Battle
Battle of Wuzhang Plains 五丈原之戰
About this event
This was the battle in the 12th year of Jianxing (234) in which Zhuge Liang of Shu set out on his last northern expedition and faced Sima Yi of Wei for more than a hundred days at the Wuzhang Plains south of the Wei River. Zhuge Liang came out through the Xie Valley in the 2nd month, carried provisions with gliding horses and set up military farms in order to hold out for a long time, but Sima Yi, as Emperor Ming wished, held his ramparts firmly and refused to give battle. Records, Shu 3 §15Records, Shu 5 §38Records, Wei 3 §36 · 40
When Zhuge Liang died of illness in camp in the 8th month of that year, the Shu army withdrew, and on the way back Wei Yan and Yang Yi quarreled and Wei Yan was killed. Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions end here. Records, Shu 5 §38Records, Shu 3 §15Records, Shu 10 §61–64
Chen Shou divided his account of this battle among the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5, the Biography of the Later Sovereign in Records of Shu 3 and the Biography of Wei Yan in Records of Shu 10, the Annals of Emperor Ming in Records of Wei 3, and the biographies dealing with Guo Huai and Xin Pi. The Romance depicts the fighting at Beiyuan, the wooden oxen and gliding horses, the fire attack at Shangfang Valley, the standoff at the Wuzhang Plains and Zhuge Liang's death in Chapters 102–104, and continues with Wei Yan's end in Chapter 105. Records, Shu 5 §38Records, Wei 3 §36–40Records, Wei 26 §69–70Records, Wei 25 §22Romance, Ch. 102 §5Romance, Ch. 103 §37Romance, Ch. 104 §15Romance, Ch. 105 §21
Course of events in the Records
According to the Biography of the Later Sovereign in the Records, in the 2nd month, spring, of the 12th year of Jianxing (234), Zhuge Liang came out through the Xie Valley and for the first time used gliding horses to carry provisions. The Biography of Zhuge Liang records that he led out his entire army, occupied the Wuzhang Plains in Wugong and faced Sima Xuanwang (Sima Yi) south of the Wei River. Always worried that his provisions would not keep up, Zhuge Liang divided his troops to set up military farms as a basis for a long stay; though his farming soldiers mingled with the inhabitants along the Wei River, the people were at ease and the soldiers took nothing for themselves. Records, Shu 3 §15Records, Shu 5 §38
In the Annals of Emperor Ming in Records of Wei, Emperor Ming (Cao Rui) issued an edict telling Sima Xuanwang to strengthen his walls and hold fast to blunt the enemy's edge. If the enemy could not achieve his aims by advancing and stayed long, his provisions would run out and he would surely flee, and pursuing him when he fled was the way to complete victory. According to the biography dealing with Xin Pi, Sima Xuanwang asked several times to give battle but Emperor Ming would not allow it, and this year, fearing that he could not restrain him, sent Xin Pi as Military Adviser to the General-in-Chief with the Imperial Credentials, and the six armies followed his direction, none daring to disobey. Records, Wei 3 §36Records, Wei 25 §22
According to the biography of Guo Huai, Zhuge Liang also set up military farms at Lankeng, and Guo Huai, saying that it would not be to the state's advantage if Zhuge Liang crossed the Wei River, climbed onto Beiyuan and cut the road to Long, proposed occupying Beiyuan first. Most of those in the discussion objected, but Sima Xuanwang agreed, and Guo Huai garrisoned Beiyuan and struck back at the Shu army that swarmed in before his trenches and ramparts were finished. Several days later, when Zhuge Liang moved large forces to the west, the generals said he meant to attack the western camp, but Guo Huai alone judged that he would attack Yangsui; that night the Shu army attacked Yangsui, but it was prepared and they could not climb its walls. Records, Wei 26 §69–70
At the same time in the east, Sun Quan of Wu headed for Hefei Xincheng (the New City of Hefei), and Lu Yi (Lu Xun) and Sun Shao each led more than 10,000 men into the Huai and Mian rivers. In the 7th month Emperor Ming set out east in person aboard the dragon boat, and when Sun Quan fled while Zhang Ying and others held the New City, he said, "Now that Sun Quan has fled, Zhuge Liang's nerve will be broken." The Biography of the Lord of Wu also records that Sun Quan besieged Hefei Xincheng and withdrew before Emperor Ming reached Shouchun. Records, Wei 3 §37–39Records, Wu 2 §77–78
The Annals of Emperor Ming record that Sima Xuanwang faced Zhuge Liang and kept up the siege for many days, and though Zhuge Liang challenged him to battle several times, he strengthened his ramparts and did not respond. After a standoff of more than a hundred days, in the 8th month of that year, Zhuge Liang fell ill and died in camp at the age of fifty-four. After the army withdrew, Sima Xuanwang went around inspecting the sites of his camps and ramparts and said, "He was the extraordinary talent of the realm!" Records, Wei 3 §40Records, Shu 5 §38
According to the Biography of Wei Yan, Zhuge Liang, gravely ill in the autumn, settled with the Chief Clerk Yang Yi, the Major Fei Yi and the Protector of the Army Jiang Wei the procedure for withdrawing the army after his death, having Wei Yan cut off pursuit at the rear, and if he did not obey, the army was to leave anyway. When Zhuge Liang died, Wei Yan refused Yang Yi's command, saying that the affairs of the realm could not be abandoned because one man had died, and when Fei Yi deceived him and slipped away, he went south first and burned the plank roads. Within a single day Wei Yan and Yang Yi each submitted memorials accusing the other of rebellion, and Jiang Wan and Dong Yun vouched for Yang Yi. Records, Shu 10 §61–63
Wei Yan, occupying the mouth of the Nangu Valley and striking at Yang Yi, saw his soldiers all scatter when He Ping (Wang Ping), in the lead, rebuked them, "The Chancellor has died and his body is not yet cold!"; fleeing toward Hanzhong with several of his sons, he was cut down by Ma Dai, sent by Yang Yi. Yang Yi led the army back to Chengdu, and the Later Sovereign made Wu Yi General of Chariots and Cavalry to oversee Hanzhong and made Jiang Wan Prefect of the Masters of Writing to take charge of the affairs of state. As his last instructions directed, Zhuge Liang was buried at Mount Dingjun in Hanzhong and received the posthumous title Marquis Zhongwu. Records, Shu 10 §63–64Records, Shu 13 §38Records, Shu 3 §15Records, Shu 5 §39–40
In the Romance
In Chapter 102 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang rejects Qiao Zhou's attempt to dissuade him and sets out again for Mount Qi with 340,000 Shu troops, and in the spring of the 2nd year of Qinglong (234) Wei issues an edict making Sima Yi Grand Commander and ordering him to hold fast. Zhuge Liang's plan to burn the pontoon bridges over the Wei River while feigning an attack on Beiyuan is seen through by Sima Yi; Wu Ban drowns and more than 10,000 men are lost. Zhuge Liang sends Fei Yi to Eastern Wu and obtains Sun Quan's promise to send troops, and turning against Sima Yi the false surrender of Zheng Wen, he lures Sima Yi out and kills Qin Lang. Romance, Ch. 102 §1–2 · 5–11 · 17–38
At Shangfang Valley Zhuge Liang builds wooden oxen and gliding horses and carries provisions from Jiange to Mount Qi. When Sima Yi seizes some, copies them and sends out a transport train, Wang Ping raids it, twists the tongues of the wooden oxen and gliding horses so that they cannot move, and takes the provisions; at the start of Chapter 103 Sima Yi, chased by Liao Hua, throws away his golden helmet and flees. Romance, Ch. 102 §39–62Romance, Ch. 103 §1–2
In Chapter 103 Zhuge Liang sets up military farms along the Wei River, buries dry brushwood and land mines in Shangfang Valley, and has Wei Yan lure Sima Yi in. Just as Sima Yi and his sons, trapped in the valley, are weeping amid the flames, a downpour puts out the fire, and Zhuge Liang sighs, "Planning an affair lies with men, but its success lies with Heaven." Having lost his camps south of the Wei, Sima Yi holds fast north of the Wei River, and Zhuge Liang encamps at the Wuzhang Plains. Romance, Ch. 103 §13–38
Zhuge Liang sends a woman's headdress and clothes to Sima Yi, who will not give battle, but Sima Yi accepts them with a laugh and, asking the envoy about Zhuge Liang's meals and work, says that since he eats little and his work is heavy he cannot last long. When his generals are enraged, Sima Yi submits a memorial asking to give battle, and Cao Rui sends Xin Pi to forbid it. Zhuge Liang, collapsing at the news that the Eastern Wu army has withdrawn, lights lamps to pray to the Northern Dipper for longer life on the Mid-Autumn Festival of the 8th month, but on the sixth night Wei Yan rushes in and puts out the main lamp. Romance, Ch. 103 §38–56
In Chapter 104 Zhuge Liang entrusts his book on the art of war to Jiang Wei and to Yang Yi a brocade bag for dealing with Wei Yan, names Jiang Wan and Fei Yi to Li Fu as those to succeed him, and breathes his last at fifty-four on the 23rd day of the 8th month, autumn, of the 12th year of Jianxing. Sima Yi, giving chase after seeing a great star fall, flees in alarm on seeing a wooden statue of Zhuge Liang seated in a carriage, giving rise to the saying "A dead Zhuge put a living Zhongda to flight." Wei Yan, who refuses the order to cut off pursuit at the rear, burns the plank roads and blocks the way, and in Chapter 105, at the very moment he cries, "Who dares to kill me?", he is cut down by Ma Dai. Romance, Ch. 104 §3–15 · 21–35Romance, Ch. 105 §1 · 19–21
Where the Romance differs
Where the camp was pitched: In Chapter 102 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang sets out for Mount Qi and builds his camps there, and encamps at the Wuzhang Plains only after the fighting at Shangfang Valley. In the Biography of Zhuge Liang and the Biography of the Later Sovereign in the Records, Zhuge Liang came out through the Xie Valley from the start, occupied the Wuzhang Plains in Wugong and faced Sima Yi south of the Wei River. Romance, Ch. 102 §5 · 12Romance, Ch. 103 §37–38Records, Shu 5 §38Records, Shu 3 §15
Beiyuan and the generals: In the Romance too, the one who proposes occupying Beiyuan first is Guo Huai, but the Shu army attacking Beiyuan and the pontoon bridges is badly defeated, Wu Ban drowns, and Qin Lang is also killed in battle. The biography of Guo Huai records only that the Shu army attacked Beiyuan and Yangsui but could not climb the walls. In Chen Shou's text, Wu Ban later rose to General of Agile Cavalry, and Qin Lang appears as General of Valiant Cavalry around the time of Emperor Ming's death. Romance, Ch. 102 §11 · 18–19 · 37Records, Wei 26 §69–70Records, Shu 15 §56Records, Wei 14 §151
The wooden oxen and gliding horses and Shangfang Valley: The struggle over the wooden oxen and gliding horses and the fire attack at Shangfang Valley in Chapters 102–103 of the Romance are not in Chen Shou's text. Chen Shou's text records only that Zhuge Liang carried provisions with wooden oxen in the 9th year of Jianxing (231) and with gliding horses in the 12th year. Romance, Ch. 102 §40–62Romance, Ch. 103 §15–34Records, Shu 5 §37–38Records, Shu 3 §15
The headdress and Xin Pi: In the Romance, when Zhuge Liang sends women's clothes, Sima Yi submits a memorial asking to give battle, and Cao Rui sends Xin Pi to forbid it. The biography dealing with Xin Pi records only that Sima Yi asked several times to give battle but Emperor Ming would not allow it and this year sent Xin Pi as Military Adviser to the General-in-Chief; there is no headdress and no exchange with the envoy. Romance, Ch. 103 §38–47Records, Wei 25 §22
Zhuge Liang's death: The prayer to the Northern Dipper and the main lamp, the great star seen by Sima Yi, and the wooden statue in the carriage in the Romance are not in Chen Shou's text. Chen Shou's text says that after a standoff of more than a hundred days he died of illness in the 8th month, and Sima Yi's words on seeing the camp sites, calling him the extraordinary talent of the realm, are the same as in the Romance. Romance, Ch. 103 §52–56Romance, Ch. 104 §21 · 31–36Records, Shu 5 §38
Wei Yan's end: In the Romance, Wei Yan, attacking Nanzheng together with Ma Dai, is cut down by Ma Dai following the plan in the brocade bag left by Zhuge Liang. In the Biography of Wei Yan, when his soldiers scattered at He Ping's rebuke, Wei Yan fled toward Hanzhong with several of his sons, and Ma Dai, sent by Yang Yi, pursued and cut him down. Chen Shou judged that Wei Yan's return south rather than surrendering to Wei was only meant to get rid of Yang Yi and others, and not an attempt at rebellion. Romance, Ch. 104 §5Romance, Ch. 105 §16–21Records, Shu 10 §63–65
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Belligerents
| Item | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| Factions | Shu | Wei |
| Commanders | Fei Yi, Jiang Wei, Wang Ping, Wei Yan(魏延), Yang Yi, Zhuge Liang | Guo Huai, Qin Lang, Sima Yi, Xin Pi |
Factions, commanders, strength and casualties are checked against the source texts (3KDEX). Strength and casualties show only figures stated in the sources. Source: Wei 3 §40