperial Minister of Defence .

*Father
**Zhou Yi - Mayor of the capital city Luoyang.

*Uncle
**Zhou Shang - the Grand Administrator of Danyang

*Wife
**Xiao Qiao

*Children
**Zhou Xun - succeeded Zhou Yu's rank of nobility and was said to possess his father's talents, and he was married to Sun Quan's eldest daughter Sun Dahu . He died suddenly and was succeeded by his younger brother.
**Zhou Yin - succeeded Zhou Xun
**A daughter, Zhou Ying, was married to Sun Deng, Sun Quan's eldest son.

*Nephew
**Zhou Jun - served Wu as a notable military officer and participated in numerous battles under the command of Lu Xun .

*Sworn Brother and brother in law
**Sun Ce

Qiao Xuan

Qiao Xuan (108-183, styled Gongzu , of Suiyang , Liang Kingdom . He was a high official near the end of Eastern Han.

Biography


Qiao Xuan was of gentry, scholarly background. In his youth, as minor official , when Inspector of Yu Province Zhou Jing was passing by Liang, Qiao Xuan reported to him the crimes of Chancellor of Chen Yang Chang . Zhou Jing sent Qiao Xuan to investigate. Xuan thoroughly listed Yang Chang's crimes. Because Chang was an intimate of Commander-in-Chief Liang Ji, Liang Ji sent an urgent letter to release Yang Chang. Scared, Zhou Jing called off Qiao Xuan. Qiao Xuan returned to letter, he locked up Yang Chang and sent him back to Luoyang on a prison cart. Because of that, he became famous.

After that, he was nominated as suitable for office and was appointed to a minor post in Luoyang. Liang Buyi , Liang Ji's brother, was Xuan superior and humiliated him. Xuan gave up his office.

Later on, he was appointed Chancellor of Qi . He committed a fault, and was sent to do hard labor. Punishment completed, he was appointed Administrator of Shanggu , then Administrator of Hanyang . Prefect of Shanggui Huangfu Zhen was corrupted and enriched himself excessively. Qiao Xuan had him executed.

In 170, he was appoint Minister of Works . A year after, he was made Minister over the Masses .

Qiao Xuan was generous and supportive of Cao Cao in his youth -- a gratitude Cao Cao didn't forget when he was at the peak of his power .

Ren Shang

Ren Shang , was the Protector General of the Western Regions under Eastern Han between 102-106. In February, 91, he and Geng Kui defeated the unnamed shortly after the Battle of Ikh Bayan, on commission by Dou Xian. In 93, he killed the last northern chanyu, Yuchujian Chanyu during a pursuit with . A Chinese inscription stele of him, 汉任尚纪功铭 was excavated in 1957 from Kumul, Xinjiang, which inscribed the event in 93.

Shi Xie

Shi Xie , Weiyan, was a man from Guangxin. Shi Xie served as Imperial Secretariat Cadet, from which he later resigned. After his father's death, Shi Xie was removed from prefect of Wu and became the Grand Administrator of Jiao Zhi province during the Later Han. Shi Xie was a scholar who would often enjoy reading the ''Spring and Autumn Annals.'' In the year 210 AD, Shi Xie submitted to Sun Quan. Shi Xie regularly sent an envoy to Sun Quan of the Wu Kingdom. Shi Xie had been in office for over forty years. He died at the age of 90 sui, or 89 years in Western recognition, in the fifth year of Huang Wu . After Shi Xie's death, Sun Quan thought the region was too far away and cut the province. Jiaozhi was then its own province. Lu Dai was named inspector of the Jiaozhi province and Chen Shi the new Grand Administrator. In response to this Shi Xie's son, Shi Hui, took his father's position of Grand Administrator. Shi Hui refused Lu Dai and Chen Shi to enter the province. Nevertheless Lu Dai had an imperial decree that allowed the execution of Shi Hui. Shi Kuang was sent to persuade Shi Hui to allow Lu Dai to enter. The next day, Shi Hui and his accomplices were murdered. Later, the rest of the Shi family was reduced to common status.

Sun Ce

Sun Ce was a military general and warlord during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era in ancient China. He was the eldest of five sons and one daughter of Sun Jian, who was killed in battle when Sun Ce was only sixteen. Sun Ce then broke away from his father's former overlord Yuan Shu and headed into Southeastern China to establish his own power base there. With the help of several capable men, including Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu, Sun Ce managed to lay down the foundation of the later Eastern Wu, of which his younger brother Sun Quan eventually became the first . After Sun Quan declared himself emperor, he posthumously honored Sun Ce with the title Prince Huan of Changsha .

In 200, when the rising warlord Cao Cao was away battling Yuan Shao in the decisive Battle of Guandu, Sun Ce was rumored to be plotting an attack against Cao Cao's capital of Xuchang. However, he was assassinated before he could carry out the plan.

The '''' describes Sun Ce as handsome and full of laughter. He was also a generous and receptive man who could employ people according to their abilities. Thus his subjects were willing to risk their lives for him. One detractor named Xu Gong, in a letter to , likened Sun Ce to Xiang Yu, the general renowned for overthrowing Qin Dynasty . As Xiang Yu was often referred to as the Conqueror of Chu, Sun Ce henceforth became known as the Little Conqueror in popular culture.

Life


Early life and career


Born in 175, Sun Ce was the eldest among five sons and one daughter of Sun Jian, a military general loyal to the of the Han Dynasty. In 190, a year after died, the warlord Dong Zhuo usurped power, placing in the throne the puppet . Regional warlords in eastern China then formed a coalition against Dong Zhuo. Sun Jian rendered his service to Yuan Shu, one of the leaders of the coalition. The attempt to oust Dong Zhuo soon failed and China slid into a series of massive civil wars. In the next year, Sun Jian was sent by Yuan Shu to attack Liu Biao, governor of , but he was killed in an ambush.

Sun Ce brought his father's body to Qu'e for burial and settled his mother down before heading for Danyang , where his uncle Wu Jing was the governor. There he raised a small militia a few hundred in strength. This small force was far from sufficient for him to establish his own power so in 194 Sun Ce went to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu was very impressed with Sun Ce and often lamented that he had no son like him. He also returned Sun Jian's former division of troops to Sun Ce.

Initially, Yuan Shu promised to appoint Sun Ce the governor of Jiujiang but eventually gave the governorship to Chen Ji. Later, when Yuan Shu was denied a large loan of grains from the governor of , he sent Sun Ce to attack the latter, promising to make Sun Ce the governor of Lujiang should he succeed. When Sun Ce did, however, Yuan Shu again went back on his words and appointed someone else instead. The disappointed Sun Ce then began to contemplate leaving.

Meanwhile, , who was by imperial decree the governor of , occupied Qu'e as the regional seat Shouchun was already occupied by Yuan Shu. He then forced Wu Jing back west across the Yangtze River to However, Yuan Shu claimed to be the rightful governor and sent Wu Jing and Sun Ce's elder cousin Sun Ben to attack Liu Yao. After they were unable to break down the defense for more than a year, Sun Ce requested to lead a force to assist the effort.

A kingdom's beginning


Though Yuan Shu knew Sun Ce intended to leave, he believed the latter would not be able to defeat Liu Yao. Thus he deployed the young general off with merely a thousand odd troops and a tiny cavalry force. Along with a few hundred more willing followers, Sun Ce proceeded to Liyang, where he boosted his strength to more than 5,000. He then launched an offensive across the Yangtze River and successfully occupied the strategic position of Niuzhu in 195.

Two of Liu Yao's allies then came south from Pengcheng and Xiapi respectively to aid him. Sun Ce chose to first attack one of them, Ze Rong, who made camp south of Moling. After suffering initial defeat in the hands of the aggressor, Ze Rong fell back in defense and refused to engage in battle. Sun Ce then marched further north and attacked Xue Li in Moling. Although Xue Li soon gave up the city and escaped, Liu Yao's subject Fan Neng and others had regrouped their forces and launched a renewed attack on Niuzhu. Turning back, Sun Ce defeated Fan Neng and secured Niuzhu. He then began a second offensive against Ze Rong. However, he was struck by a stray arrow in the thigh. Returning to Niuzhu, he sent out false words that he was killed in battle. The exalted Ze Rong then sent a force to attack. Sun Ce led the enemies into an ambush and annihilated them. When Ze Rong heard that Sun Ce was still alive, he further reinforced his defense works.

Sun Ce then temporarily gave up attacking Ze Rong and focused his forces on Qu'e. After all the surrounding areas were taken over by Sun Ce, Liu Yao gave up the city and escaped south to Yuzhang , where he would later die. As Sun Ce implemented strict discipline among his troops, he won the instant support of the local people and gathered many talented men, such as , Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Qin Song, and Lü Fan. He then pushed his force deeper into Yangzhou and conquered Kuaiji , whose governor Wang Lang surrendered. Sun Ce made Kuaiji his base city and struck out at the wandering bandit army led by Yan Baihu. Yan Baihu sent his younger brother Yan Yu to offer Sun Ce a position alongside Yan Baihu, but Sun Ce showed no mercy and personally slew the emissary. As Yan Yu was known among Yan Baihu's men as a fierce warrior, his death struck fear into their hearts and they were soon defeated. Sun Ce then appointed his relatives and a trusted subject to govern Danyang and Yuzhang, from which he divided a new commandery named . His campaign, from the occupation of Niuzhu to the conquest of the entire region southeast of the Long River, took less than a year. He then defeated and received the services of Zu Lang , the Chief of Danyang, and Taishi Ci, the leader of the remnants of Liu Yao's forces; he then urged the surrender of Hua Xin, another one of the remnants of Liu Yao's forces. Thus, with the exception of the scattered but still numerous army of Yan Baihu, the lands south of the Yangtze were mostly pacified.

The barbarians of Shanyue tribe, however, were not easily dealt with. To counter the frequent rebellions of the Shanyue , Sun Ce appointed a certain He Qi to a military rank with orders to subdue the Shanyue. He Qi would go on to become a highly successful general; truly, his appointment by Sun Ce was the first important step to Wu's eventual subjugation of the Shanyue.

Late life


In 195, Yuan Shu declared himself the unrecognised "Zhongjia" Emperor. In a letter to Yuan Shu, Sun Ce denounced the move and broke ties with the former. In an effort to garner support from Sun Ce, the rising warlord Cao Cao then recommended him to be appointed the Rebellions-Suppressing General and enfeoffed as Marquis of Wu . In 199 Yuan Shu died of sickness along with his short-lived dynasty. His cousin Yuan Yin feared Cao Cao and gave up Shouchun. Bringing along Yuan Shu's coffin and his former troops, he headed to Huancheng to seek refuge under Liu Xun . As Liu Xun had insufficient food supplies in his realm to support the additional troops, he led a force south to pillage Haihun .

Sun Ce was en route to attack Huang Zu, who was Sun Jian's killer, in Xiakou when he received the news. He then turned back and captured the poorly defended Huancheng, taking over all of Yuan Shu's 30,000 former troops. Hearing that his base city had been taken, Liu Xun headed west and sought help from Huang Zu, who sent a 5,000-strong naval force to assist him. Sun Ce pressed forward and defeated Liu Xun, who escaped north to Cao Cao. Sun Ce annexed more than 2,000 former troops and 1,000 ships of his enemy and came upon Huang Zu. Despite reinforcements from Liu Biao, Huang Zu was utterly defeated. During the battle, Sun Ce slew Liu Biao's officer, Han Xi , and completely routed Huang Zu's son, Huang She .

The victorious Sun Ce in 199 looked poised to take over the entire southern China. As he was threatened by rival Yuan Shao in the north and could not divide his attention, Cao Cao attempted to further reinforce the alliance with Sun Ce by marrying the daughter of his relative Cao Ren to Sun Ce's youngest brother Sun Kuang. Sun Ce in turn agreed to marry Sun Ben's daughter to Cao Cao's son Cao Zhang.

The former governor of Wu Commandery Xu Gong, had long opposed Sun Ce. Xu Gong wrote to Emperor Xian, recommending the emperor to summon Sun Ce to the capital as he deemed Sun Ce to be a hero comparable to Xiang Yu and too dangerous to be allowed to occupy a territory. However, the letter was intercepted by an official loyal to Sun Ce, who attacked and then had Xu Gong executed. Xu Gong's former servants then kept a low profile and waited for chance to revenge.

In the year 200, Cao Cao engaged in the decisive Battle of Guandu with Yuan Shao along the shores of the Yellow River, leaving the capital and his base city Xuchang poorly guarded. Sun Ce is said to have then plotted to attack Xuchang under the banner of rescuing Emperor Xian, who was a figurehead held under Cao Cao's control. Preparations were underway for the military excursion when Sun Ce ran into three former servants of Xu Gong during a solo hunting trip. One of them managed to plant an arrow into Sun Ce's cheek before Sun Ce's men arrived and slew the assassins. Many differing accounts of Sun Ce's death exist . One generally accepted scenario is that he died that same night.

Another possible scenario has Sun Ce living for quite some time. The physician told Sun Ce to rest still for a hundred days to allow the wound to heal, but Sun Ce looked into the mirror one day and, seeing his scar, became so enraged that he slammed his table. The large movement caused the wound to break and he died in the same night. Although he was survived by one son, Sun Ce passed his legacy to his younger brother Sun Quan. When Sun Quan declared himself the first of the Kingdom of Wu in 222, he bestowed upon Sun Ce the posthumous title of Prince Huan of Changsha .

Sun Ce was succeeded by a posthumous son, , as well as at least two daughters, married to Gu Shao and later Zhu Ji , and respectively. Sun Shao bore one son, Sun Feng , who was executed by Sun Hao for alleged treason due to his popularity.

Dispute over cause of death



Sun Sheng in his ''Exposition on Disparities and Similarities'' discounted the theory that Sun Ce made plans to attack Xuchang. He believed that although Sun Ce was a rising power, he was threatened in the west by Huang Zu, who was defeated but not eliminated, in the north by Chen Deng, governor of , and in the south by indigenous tribes yet to be assimilated. These prevented Sun Ce from striking far out at Xuchang and moving the emperor to southeastern China. He further argued that Sun Ce died in the fourth month of 200, before the Battle of Guandu even took place.

The annotator of the ''Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms'' Pei Songzhi rebutted Sun Sheng, arguing that Huang Zu was newly broken and had yet to recollect his forces while the indigenous tribes were scattered and not much of a threat. Pei Songzhi believed that the first objective of Sun Ce's planned northward excursion was to attack Chen Deng, which would provide a platform for capturing Xuchang. On the other hand, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao had been engaging in skirmishes and small-scale battles before Sun Ce's death. Thus there was in fact no discrepancy in timing.

A historically implausible legend regarding Sun Ce's death involves a popular priest of his time named Gan Ji , whom he regarded as a sorcerer. Despite petitions from his subjects and his own mother, Sun Ce ordered Gan Ji's execution. According to ''In Search of the Supernatural'' by Gan Bao , a compilation largely based on legends and hearsay, Sun Ce began to see apparitions of Gan Ji ever since the execution of the latter. After he was injured by assassins, Sun Ce was told by the physician to rest still to allow the wound to heal. However, he looked into the mirror one day and saw Gan Ji's face, whereupon he let out a cry and slammed the mirror. His wound broke and he died shortly. This version was adopted and further dramatized by Luo Guanzhong in his historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', in which Gan Ji's name was taken to be "Yu Ji" .

Sun Ce in art



Chinese opera


In Peking opera, Sun Ce's role is usually that of a hero or tragic hero, while his brother, Sun Quan is usually portrayed as a villain at worst or self-seeking at best. Several operas even toy with the idea that Quan had Cè assassinated so that he could take control of the warlord state, though there is no historical evidence to support this view. In the opera ''Fenghuang Er Qiao'', Sun Ce borrows 3,000 troops from Yuan Shu and allies with the Qiao army, which is led by the Two Qiaos. Sun Ce, the protagonist of the opera, eventually gains the Elder Qiao's hand in marriage through a martial arts contest with the help of Zhou Yu and the Younger Qiao.

Comics and anime


In the anime ''Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi'', Sun Ce fights alongside his father against Dong Zhuo and is befriended by Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, with whom he trains to become a hero. When Sun Jian finds the Imperial Seal and decides to keep it for himself, Sun Ce is troubled by his father's actions and leaves him, seeking advice from Liu Bei. Liu Bei convinces him that his father likely has a good reason for holding onto the Imperial Seal, and Sun Ce returns just in time to save his father from an attack made by Yuan Shao and help him escape. The rest of Sun Ce's actions, including his passing, are mentioned only in passing.

The character in ''Ikki Tousen'' is loosely based on the historical figure Sun Ce . Her guardian, , bears the same name and personality as Zhou Yu.

In the anime ''Kōtetsu Sangokushi'', Sun Ce is portrayed as a once kind-hearted and virtuous hero who was corrupted by the power of the Imperial Seal, causing him to kill its protector. It is later revealed that Zhuge Liang was the mastermind behind Sun Ce's assassination and later events in the series.

In the Chinese manhua ''Ravages of Time'', Sun Ce is a cunning, ruthless, and manipulative character. He hires Zhao Yun to assist him in retrieving the Imperial Seal from Yuan Shu, but a last minute ambush by Gan Ning supposedly kills Sun Ce right in front of Zhao Yun, who is surrounded and barely escapes. It is later revealed that Sun Ce is alive and well, having posed as a relative, and that the man slain was his double, Ling Cao. In addition, Sun Ce had foreseen the ambush and saw it as a way to be rid of any sort of commitment to pay Zhao Yun. He is also very talented in martial art as he easily kills two generals of Liu Yao and then fights to a tie with Taishi Ci, who makes a good impression to him. Later, he asks one of his loyal men to desecrate Ling Cao's grave and pretends as if it was a revenge of their enemy, therefore, the spirits of his troops greatly rises and they easily broke the enemy force although they were outnumbered. He frankly admits his ruthless action to Ling Cao's son and swears that if there is justice, he will be killed painfully as he deserves.

Video games


Sun Ce also appears as a playable character in the popular ''Dynasty Warriors'' video game series by Koei. In the third, fourth, and fifth installments of the game, he wields a pair of bamboo tonfa called the "Overlords," and is portrayed as energetic, outgoing, brash, and informal. Although charismatic and well-liked by his troops, he relies on the wisdom and responsibility of his friend, Zhou Yu, to keep him focused and on track. In ''Dynasty Warriors 5'', Sun Ce meets his death due to a curse placed on him by the sorcerer Yu Ji, after Sūn orders his execution. He is succeeded by his brother, Quan, who in stark contrast to Ce, is stolid and detached. Sūn Quan often calls on the strength of his late father and brother during combat, attributing his ability and skill to the spirits of his fallen family guiding his hand.

In ''Dynasty Warriors 6'', Sun Ce's weapon is a single-hooked spear and dons armor similar to that of the ancient Greek muscle cuirass. Although not having a storyline, he is one of the key characters to almost all the Wu storylines, as well as apprearing often in cutscenes. His death in the game was commonly due to ambush with arrow shots at the back, at the exact moment Sun Ce claimed victory.

Sun Ce also makes an appearance in the spin off game, "Warriors Orochi", a combination of the Dynasty and Samurai Warriors series. In the game, Orochi uses the captive Sun Jian to blackmail the Sun family into servitude. Sun Ce is the first to rebel against Orochi, under the guidance of , and much to the disapproval of his siblings, Quan and Shang Xiang, but he would eventually get them back on his side and save their father. He also has an important role in the other storylines, thus making him one of the main protagonists in the game along with Zhao Yun, Cao Pi, and Oda Nobunaga.

Family


* Father
** Sun Jian
* Mother
** Lady Wu
* Brothers
** Sun Quan
** Sun Kuang
** Sun Yi
** Sun Lang
* Sister
** Sun Shangxiang
* Wife
** Elder Qiao
* Children
** Posthumous son Sun Shao
** Elder daughter wed to Zhu Ji
** Second daughter wed to Gu Shao and later
* Brother in Law and sworn brother
** Zhou Yu

Sun Fu

Sun Fu 孫府 Second son of Sun Qiang. Imprisoned after trying to surrender to Cao Cao.

Life



Sun Fu, styled Guoyi, was the second son of Sun Qiang, Sun Jian’s twin brother. He followed Sun Ce in his later campaigns against Yuan Shu and Liu Xun, earning great merits by raiding Ling Yang and Lu Jiang. When Liu Xun was defeated, Sun Fu was put in charge of rebuilding the city’s walls, which he accomplished very well. He earned the title of General Who Pacifies the South.

Before the Battle of Chi Bi, Sun Fu decided to surrender to Cao Cao. To this end, he sent a letter to Cao Cao proclaiming his intent to surrender, but this letter was intercepted. Sun Quan angrily stripped Sun Fu of all rank and imprisoned him, but spared him on account of filial duty. Sun Fu was released and died a few years after the battle, never again having a military command. His sons, however, all received rank.

Sun Jian

Sun Jian was a military general and minor warlord during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era in ancient China. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet in his power. Although he controlled neither many troops nor much land, Sun Jian's personal bravery and resourcefulness were feared by Dong Zhuo, who placed him among Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and Liu Biao as the most influential men at that time. After the coalition disbanded in the next year, China fell into massive civil war. In 191, Sun Jian was killed in battle during an offensive campaign against Liu Biao.

Sun Jian was also the father of Sun Quan, one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms era who eventually established the Eastern Wu state and declared himself its first in 229, whereupon Sun Jian was given the posthumous title of Emperor Wulie .

Life


Early life and career


Born in the Fuchun Prefecture of the Wu Commandery , Sun Jian was said to be a descendant of the renowned military strategist Sun Tzu, author of ''The Art of War''. He was a civil officer in his prefecture during his youth. When he was sixteen, Sun Jian travelled with his father to Qiantang , where they came upon a band of pirates dividing up their spoils on land. Sūn Jiān jumped on shore with a sabre in hand and pointed in different directions as if commanding a detachment of soldiers to surround the pirates. Seeing this, the pirates were deceived and fled. Sun Jian pursued, and only after taking the head of every pirate did he return . His name henceforth spread.

In 184, the Yellow Turban Rebellion led by Zhang Jiao broke out across the country. Sun Jian joined the general Zhu Jun to quell the rebellion in area. The soldiers fought hard, forcing the rebels to retreat to Wancheng . Sun Jian placed himself in the forefront and climbed onto the city walls alone. The rest then swarmed in and defeated the rebels.

Around this time, Bian Zhang and Han Sui colluded with the Qiang tribes and rebelled in . After Dong Zhuo failed to put down the rebellion, the central government sent in his place the Minister of Works Zhang Wen , who invited Sun Jian along as an advisor. When Zhang Wen summoned Dong Zhuo to the encampment at Chang'an, Dong Zhuo procrastinated and took a long time to arrive. When he did, he showed little respect for Zhang Wen. Sun Jian then advised Zhang Wen to execute Dong Zhuo, but Zhang Wen declined as Dong Zhuo held high reputation in the west.

Hearing that a mass army had arrived, the rebels promptly surrendered. When Zhang Wen and the rest returned to the capital Luoyang, however, the court held that the army did not engage the enemy and thus no honor was accorded. Meanwhile, another local-scale rebellion broke out near Changsha and the rebels besieged the city. Sun Jian was then made governor of Changsha. Within a month upon taking up office, Sun Jian had quelled the rebellion. Meanwhile, rebellions also broke out in the neighboring of Lingling and . Both were put down by Sun Jian, who was then enfeoffed as Marquis of Wucheng .

Coalition against Dong Zhuo



In 189, died, leaving his young son in the care of regents Empress Dowager He and General-in-Chief He Jin. He Jin then summoned Dong Zhuo to lead troops into the capital to assist in a plot to eliminate the powerful eunuch faction. Before Dong Zhuo arrived, however, He Jin was assassinated by the eunuchs and Luoyang fell into chaos following a clash between supporters of both sides. Dong Zhuo then seized military control of the capital and deposed the young emperor for the puppet . However, his tyrannical ways incurred the wrath of many and in the following year, warlords from eastern China formed a coalition against him.

Sun Jian also raised an army with ten-thousands of troops and joined Yuan Shu, one of the leaders of the coalition at Luyang . Yuan Shu made Sun Jian the General Who Quells Rebels and governor of Yuzhou. Sun Jian then began training and preparing his troops at Luyang. A force sent by Dong Zhuo was so impressed with the strict discipline of Sun Jian's troops that they gave up the plan to attack Luyang. When Sun Jian moved out to Liangdong , he was outnumbered by Dong Zhuo's forces. With several dozen horsemen, Sun Jian broke out of the encirclement. He took off the red felt scarf he had always been wearing and handed it to his trusted aide Zu Mao , whom Dong Zhuo's soldiers then chased after while Sun Jian escaped. Unable to shake off his pursuers, Zu Mao then dismounted, hanged the scarf onto a half-burnt pillar, and hid himself in the tall grasses nearby. The enemies surrounded the pillar and approached cautiously till they realized they had been fooled, whereupon they retreated.

After regrouping his troops, Sun Jian pressed forward against the capital and engaged in battle against Dong Zhuo's forces at Yangren . He scored a brilliant victory and killed the enemy commander-in-chief Hua Xiong in battle. At this time, someone told Yuan Shu that if Sun Jian defeated Dong Zhuo and took over the capital, he would not be controllable anymore. The doubtful Yuan Shu then ceased the food supply to Sun Jian. Sun Jian rode the hundred odd ''li'' from Yangren to Luyang in the night to see Yuan Shu, whereupon he said to the latter, "I put myself to danger in battle, first to remove the rebel for the country and second to avenge the deaths of your family . I have no personal grudge against Dong Zhuo. Yet you could believe slanderous talks and suspect me!" The words put Yuan Shu to shame and he immediately ordered the food supply to be delivered.

Fearing Sun Jian, Dong Zhuo then sent his general Li Jue as an emissary to seek peace and propose a marriage to cement the alliance. However, Sun Jian rejected the proposals with harsh words and carried on his campaign towards Luoyang. In late 190, his force was merely ninety ''li'' away from the capital when Dong Zhuo retreated west to Chang'an after burning Luoyang to the ground. Entering Luoyang, Sun Jian ordered his men to reseal the tombs of former emperors that were excavated by Dong Zhuo, after which he returned to Luyang. It was said in the ''Book of Wu'' by Wei Zhao that Sun Jian found one of the emperor's jade seals in a well south of Luoyang and kept it. Later, when Yuan Shu declared himself emperor, he held Sun Jian's wife Lady Wu hostage in exchange for the seal.

Later life


In 191, Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian to attack Liu Biao in Jing Province . The defense force led by Liu Biao's subject Huang Zu was defeated by Sun Jian, who pursued the enemy across the to Xiangyang. During a solo ride on the Xian Hill , Sun Jian was ambushed by Huang Zu's troops, who shot him to death with arrows. The ''Record of Heroes'' by Wang Can, however, claims that Sun Jian died in 193 and that he was crushed to death by boulders instead of killed by arrows while pursuing the enemy commander Lü Gong. His nephew Sun Ben collected his troops and returned to Yuan Shu, who then made Sun Ben the Inspector of Yu Province.

Sun Jian was buried in Qu'e . He was survived by five sons: Sun Ce, Sun Quan, Sun Yi, Sun Kuang and Sun Lang and one daughter, commonly named Sun Shangxiang though her real name was not recorded in official history. His legacy was first inherited by the first-born Sun Ce, who died early at twenty-four. Sun Ce was then succeeded by his younger brother Sun Quan, who eventually established Eastern Wu as a sovereign state in 222 and declared himself its first emperor in 229. Sun Jian was then given the posthumous title of Emperor Wulie .

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''


In the 14-century history novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', some events of Sun Jian were romanticised by Luo Guanzhong.

Sun Jian first appears the novel in Chapter 5, in which he joined the coalition against Dong Zhuo. In the battle against Hua Xiong, the commander of the enemy army, Sun Jian took off his own red scarf and handed it to Zu Mao when Sun Jian's army was raided. Having distracted Hua Xiong and let Sun Jian escape, Zu Mao was chased after by Hua Xiong, so he hid himself in woods after hanging the scarf on a half-burnt pillar. When Hua Xiong found himself to be fooled, he killed Zu Mao who dashed out of his hideout to challenge him. Hua Xiong then launched an attack on Sun's army, which lasted for a whole night. Sun Jian could not resist Hua Xiong, so he called for assistance from the coalition. Hua Xiong was unrivalled until he met the unfamed Guan Yu.

After Dong Zhuo retreated to Chang'an, Sun Jian was the first to enter Luoyang and ordered to put off the fires set by Dong Zhuo. Seeing the destruction of the imperial capital and Han dynasty, Sun Jian sighed and shed a tear. However, when his men found a jade seal, which was proven to be the imperial seal, Sun Jian grew ambitious and requested to retreat to his base. The news was leaked, to Sun Jian's miscalculation. When Yuan Shao, the leader of the coalition, interrogated Sun Jian, the latter swore by saying, "Should I have hid the treasure, I shall die miserably under arrows!" Under the protection by his guards, Sun Jian left Luoyang immediately.

On the way to his base, Sun Jian passed through Jing Province, where the governor, Liu Biao, was asked by Yuan Shao to attack Sun Jian. Sun Jian badly lost the battle and barely escaped. When he later launched a revenge attack upon Jing Provence, in accordance with the order of his senior, Yuan Shu, he was lured under a cliff where he was shot dead by arrows from the above. Sun's camp reclaimed Sun Jian's corpse using a captive, Huang Zu, who was Liu Biao's brother-in-law. When Dong Zhuo heard of Sun's death in Chang'an, he said, "One of my greatest enemies is removed!" and consequently usurped more power in the imperial court.

Modern references



Sun Jian is a playable character in the Koei video game series ''Dynasty Warriors''. He is depicted as a brave, intelligent and persistent warrior, albeit somewhat reckless and hot-headed. Sun often refers to himself as the "Tiger of Jiang Dong," as he is known to his army and his enemies. He fights with a fairly direct and straightforward sword-style suited to attacks against lone or minimal targets. He cares deeply for and respects his sons and daughter, with Sun Ce fighting alongside his father in some instances. Sun almost always wears armoured suits and helms during combat which are lavishly decorated in gold and red. Later designs have featured his trademark tiger stripes.

In ''Dynasty Warriors 6'' he does not wear a helmet revealing his white hair. He attacks with power, accuracy and skill. He wields a called the Elder Sword.

Sun Jian also appears in all the 11 games of Romance Of Three Kingdoms strategy games made by Koei .He is one of the strongest characters in the game and in some versions he has the highest LED points .His appearance is based somehow on both the novel and history .

Family


* Wife
** Lady Wu
* Sons
** Sun Ce (孫策)
** Sun Quan (孫權)
** Sun Kuang (孫匡)
** Sun Yi (孫翊)
** Sun Lang (孫朗)
* Daughter
** (孫夫人, whose real name is unknown in history and commonly known as Sun Shangxiang孫尚香)

Wang Mang

Wang Mang and to create Wang Mang a marquess. Several well-regarded officials concurred in this request, and Emperor Cheng was impressed with Wang Mang's reputation. He therefore created Wang Mang the Marquess of Xindu and promoted him to minister without portfolio . It was described by historians that the greater the posts that Wang was promoted to, the more humble he grew. He did not accumulate wealth, but used the money to support scholars and to give gifts to colleagues, so he gained more and more praise.

Another thing that Wang Mang made himself known for was that he had only a wife, , and no concubines. However, as later events would show, Wang was not completely faithful to his wife, even at this time.

Emperor Cheng appointed his uncles, one after another, to be commander of the armed forces , and speculation grew on who would succeed Wang Mang's youngest surviving uncle, Wang Gen . Wang Mang was considered one of the possibilities, while another was his cousin Chunyu Zhang , who had a much closer personal relationship to Emperor Cheng than Wang Mang did. Chunyu also had friendly relations with both Emperor Cheng's wife Empress Zhao Feiyan and his deposed former wife .

To overcome Chunyu's presumptive hold on succeeding Wang Gen, Wang Mang took action. He collected evidence that Chunyu, a frivolous man in his words and deeds, had secretly received bribes from the deposed Empress Xu and had promised to help her become "left empress", and that he had promised his associates great posts once he would succeed Wang Gen. In 8 BC, He informed Wang Gen and Empress Dowager Wang of the evidence, and both Wang Gen and Empress Dowager Wang were greatly displeased. They exiled Chunyu back to his march. Chunyu, before he left the capital, gave his horses and luxurious carriages to his cousin Wang Rong -- the son of his uncle Wang Li , with whom he had a running feud. Wang Li, happy with Chunyu's gift, submitted a petition requesting that Chunyu be allowed to remain at the capital -- which drew Emperor Cheng's suspicion, because he knew of the feud between Wang Li and Chunyu. He ordered Wang Rong be arrested, and Wang Li, in his panic, ordered his son to commit suicide -- which in turn caused Emperor Cheng to become even more suspicious. He therefore had Chunyu arrested and interrogated. Chunyu admitted to deceiving Empress Xu and receiving bribes from her, and he was executed.

Also in 8 BC, Wang Gen, by then seriously ill, submitted his resignation and requested that Wang Mang succeed him. In winter 8 BC, Emperor Cheng made Wang Mang the commander of the armed forces , at the age of 37.

First tenure as the commander of the armed forces


After Wang Mang was promoted to this position -- effectively the highest in the imperial government -- he became even better known for his self-discipline and promotion of capable individuals than before. As a result, the people's perception of the Wang clan as arrogant, wasteful, and petty, began to be reversed.

In 7 BC, Wang's cousin Emperor Cheng died suddenly, apparently from a stroke . Emperor Cheng's nephew became emperor . For the time being, Wang remained in his post and continued to be powerful, as his aunt became grand empress dowager and was influential.

However, that would soon change. Emperor Ai's grandmother, was a domineering woman who ruled her grandson. She greatly wanted the title of empress dowager as well. Initially, Grand Empress Dowager Wang decreed that Princess Dowager Fu and Emperor Ai's mother Consort Ding see him periodically, every 10 days. However, Princess Dowager Fu quickly began to visit her grandson every day, and she insisted that two things be done: that she receive an empress dowager title, and that her relatives be granted titles, like the Wangs. Grand Empress Dowager Wang, sympathetic of the bind that Emepror Ai was in, first granted Prince Kang the unusual title of "Emperor Gong of Dingtao" and then, under the rationale of that title, granted Princess Dowager Fu the title "Empress Dowager Gong of Dingtao" and Consort Ding the title "Empress Gong of Dingtao" . Several members of the Fu and Ding clans were created marquesses. Grand Empress Dowager Wang also ordered Wang Mang to resign and transfer power to the Fu and Ding relatives. Emperor Ai declined and begged Wang Mang to stay in his administration.

Several months later, however, Wang Mang came into direct confrontation with now-Empress Dowager Fu. At a major imperial banquet, the official in charge of seating placed Empress Dowager Fu's seat next to Grand Empress Dowager Wang's. When Wang Mang saw this, he rebuked the official and ordered that Empress Dowager Fu's seat be moved to the side, which drew great ire from Empress Dowager Fu, who then refused to attend the banquet. To sooth her anger, Wang Mang resigned, and Emperor Ai approved his resignation. After this event, the Wangs gradually and inexorably began to lose their power.

Retirement during Emperor Ai's reign


After Wang Mang's resignation, he was initially requested by Emperor Ai to remain at the capital Chang'an and periodically meet him to give advice. However, in 5 BC, after Empress Dowager Fu was more successful in her quest for titles -- Emperor Ai removed the qualification "of Dingtao" from his father's posthumous title , and then gave his grandmother a variation of the grand empress dowager title and his mother a variation of the empress dowager title -- the prime minister Zhu Bo and vice prime minister Zhao Xuan , at her behest, submitted a petition to have Wang demoted to commoner status for having opposed Grand Empress Fu previously. Emperor Ai did not do so, but sent Wang back to his march Xindu .

While in Xindu, Wang was careful not to associate with many people . In 5 BC, when his son Wang Huo killed a household servant, Wang Mang ordered him to commit suicide. By 2 BC, there had been several hundred petitions by commoners and officials to request Wang Mang's return to the capital. Emperor Ai, who also respected Wang Mang, summoned him and his cousin Wang Ren , the son of Wang Gen, back to the capital to assist Grand Empress Dowager Wang. However, Wang Mang would have no official posts and would exert little influence on politics for the time being.

Regency and buildup of personality cult


Emperor Ai died suddenly in 1 BC, without heir. In decisive action, Grand Empress Dowager Wang seized power back from Emperor Ai's male favorite and likely lover Dong Xian and summoned Wang Mang back to the imperial government. She put him in charge of the armed forces and the government. They summoned Prince Jizi of Zhongshan to the capital to succeed Emperor Ai, and he ascended the throne as . Wang Mang became his regent.

Also in 1 BC, Wang, now in power, took drastic action to attack actual or perceived political enemies:

* The relations of Emperor Ai, the Fus and the Dings, were demoted and exiled back to their ancestral lands.
* Empress Dowager Zhao Feiyan, the wife of Emperor Cheng , and Empress Fu, the wife of Emperor Ai were demoted to commoner status and ordered to guard their husbands' tombs. They committed suicide in response.
* Grand Empress Dowager Fu and Empress Dowager Ding were posthumously demoted -- to the titles of "the mother of Prince Gong of Dingtao" and "Consort Ding" respectively.
* Dong Xian was disinterred and reburied within a prison, and his clan was exiled.
* He Wu , the former prime examiner, and his friend Gongsun Lu , who had opposed Wang Mang's regency, were relieved of their posts.
* Wujiang Long , the governor of the Nan Commandery , who had rejected Wang Mang's advances to serve as a political ally, was falsely accused of having falsely accused the innocent of witchcraft in 6 BC, and he, along with the ''real'' coconspirators against Princess Dowager Feng, were exiled.

Wang, having thus consolidated his power, began to further build up his personality cult, encouraging others to submit false prophecies in which he was mentioned as the second coming of Ji Dan, the Duke of Zhou and the regent for King Cheng of Zhou, or other great mythical personalities. He also began a regime of modifying the governmental structure to recall the governments of Zhou Dynasty and the even more ancient Shang Dynasty. This included numerous changes to officials' titles and even to geographical locations. To prevent Emperor Ping's maternal uncles of the Wei clan from becoming powerful, he ordered that they, along with Emperor Ping's mother Consort Wei, not be allowed to visit him in the capital.

In 1 AD, after bribing the distant Yueshang Tribes to submit offerings of an albino chicken , Wang was successful in having his followers persuade Grand Empress Dowager Wang to create him the Duke of Anhan -- even though the Han nobility system did not include dukes and no duke had ever been created in Han history up to that point -- to let his title parallel that of the Duke of Zhou. Believing her nephew to be truly faithful, Grand Empress Dowager Wang further transferred more of her authority to him.

In 2, Wang Mang issued a list of regulations to the ally-vassal Xiongnu, which the Xiongnu ''chanyu'' Nangzhiyasi obeyed, but Wang Mang's tone of treating Xiongnu as a subordinate state rather than an ally offended Nangzhiyasi, which would foreshadow eventual breakdown of relationship with Xiongnu.

Also in 2, Wang Mang decided to have his married to Emperor Ping to further affirm his position. Initially, he started a selection process of eligible noble young ladies . However, then, in an act of false modesty intended to create the opposite result, he petitioned Grand Empress Dowager Wang that his daughter not be considered -- and then started a petition drive by the people to have his daughter be selected as empress. The petitioners stormed the outside of the palace, and Grand Empress Dowager Wang, overwhelmed by the display of affection for Wang Mang, ordered that Wang Mang's daughter be made empress. In 4, Emperor Ping officially married her and created her empress.

Wang Mang's son Wang Yu disagreed with his father's dictatorial regime and program to build up his personality cult, afraid that in the future the Wangs would receive a backlash when Emperor Ping was grown. He therefore formed friendships with Emperor Ping's Wei uncles, and told Consort Wei to offer assurances to Wang Mang that she would not act as Emperor Ai's mother and grandmother did, trying to become an empress dowager. Wang Mang still refused to let her visit the capital.

In 3, Wang Yu formed a conspiracy with his teacher Wu Zhang , his brother-in-law Lü Kuan , and the Weis, to try to see what they could do to break Wang Mang's dictatorial hold. They decided that they would create what appear to be supernatural incidents to make Wang Mang concerned, and then have Wu try to persuade Wang Mang to transfer power to the Weis. Wang Yu told Lü to toss a bottle of blood onto Wang Mang's mansion door to create that effect -- but Lü was discovered by Wang Mang's guards. Wang Mang then arrested Wang Yu, who then committed suicide, and his wife Lü Yan was executed. Wang Mang then executed the entire Wei clan, except for Consort Wei. Wu was cut in half and then drawn and quartered.

Wang Mang then took this opportunity to further wipe out potential enemies -- by torturing Wang Yu and Lü's coconspirators and then arrest anyone that they mentioned, and then have them either executed or forced them to commit suicide. The victims of this purge included Emperor Yuan's sister Princess Jingwu , Wang Mang's own uncle Wang Li, and his own cousin Wang Ren. He told Grand Empress Dowager Wang, however, falsely, that they had died of illnesses. Many other officials who were not willing to follow Wang Mang were also victimized in this purge. After this, Wang Mang's hold on power became absolute. In 5, Wang Mang revived an ancient ceremony intended for those who have made great contributions to the state, and had himself given the nine bestowments .

Circa 5, Emperor Ping, having grown older, appeared to have grown out of a heart condition that he suffered as a child, and it became fairly plain that he resented Wang for slaughtering his uncles and not allowing his mother to visit him in Chang'an. Wang therefore resolved to murder the emperor. In winter 5, Wang submitted pepper wine to the 13-year-old emperor, but had the wine spiked with poison. As the emperor was suffering the effects of the poison, Wang wrote a secret petition to the gods, in which he offered to substitute his life for Emperor Ping's, and then have the petition locked away. After a few days of suffering, Emperor Ping died.

As acting emperor


Because the young Emperor Ping had not had any children by his wife Empress Wang or any of his concubines, there was no heir. Further, by that point, Emperor Ping's grandfather, Emperor Yuan had no surviving male issue. The progeny of Emperor Ping's great-grandfather were therefore examined as possible successors.

There were 53 great-grandsons of Emperor Xuan then still living by this stage, but they were all adults, and Wang Mang disliked that fact -- he wanted a child whom he could control. Therefore, he declared that it was inappropriate for members of the same generation to succeed each other . He then examined the 23 great-great-grandsons of Emperor Xuan -- all of whom were infants or toddlers.

While the examination process was proceeding, the mayor of South Chang'an submitted a rock with a mysterious red writing on it -- "Wang Mang, the Duke of Anhan, should be emperor." Wang had his political allies force Grand Empress Dowager Wang to issue an edict granting him the title of "Acting Emperor" , with the commission to rule as emperor until a great-great-grandson of Emperor Xuan could be selected and raised.

In the spring of 6, Acting Emperor Wang selected the child Ying -- then just one year old -- as the designated successor to Emperor Ping, claiming that soothsayers told him that Ying was the candidate most favored by the gods. He gave Ying the epithet ''Ruzi'' -- the same epithet that King Cheng of Zhou had when he was in his minority and under the regency of the Duke of Zhou -- to claim that he was as faithful as the Duke of Zhou. However, Emperor Ruzi did not ascend the throne, but was given the title of crown prince. Empress Wang was given the title empress dowager.

As acting emperor, Wang reinstituted the Zhou system of five grades of nobility -- duke , marquess , earl , viscount , and baron .

Several members of the imperial Liu clan were naturally suspicious of Acting Emperor Wang's intentions. They started or assisted in several failed rebellions against Wang:

* In 6, Liu Chong , the Marquess of Anzhong, made an attack against Wancheng . His attack failed, but historians did not specify what happened to him, other than that as punishment, Wang had his house filled with filthy water.
* In 7, Zhai Yi , the governor of the Commandery of Dong and Liu Xin , the Marquess of Yanxiang started the largest of these rebellions -- and they were joined by agrarian rebellion leaders Zhao Peng and Huo Hong from the area immediately west of the capital Chang'an. They declared Liu Xin emperor. Wang responded by sending messengers all around the nation to pledge that he will in fact return the throne to Emperor Ruzi once he was grown. Wang's armies defeated Zhai and Liu's armies in winter 7, and Zhai was captured and executed by drawing and quartering. Liu fled and was never captured. Zhao and Huo were also eventually defeated and executed.
* In 9 , Liu Kuai , the Marquess of Xuxiang, attacked the Dukedom of Fuchong, of his brother Liu Ying , the former Prince of Jiaodong. He was defeated and died while fleeing from the battle.
* In 13, under Emperor Wang Mang's rule, the Heavenly Stems were incorporated to number the years and replace the previous system which used only the Earthly Branches.

After Zhai and Liu Xin was defeated, Wang became even more convinced that the empire was entirely under his control, and decided to finally seize the throne and start a new dynasty. In winter 8, after receiving a false prophecy written by the hoodlum Ai Zhang which pretended to be a divine decree from stating that the throne should be given to Wang, and that Grand Empress Dowager Wang should follow this divine will, Wang issued a decree accepting the position of emperor, establishing the Xin Dynasty.

Early reign: mistakes


Early in his reign, now-Emperor Wang Mang was self-confident and believed that he now had the power to implement his ideals of restoring the legendary golden age of the early Zhou Dynasty. To those ends, he modified the governmental structure in many ways to conform with Zhou standards. He also continued the regime of modifying geographical names to fit with ancient names -- so much so that even imperial edicts discussing the locations by their new names were forced to include notes on the old names so that the recipients of the edicts could tell what locations he was referring to. As part of this regime, the capital Chang'an's name was changed as well, involving the change of a character -- 長安 to 常安 .

In 9, Wang Mang created his wife, Lady Wang, empress. By this point, only two of her four sons were still alive. The older, Wang An was described as lacking in talent, so Wang created the younger, Wang Lin , crown prince, and created Wang An the Lord of Xinjia . He selected many Confucian scholars to serve as advisors for Crown Prince Lin.

Wang, grateful to his aunt Grand Empress Dowager Wang , continued to honor her as empress dowager, but also gave her an additional title of ''Wangmu'' , the same title carried by the mother of King Wen of Zhou, implying that she was also his mother and had helped establish a new dynasty. She died in 13.

Economic policies


In 9, Wang Mang instituted a revolutionary land redistribution system, ordering that all land in the empire become legally the property of the empire, to be known as ''wangtian'' , in a system similar to the Zhou well-field system. All further land transactions were banned, although property owners were allowed to continue to possess the property. However, if a family had less than eight members but had one "well" or larger property , it was required to distribute the excess to fellow clan members, neighbors, or other members of the same village. Criticism of the ''wangtian'' system was punishable by exile. Wang also banned slave trading . Eventually, with resistance to both of these policies, Wang was forced to repeal both of them in 12.

In 10, Wang set up a state economic adjustment agency, seeking to control fluctuations in the prices of food and textile by purchasing excess goods and then selling them when price went up. The same agency also became responsible for loaning money to entrepreneurs, at the rate of three percent per month. Six offices were set up: in Chang'an, Luoyang, Handan, Linzi , Wancheng , and Chengdu.

In the same year, Wang Mang instituted a "sloth tax"; if landowners left land uncultivated, city dwellers left their houses without trees, or citizens refused to work, there would be penalties to be paid, with textile. For those unable to pay those penalties, they would be required to labor for the state.

In addition, in 10, Wang also instituted an unprecedented tax -- the income tax -- at the rate of 10 percent of profits, for professionals and skilled labor. He also instituted a state monopoly on liquor and weapons.

Another economic change instituted by Wang -- a fairly disastrous one -- was to issue 28 types of coins, made of gold, silver, tortoise shells, sea shells, and copper. Because there were so many kinds of coins , people became unable to recognize the kinds of coins as genuine or as counterfeit, and the money-based economy came to a halt. Eventually, Wang was forced to abolish all but two kinds of coins -- the small coin that had the same value of a Han coin, and the large coin that had the value of 50 small coins. However, the people, despite fairly severe penalties, lost faith in the Xin coins, and continued to use Han coins in an underground trade economy.

In 17, in an attempt to refill the depleted imperial coffers, Wang instituted six monopolies -- of liquor, salt, iron, coinage, forestry, and fishing. However, because of rampant corruption, the imperial treasury received only limited benefit, while the people were greatly burdened.

Deterioration of the relationship with Xiongnu and other vassals


Problems with Xiongnu


The first sign of irritation came sometime before 10; the Xin director of Wuhuan affairs had informed the Wuhuan tribes not to pay further tribute to Xiongnu. In response, Xiongnu made a punitive military action against Wuhuan, capturing about 1,000 women and children to serve as hostages. Later, at Wang Mang's orders, Xiongnu was forced to return the Wuhuan hostages.

In 10, Wang sent his ambassadors to Xiongnu to inform Chanyu Zhi that he had become emperor and that Xin had replaced Han, and requested that the great seal of the chanyu, which Han had issued, be exchanged for a new seal issued by Xin. The old seal read, "the Great Seal of the Chanyu of Xiongnu" , while the new seal read, "the Seal of the Chanyu of Xiongnu, of Xin" , implying that Xiongnu, which Han had treated with some ambiguity about whether it was a vassal, was clearly a vassal of Xin. Without examining the new seal, Chanyu Zhi agreed to the exchange. The ambassadors, apprehensive that the Chanyu, once he realized what had happened, would demand the old seal back, destroyed the old seal. Indeed, the next day, the chanyu realized that the seal text had changed, and requested that the old seal be returned, but upon being informed that the old seal had been destroyed , acquiesced. Chanyu Zhi, however, began to prepare for confrontation with Xin. He built defensive bulwarks some distance from the Xin outpost of Shuofang . He also began to accept Xiyu kingdoms' pledges of allegiance, which were banned previously by Wang.

Wang, irritated, declared war against Xiongnu. The strategy that he set out were to divide the Xin forces into 12 armies to divide and conquer Xiongnu. Under this scenario, Chanyu Zhi would be attacked and forced to retreat to the Dingling tribes , and Xiongnu would be divided into 15 small kingdoms to be ruled by 15 descendants of Chanyu Huhanye, who had first established friendly relations with Han. Under this plan, 300,000 men would be gathered -- Wang did not follow his generals' recommendations to start the campaign as soon as a critical mass of men were gathered, but wanted to attack with overwhelming force. This caused the border regions to be strained with supplying the men who arrived first for years, while fruitlessly waiting for the full complement of 300,000 to be gathered.

In the first stage of this plan, one of the local commanders kidnapped one of Chanyu Zhi's brothers, Xian , the Prince of Zuoliwu , and his sons Deng and Zhu , by trickering. Xian and Zhu were made chanyus -- to be two of the 15. Chanyu Zhi became enraged and started massive attacks against Xin border regions, causing the border regions much distress and loss in economic and human terms. Eventually, Xian escaped back to Xiongnu, but his sons were kept as hostages. After Zhu died, Deng succeeded him. However, in 12, after hearing reports that Xian's other son Jiao had been a successful Xiongnu strategist in military actions, Wang, in anger, executed Deng and his attendants.

Later, in 13, Chanyu Zhi died. The powerful official Xubu Dang and his wife Yun, the Princess Yimuo , who advocated peaceful relations with Xin and who were also friendly with Xian, supported Xian as the new chanyu, but even though Xian was unaware that Wang Mang had executed his son Deng, friendly relationship did not return. There was a temporary détente in 14, when Xian returned Xin defectors Chen Liang and Zhong Dai , who, as junior army officers in Xiyu, had killed their superiors and surrendered to Xiongnu so that Wang could execute them. In response, Wang recalled the forces to the northern regions which were intended to attack Xiongnu . However, after Chanyu Xian found out late in 14 that Deng had been executed, he resumed raids against the border regions but maintained a façade of peace.

Problems with southwestern tribes


Similarly, when Wang Mang first became emperor, his ambassadors visited the southwestern tribes , whose chieftains Han had largely granted the titles of princes. Wang's new seals demoted them to the titles of marquesses. One of the more powerful ones, Han , the Prince of Juting , became so angry that he cut off relations with Xin. Wang instructed the local commandery governor Zhou Xin to use trickery to kill Han. In response, Han's brother Cheng started a rebellion, killing Zhou, and starting a campaign of harassment against Xin borders. By 16, the Commandery of Yizhou had become corrupt, and yet Juting remained powerful. In 16, Wang commissioned two generals, Lian Dan and Shi Xiong , who were initially successful against Juting, but soon became caught in problems with food supply and plagues. However, Wang continued to refuse to reinstitute the Han system of using awards to buy the submission of southwestern tribes.

Problems with Korean tribes


When Wang started his campaign against Xiongnu, he requisitioned the forces of Korean tribes within Xin borders. The Korean tribes refused, and marched out of Xin borders, and the army that Wang sent against them were defeated by them. The general Wang sent, Yan You , used humble words to trick their leader, Zou , who carried the title the Marquess of Gaojuli (高句驪, Hangul: 고구려 , into a meeting with him, and then killing Zou by surprise. Wang then changed Gaojuli to the derogatory term "Xiajuli" , which further enraged the Koreans, causing them to attack the Xin northeastern regions with greater ferocity.

Problems with Xiyu kingdoms


The troubles with Xiyu kingdoms also started in 10. In that year, Xuzhili , the King of Rear Cheshi became concerned of the great cost of hosting Xin ambassadors, and he became so distressed that he considered abandoning his kingdom and fleeing to Xiongnu. Xin's Xiyu commissioner Dan Qin summoned Xuzhili and executed him. Xuzhili's brother Hulanzhi fled to Xiongnu and attacked Dan, inflicting severe casualties, before withdrawing.

In 13, the dual kingdom Wusun sent ambassadors to Chang'an to offer tributes. Because Wang Mang knew that the people of Wusun actually had greater affinity for the lesser king, he placed the ambassador of the lesser king in a higher position than the ambassador of the greater king, which greatly insulted the greater king.

Also in 13, perhaps related to this, the Xiyu kingdoms joined forces and attacked the Xiyu commissioner Dan, and successfully killed him. The Xiyu kingdoms, by that point, no longer pledged allegiance to Xin. In 16, Wang made another attempt to intimidate the Xiyu kingdoms back into submission, but the armies were divided and cut off from each other. One army was entirely wiped out. The other was forced to withdraw to Qiuzi with its way back to Xin proper cut off, and the army settled there and was unable to return for the rest of Xin Dynasty's duration.

Paralysis and corruption of the government


In addition to these wars, a major problem plaguing Wang Mang's administration was that he was so committed in determining the ancient governmental structure, believing that once things were restored to Zhou Dynasty standards, the government would be efficient. He and his officials spent inordinate amounts of time carrying out research of legends, leaving important affairs of the state undecided. A large number of counties lacked magistrates for years. The local officials, without supervision, became highly corrupt and oppressive of the populace.

Because of the way Wang came to power, he also became suspicious of allowing his subordinates to have too much power. Therefore, he made all important decisions by himself and did not delegate. This left him highly fatigued and many decisions unmade. Further, he entrusted eunuchs to screen the reports from local governments for him, but those eunuchs would decide to relay or not relay those reports based on their own personal likes and dislikes, and many important petitions went unanswered.

An even more serious problem was that the officials lacked salaries. Han had a well-defined system of official salaries, but when Wang became emperor, he ordered that the salary system be overhauled and recalibrated; however because a new system could not be created for years, the officials went without salary in the meantime. In response, they became corrupt in demanding bribes from the people, causing the people much distress. In 16, Wang finally issued the new salary system, which were to depend on how prosperous the state was to determine what the salaries were. However, because whether the state was in a prosperous year was a highly subjective matter, the officials continued to go without salary for the rest of the Xin Dynasty's existence.

Middle reign: agrarian rebellions


For a while, despite the failures of Wang's policies, the people were generally obedient. About 17, as the burdens from the wars and the corruption continued to increase, however, several agrarian rebellions started and took hold, partly also because of a major famine in Jing Prefecture . The more significant ones include:

* Guatian Yi , who occupied territory in modern Suzhou, Jiangsu.
* Mother Lü, whose son was a minor civil servant who was wrongly killed by the county magistrate. She gathered a group of desperate young men and killed the county magistrate, and then went out to the sea to become pirates, but later returned to land when her forces became larger.
* Zhang Ba , who occupied territory in modern Jingzhou, Hubei.
* Yang Mu , who occupied territory in modern Xiaogan, Hubei.
* Diao Zidu , who roved through modern western Shandong and northern Jiangsu.
* The very important Lülin Mountain rebels, who were led by Wang Kuang and Wang Feng . Because both Wang Kuang and Wang Feng were from Xinshi , these rebels were also known as Xinshi rebels.
* The also very important Chimei rebels, who were led by Fan Chong , who roved through large swaths of territory in modern southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu.

Wang sent messengers issuing pardons in hope of causing these rebels to disband. Once the messengers returned to Chang'an, some honestly reported that the rebels had gathered because the harsh laws made it impossible for them to make a living and therefore they were forced to rebel. Some, in order to flatter Wang Mang, told him that these were simply evil resisters who needed to be killed, or that this was a temporary phenomenon. Wang listened to those who flattered him and generally relieved from their posts those who told the truth. Further, Wang made no further attempts to pacify the rebels, but instead decided to suppress them by force.

At this time, Wang made another strategic mistake involving Xiongnu. In 18, Chanyu Xian died, and his brother Yu became chanyu. He wanted to consider peace with Xin, and he sent one of his key officials and a nephew of his to serve as ambassadors to Chang'an. In response, Wang Mang sent Wang Zhaojun's brother Wang She to meet with Princess Yun and her husband Xuyu Dang. At the meeting, however, Xin forces surprised and kidnapped the princess and her husband and took them to Chang'an. Wang Mang created Xuyu chanyu and envisioned placing him on the Xiongnu throne by force. This ended any hope of peace with Xiongnu.

In 20, Wang Mang made a sudden change of his presumed heir -- of sorts. He suddenly deposed Crown Prince Lin, under the rationale that disaster would come from the fact that Crown Prince Lin was younger than his brother Lord An, and should not have been crown prince. He then created Lord An the Prince of Xinqian and Wang Lin the Prince of Tongyiyang.

In 21, Empress Wang died. After her death, Wang Mang discovered that one of Empress Wang's ladies in waiting, Yuan Bi , with whom he had an affair, had also had an affair with Crown Prince Lin, and that she had conspired with Crown Prince Lin to kill Wang Mang, in light of Wang Lin's demotion. Wang Mang ordered Wang Lin to commit suicide by poison, but Wang Lin refused, and killed himself by sword. Later that year, Wang An died as well. Wang Mang then announced that he had in fact two sons by female servants, whom he then created dukes.

Late reign: hopelessness


;Agrarian revolts
In 22, Wang Mang finally saw that the agrarian rebellions were posing a much greater threat to his rule than the Xiongnu. He commissioned two of his key officials, Wang Kuang and Lian Dan to attack agrarian rebellions, with the Chimei being their first target. Wang and Lian had some initial successes, but Wang insisted on having them keep fighting without resting, and the fatigued forces eventually collapsed.

In the same year, Lülin forces suffered a major plague, killing about half of the rebels. This caused them to divide. One branch headed west to the region of modern Jingzhou, Hubei, while the other headed north to the region of the modern Nanyang, Henan.

;Liu's revolt merge with Lülin agrarian revolt
Around this time, the most ambitious of the rebels would emerge. , a descendant of a distant branch of the Han imperial clan, who lived in his ancestral territory of Chongling , had long been disgusted by Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han throne, and had long aspired to start a rebellion. His brother , by contrast, was a careful and deliberate man, who was content to be a farmer. Around this time, there were prophecies being spread about that the Lius would return to power, and many men gathered about Liu Yan, requesting that he lead them. He agreed, and further joined forces with the branch of Lülin forces who had entered the proximity, and they began to capture territory instead of simply roving and raiding. In 23, under Liu Yan's leadership, the joint forces had a major victory over Zhen Fu , the governor of the Commandery of Nanyang, killing him. They then besieged the important city of Wancheng .

;A new imperial pretender
By this point, many other rebel leaders had become jealous of Liu Yan's capabilities, and while a good number of their men admired Liu Yan and wanted him to become the emperor of a newly declared Han Dynasty, they had other ideas. They found another local rebel leader, also of Han imperial descent, , who was considered a weak personality, and requested that he be made emperor. Liu Yan initially opposed this move and instead suggested that Liu Xuan carry the title "Prince of Han" first . The other rebel leaders refused, and in early 23, Liu Xuan was proclaimed emperor. Liu Yan became prime minister.

;The Battle of Kunyang
In the spring of 23, a major military confrontation sealed Wang Mang's fate. He sent his cousin Wang Yi and his prime minister Wang Xun with what he considered to be overwhelming force, some 430,000 men, intending to crush the newly reconstituted Han regime. The Han forces were at this point in two groups -- one led by Wang Feng, Wang Chang , and Liu Xiu, which, in response to the arrival of the Xin forces, withdrew to the small town of Kunyang and one led by Liu Yan, which was still besieging Wancheng. The rebels in Kunyang initially wanted to scatter, but Liu Xiu opposed it; rather, he advocated that they guard Kunyang securely, while he would gather all other available troops in surrounding areas and attack the Xin forces from the outside. After initially rejecting Liu Xiu's idea, the Kunyang rebels eventually agreed.

Liu Xiu carried out his action, and when from the outside. Wang Yi and Wang Xun, annoyed, led 10,000 men to attack Liu Xiu and ordered the rest of their troops not to move from their siege locations. Once they engaged in battle, however, after minor losses, the other units were hesitant to assist them, and Liu Xiu killed Wang Xun in battle. After that, the Han forces inside Kunyang burst out of the city and attacked the other Xin units, and the much larger Xin forces suffered a total collapse. The soldiers largely deserted and went home, unable to be gathered again. Wang Yi had to withdraw with only several thousand men back to Luoyang. This was a major blow to Xin, psychologically; from this point on, there would be no hope for it.

;Conquest of the capitals
Emperor Gengshi then commissioned two armies, one led by Wang Kuang, targeting Luoyang, and the other led by Shentu Jian and Li Song , targeting Chang'an directly. All the populace on the way gathered, welcomed, and joined the Han forces. Shentu and Li quickly reached the outskirts of Chang'an. In response, the young men within Chang'an also rose up and stormed Weiyang Palace, the main imperial palace. Wang died in the battle at the palace , as did his daughter Princess Huanghuang . After Wang died, the crowd fought over the right to have the credit for having killed Wang, and tens of soldiers died in the ensuing fight. Wang's body was cut into pieces, and his head was delivered to the provisional Han capital Wancheng, to be hung on the city wall. However, the angry people took it off the wall and kicked it around, and someone cut his tongue off. Eventually, the head was preserved and kept in a court vault, until it was destroyed in a fire in the .

Reasons for Wang Mang's failure


Wang's reforms have been said to be a foreshadowing of socialism. The reasons why he failed were complicated. The Qing Dynasty historian Zhao Yi made the following remarks, which, while perhaps overly derogating of Wang, were not inaccurate:

:''The first of Wang Mang's failures was to seize all private land under the ''wangtian'' system and prohibiting land transactions. If a person's land exceeded 0.6 square kilometers, then he must distribute them to neighbors or relatives. Those who dared to oppose it were exiled to the wild borderland. He also prohibited people from saving and using the Han coins that the people considered reliable, and he also exiled those who violated this policy. Therefore, farmers and tradesmen lost their livelihood. Further, those who were severely punished for trading land or trading Han coins were innumerable. He then created the six monopolies, ordering local governments to monopolize liquor, salt, and iron, and he created taxes on the goods coming out of mountains, forests, and lakes. These are all policies that angered the Chinese.''

:''Wang Mang thought he had already brought Xiongnu to the north, Koreans to the east, and Huangzhi tribes to the south to submission, but he had no accomplishments in the west, so he encouraged the Qiang tribes to offer their lands to establish the Commandery of Xihai, but after the Qiang tribes lost their lands, they rebelled. He also demoted the barbaric princes to marquesses. He sent ambassadors to issue a new seal to the Xiongnu chanyu, changing the text of the great seal. Chanyu wanted the old seal, but the ambassadors destroyed it. Chanyu became angry and therefore began to disturb the northern territories. The Prince of Juting also rebelled because he was demoted to marquess status. These are all policies that angered the foreigners.''

:''Because of Xiongnu raids, Wang Mang sent 12 generals and 180 officers to lead a force of 300,000 men. When those who violated the coinage policy and their neighbors were all arrested, Wang made these condemned people soldiers. Men were put into stock cars, while women and children were forced to walk with chains around their necks. Their numbers exceeded 100,000. After they arrived, husbands and wives were separated from each other and given over to other men and women. Local governments were required to transport food from the regions of the Yangtze River and the to the northern extremes. The troops that arrived first were required to wait for the entire army to be constituted before attacking. Therefore, the generals and the officers became lawless in the northern territories and became a major disaster. The Commanderies of Wuyuan and Dai suffered the most. The forces attacking Juting suffered losses of 50 to 60 percent. These are all policies that, because of Wang Mang's militarism, caused foreign states to be embroiled in enmity with China.''

:''Therefore, as a result, the empire boiled like water, and the people rose against him. , Chimei, and all claimed to have Liu ancestry to obtain support. Many know that Wang Mang's defeat was because the people missed Han Dynasty, but they do not know that the reason why the people missed the Han Dynasty was because of Wang Mang. When Wang Mang first became regent, he accomplished many great deeds to become the basis for his greater evil acts, but these were only acts of ordinary treacherous men. After he usurped the throne, he did not know how to comfort and guide the people, and felt that he could ceaselessly deceive everyone. Therefore, he caused both the Chinese and the foreigners to hate him.''

:''The entire empire was already collapsing, but Wang Mang did not care, but rather buried his head in what is old, believing that once he returned the government structure to the old days, the empire will be peaceful. He only sought to establish proper ceremony and music day and night, and he sought to create explanations for all of the by making tortured interpretations, without spending time on the important affairs of state. Before he could complete his ceremonies and music, he was already killed. This kind of behavior is even more childish than a three year old child. There is a common contemporary idiom, "foolishness is but a form of trickery." But for Wang Mang, his trickery was only a form of foolishness.''

Personal information


* Father
** Wang Man , the early-deceased brother of Empress Wang Zhengjun
* Mother
** Qu
* Wives
** , mother of Wang Yu, Wang Huo, Wang An, Wang Lin, and Princess Huanghuang
**
* Major concubines
** Zhenzhi , originally a female servant, family name unknown, mother of Wang Kuang
** Huaineng , originally a female servant, family name unknown, mother of Wang Xin and a daughter of Wang's
** Kaiming , originally a female servant, family name unknown, mother of Wang Jie
* Children
** Wang Yu
** Wang Huo
** Wang An , initially created the Lord of Xinjia , then the Prince of Xinqian
** Wang Lin , initially created the Crown Prince , then the Prince of Tongyiyang
** Wang Xing , the Duke of Gongxiu
** Wang Kuang , the Duke of Gongjian
** Princess Huanghuang , initlally created the Duchess Dowager of Ding'an
** Wang Jie , the Lady of Mudai
** A daughter by Huaineng , the Lady of Muxiu