Rebellion · Coup
Revolt of Tianshui 天水之亂
About this event
The Revolt of Tianshui was the episode in the spring of the 6th year of Jianxing (228; 2nd year of Taihe in Wei) in which, when Zhuge Liang of Shu attacked Mount Qi, Wei's three commanderies of Nan'an, Tianshui and Anding rebelled against Wei and went over to Zhuge Liang; it took place during the first campaign of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions. Wei sent the General-in-Chief Cao Zhen to take command of the region west of the passes, and when Zhang He defeated Ma Su at Jieting the three commanderies were pacified again. At this time Jiang Wei of Tianshui Commandery went over to Zhuge Liang and entered Shu. Records, Shu 5 §32–33Records, Wei 3 §8Records, Shu 14 §29–31
Chen Shou recorded this episode in the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5, the Biographies of Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Jiang Wei in Records of Shu 14 (the part on Jiang Wei), the Annals of Emperor Ming in Records of Wei 3, the Biography of Cao Zhen in Records of Wei 9, the Biography of Zhang He in Records of Wei 17 and the Biographies of Xu, Hu and the Two Wangs in Records of Wei 27 (the part on Xu Miao). The Romance portrays it in Chapter 92, "Zhuge Liang Takes Three Cities by Wit," and Chapter 93, "Jiang Boyue Surrenders to Kongming," as the story of taking Nan'an, Anding and Tianshui and winning Jiang Wei. Records, Shu 5 §32Records, Shu 14 §29–31Records, Wei 3 §8Records, Wei 9 §65Records, Wei 17 §51Records, Wei 27 §5Romance, Ch. 92 §26–44Romance, Ch. 93 §1–29
Course of events in the Records
In the spring of the 6th year of Jianxing (228) Zhuge Liang spread word that he would take Mei County by the Xie Valley road, drawing Cao Zhen's main army to the Ji Valley, and then personally led the armies to attack Mount Qi. With his ranks orderly, his rewards and punishments strict and his commands clear, the three commanderies of Nan'an, Tianshui and Anding rebelled against Wei and went over to him, and all of Guanzhong was shaken. The Annals of Emperor Ming record that when the Shu commander Zhuge Liang raided the frontier, the officials and people of the three commanderies rebelled and went over to him, and the biographies of Cao Zhen and Zhang He likewise record that the three commanderies rebelled and went over to Zhuge Liang. Records, Shu 5 §32Records, Wei 3 §8Records, Wei 9 §65Records, Wei 17 §51
In Tianshui Commandery the Administrator happened to be out on an inspection tour, and Jiang Wei, a Gentleman of the Household who took part in the commandery's military affairs, went with him along with the Officer of Merit Liang Xu, the Registrar Yin Shang, the Recorder Liang Qian and others. Hearing that the Shu army was about to arrive and that the counties were going over to it, the Administrator suspected that Jiang Wei and the others all harbored disloyal intentions, fled by night and held Shanggui. Jiang Wei and the others pursued him, but the city gates had already been shut and they were not let in; they went back to Ji County, but Ji County would not admit Jiang Wei either, so Jiang Wei and the others went together to Zhuge Liang. Records, Shu 14 §29–30
Emperor Ming of Wei came west to hold Chang'an. The General-in-Chief Cao Zhen was stationed at Mei with the armies under his command, and Zhang He, after defeating Ma Su at Jieting, attacked and pacified all three commanderies. The Biography of Cao Zhen records that when Yang Tiao and other people of Anding coerced the officials and commoners into holding Yuezhi City, Cao Zhen advanced and surrounded it, and Yang Tiao, saying, "Since the General-in-Chief has come in person, I wish only to surrender early," bound himself and came out, and all three commanderies were pacified. Xu Miao, Inspector of Liang Province, sent his Army Adviser, the Administrator of Jincheng and others to attack the rebels of Nan'an and defeated them. The biography of Wei Zhen records that when Zhuge Liang invaded Tianshui, Wei Zhen proposed sending a surprise force through San Pass to cut his supply route and was put in command of the armies as General Who Conquers Shu, but when he reached Chang'an Zhuge Liang had withdrawn. Records, Shu 5 §32Records, Wei 9 §65Records, Wei 17 §51Records, Wei 27 §5Records, Wei 22 §81
After Ma Su's defeat at Jieting, Zhuge Liang took more than a thousand households of Xi County together with Jiang Wei and the others and returned to Hanzhong, and for this reason Jiang Wei became separated from his mother. Zhuge Liang made Jiang Wei Clerk of the Granary Bureau, added the title of General Who Upholds Righteousness and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Dangyang Village; he was then twenty-seven. In a letter to Zhang Yi (張裔) and Jiang Wan, Zhuge Liang called Jiang Wei the foremost gentleman of Liang Province. According to the Annals of Emperor Ming, after the three commanderies were pacified the emperor visited Chang'an, then returned to Luoyang in the 4th month and assessed the merits of the campaign against Zhuge Liang, granting titles and fiefs. Records, Shu 5 §33Records, Shu 14 §30–31Records, Wei 3 §8
In the Romance
In Chapter 92 of the Romance, Xiahou Mao, Wei's imperial son-in-law, who had come to stop Zhuge Liang, was heavily defeated by Zhao Yun, Guan Xing, Zhang Bao (張苞) and Deng Zhi, fled into Nan'an Commandery and shut the gates. When ten days of attack failed to take it, Zhuge Liang, learning that Nan'an adjoined Tianshui Commandery to the west and Anding Commandery to the north, had a trusted man disguise himself as Pei Xu, one of Xiahou Mao's officers, and ask the two commanderies for help. Romance, Ch. 92 §23–29
While Cui Liang, Administrator of Anding, was on his way to Nan'an with his troops and being defeated by Guan Xing and Zhang Bao, Wei Yan, disguised as Anding troops, seized the city of Anding, and Cui Liang surrendered. Zhuge Liang sent Cui Liang into Nan'an to persuade its Administrator Yang Ling, and when the two tried to counter him with a stratagem, he saw through it, sent Guan Xing and Zhang Bao along, had Yang Ling and Cui Liang beheaded, and took Nan'an. Xiahou Mao was captured by Wang Ping. Romance, Ch. 92 §30–42
Ma Zun, Administrator of Tianshui, was about to send troops on Pei Xu's word, but Jiang Wei saw through it as a Shu ploy. In Chapter 93 Jiang Wei counterattacked and drove off Zhao Yun, who had aimed at the emptied city, and in the battle for the city of Tianshui, which Zhuge Liang attacked in person, he again scattered the Shu army, so that Zhuge Liang said of him that he was truly a general's talent. Romance, Ch. 92 §45–49Romance, Ch. 93 §1–10
Zhuge Liang pretended to attack Ji County, where Jiang Wei's mother lived, to draw Jiang Wei into the city of Ji; he released the captured Xiahou Mao while letting it be known that Jiang Wei had surrendered, and had a soldier disguised as Jiang Wei attack the city of Tianshui. Jiang Wei, who had come out to seize provisions and lost the city of Ji, was met with arrows at both Tianshui and Shanggui, and when Zhuge Liang blocked his way he dismounted and surrendered. On the strength of Jiang Wei's secret letter Liang Xu and Yin Shang opened the gates of Tianshui, and Liang Qian too surrendered at Shanggui; Xiahou Mao and Ma Zun fled to the Qiang-Hu city, and Zhuge Liang said that releasing Xiahou Mao was like releasing a duck, while gaining Jiang Wei was gaining a phoenix. Romance, Ch. 93 §11–29
Where the Romance differs
How the three commanderies were won: In Chapters 92–93 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang took the cities of Anding, Nan'an and Tianshui one after another by false requests for help and ambushes inside the walls. The Biography of Zhuge Liang and the Annals of Emperor Ming in the Records say only that when Zhuge Liang attacked Mount Qi the three commanderies rebelled against Wei and went over to him of their own accord; there is no record of his attacking and capturing the cities. Romance, Ch. 92 §32 · 41Romance, Ch. 93 §27–29Records, Shu 5 §32Records, Wei 3 §8
Xiahou Mao: In Chapters 92–93 of the Romance, Xiahou Mao, as Wei's imperial son-in-law, led out the army, was captured at Nan'an and then released. In Chen Shou's main text there is only the record that Xiahou Mao, son of Xiahou Dun, married a daughter of Taizu and served as Palace Attendant, Master of Writing, General Who Pacifies the West and General Who Guards the East; the ones who pacified the three commanderies that year were Cao Zhen and Zhang He. Romance, Ch. 92 §23 · 41Romance, Ch. 93 §15Records, Wei 9 §9–10Records, Wei 3 §8
Jiang Wei's defection: In Chapters 92–93 of the Romance, Jiang Wei, serving under Ma Zun, foiled Zhuge Liang's stratagems again and again, until Zhuge Liang's scheme to sow discord brought him under suspicion; turned away from both Tianshui and Shanggui, he surrendered. In the Biography of Jiang Wei in the Records, the Administrator, suspecting Jiang Wei and the others, fled by night to Shanggui and shut the gates, and when Ji County would not admit them either, Jiang Wei and the others went to Zhuge Liang of their own accord. Chen Shou's main text does not give this Administrator's name. Romance, Ch. 92 §47–49Romance, Ch. 93 §16–24Records, Shu 14 §29–30
Jiang Wei's mother: In Chapter 95 of the Romance, as he withdrew, Zhuge Liang sent a trusted man to Ji County to escort Jiang Wei's aged mother to Hanzhong. In the Biography of Jiang Wei in the Records, because Zhuge Liang went back taking more than a thousand households of Xi County together with Jiang Wei and the others, Jiang Wei became separated from his mother. Romance, Ch. 95 §39Records, Shu 14 §31
Liang Xu, Yin Shang and Liang Qian: In Chapter 93 of the Romance, Liang Xu and Yin Shang opened the gates of Tianshui and Liang Qian surrendered at Shanggui, and Zhuge Liang made them Administrator of Tianshui, Magistrate of Ji and Magistrate of Shanggui. In the Biography of Jiang Wei in the Records, the three accompanied the Administrator together with Jiang Wei and then went over to Zhuge Liang together. Romance, Ch. 93 §27–29Records, Shu 14 §30
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 | Zhuge Liang | Cao Zhen, Zhang He, Xu Miao |
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 §8