Bai Yong on the Three Kingdoms

Author: Bao Yang / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-22
Features: The "Bao Yang Critiques the Three Kingdoms," published by CITIC Press, provides a comprehensive interpretation of the political dynamics and power struggles in the Three Kingdoms period. The book is accompanied by 75 historical maps of events during the Three Kingdoms, covering most of the major historical events of that era, allowing readers to gain a three-dimensional understanding of the history. Based on Yuan Shu's "Records of Events in the Later Han Dynasty" from the Northern Song Dynasty, the entire book is rewritten in colloquial Chinese to remove the reading barriers for modern audiences. It enables the ordinary public to read and understand Chinese history without obstacles, which has been Bao Yang's lifelong wish. The book selects three works from the "Records of Events in the Later Han Dynasty" by Bao Yang—"The Era of Eunuchs," "Zhou Lang's Battle of Red Cliffs," and "Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions"—along with selected chapters from "The Outline of Chinese History" and "Bao Yang Says," compiling them into "Bao Yang Critiques the Three Kingdoms."
The "Bao Yang Critiques the Three Kingdoms," published by CITIC Press, provides a comprehensive interpretation of the political dynamics and power struggles in the Three Kingdoms period. The book is accompanied by 75 historical maps of events during the Three Kingdoms, covering most of the major historical events of that era, allowing readers to gain a three-dimensional understanding of the history. Based on Yuan Shu's "Records of Events in the Later Han Dynasty" from the Northern Song Dynasty, the entire book is rewritten in colloquial Chinese to remove the reading barriers for modern audiences. It enables the ordinary public to read and understand Chinese history without obstacles, which has been Bao Yang's lifelong wish. The book selects three works from the "Records of Events in the Later Han Dynasty" by Bao Yang—"The Era of Eunuchs," "Zhou Lang's Battle of Red Cliffs," and "Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions"—along with selected chapters from "The Outline of Chinese History" and "Bao Yang Says," compiling them into "Bao Yang Critiques the Three Kingdoms."
Although the Three Kingdoms were independent, their pursuit of unifying China through military actions against one another never ceased. They all hoped to unify China under their own rule, but none possessed the strength to do so. Cao Wei's founding emperor, Cao Pi, was a talented writer like his father Cao Cao, but lacked his father's political and military prowess. He could only maintain the status quo left by his father and could not create new initiatives. He launched several attacks on the Eastern Wu Empire but failed to cross the Yangtze River, leading him to say something both ignorant and foolish: "The heavens opened the Yangtze River specifically to divide the north and south." After his death, his son Cao Rui succeeded him. This bottleneck figure was even worse than his father, as if his empire had already unified the world and was impregnable. He was only concerned with building palaces every day. After his death, his nephew Cao Fang lost power in a coup and handed control to the general Sima Yi. After Sima Yi's death, his sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao took over, and the Cao Wei Empire gradually declined.
The founding emperor of Shu-Han, Liu Bei, declared war on the Eastern Wu Empire after his trusted general Guan Yu was killed by the Eastern Wu Empire and Jing Province (Hubei and Hunan) was occupied by it. However, at the Battle of Xiaoting (northwest of Xiaoting Town, Zhijiang, Hubei), he was defeated by the young Eastern Wu general Lu Xun, and died in anger. His son Liu Shan succeeded him. Liu Shan's childhood name was "Adou," and he was a simple-minded ruler who appointed Zhuge Liang as his prime minister and entrusted the entire country to him. Shu-Han was the smallest and weakest of the Three Kingdoms. Its four southern prefectures—Yuejing (Xichang, Sichuan), Yongchang (Baoshan, Yunnan), Yizhou (Jinning, Yunnan), and Zhuangke (Fufeng, Guizhou)—accounted for half of Shu-Han's territory. After Liu Bei's death, all the ethnic minorities rebelled and surrendered to the Eastern Wu Empire. Zhuge Liang first attacked the four prefectures, abandoning coercion and adopting a strategy of psychological warfare. He captured the ethnic leader Meng Huo six times and released him each time to fight again. On the seventh capture, when he was about to release him again, Meng Huo was deeply moved and swore an oath: "From this generation onward, I will never betray China." He kept his promise, and when Zhuge Liang attacked the Cao Wei Empire, the four prefectures remained stable and even contributed significant manpower and resources. With no worries, Zhuge Liang launched five attacks on the Cao Wei Empire. However, four of these military campaigns failed.
The first attack in 2227 ended in a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Jiaoting (Zhuanglang, Gansu) in 228. During this battle, the general Wei Yan once suggested a surprise attack on Chang'an via the Ziwugou (a gorge in the Qinling Mountains). However, such a risky military operation was beyond Zhuge Liang's cautious and steady nature. He must have known that sometimes military actions require risks, but he dared not take the chance. After this, the Cao Wei Empire became wary, and the opportunity was lost forever.
The second attack was in 228, after Zhuge Liang's defeat at Jiaoting. He gathered his forces and attacked Chenchong (Baoji, Shaanxi), but failed to capture it and had to retreat due to running out of supplies. The third attack in 229 was the only one where he successfully relocated the people of Wudu (Chengxian, Gansu) and Yinping (Wenxian, Gansu) under the Cao Wei Empire to Shu-Han for farming, which greatly helped the sparsely populated Shu-Han. The fourth attack in 231 was against Shangtubang (Tianshui, Gansu), but he again ran out of supplies and had to retreat.
Zhuge Liang's greatest challenge was the lack of food supplies in the mountainous region, so he decided to adopt a policy of farming. In his fifth attack in 234, he advanced to Bi County (Meixian, Shaanxi), farmed along the southern bank of the Wei River, and made long-term plans. However, near the outskirts of Bi County in Zhaoyuan, Zhuge Liang died. This was a fatal loss for the talent-deprived Shu-Han Empire. His military duties were taken over by the general Jiang Wei, but the eunuch Huang Hao seized power beside Liu Shan, and Jiang Wei's abilities far surpassed Zhuge Liang's. Maintaining the remnants of the empire was already a struggle, and he could no longer achieve more than Zhuge Liang had. The Shu-Han Empire also declined.
The founding emperor of the Eastern Wu Empire, Sun Quan, ruled for a long time, and he died at the age of 71 (in 252), fifty-two years after succeeding his brother Sun Ce. Fifty-two years was a long time, and it turned him from a wise ruler into a foolish one, so the Eastern Wu Empire was always in chaos like a pile of wheat stalks. After several coups, the last emperor Sun Hao was another typical example of a ruler destined for downfall. His favorite pastime was skinning people alive and scrubbing their faces with iron brushes. One of his ministers had a stroke and could not speak, and he believed the minister was pretending, so he set fire to his head and burned him to death. He once went out in winter, and furious guards shouted: "If the enemy comes, we will betray you." He was the opposite of Liu Shan—Liu Shan was too incompetent, while Sun Hao was too inhumane.
P4-5