RSurrendered when the food ran out and people were eating one anotherWei 8 §48
NWith no heart for fighting, cut his way out and fledCh. 106 §12
Yang Zuo 楊祚
| Occupation | RGeneral · General | Faction | Gongsun Yuan faction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R2 |
Profile
Yang Zuo was a general of Gongsun Yuan of Liaodong. He has no biography of his own in the Records; his name appears twice in the account of Gongsun Yuan in the Biographies of the Two Gongsuns, Tao and the Four Zhangs in Records of Wei 8. In the 2nd year of Jingchu (238), when Sima Yi reached Liaodong to attack Gongsun Yuan, Yang Zuo, together with Bei Yan and others, was stationed at Liaosui County with several tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry. Later, when the city of Xiangping was besieged, its food ran out and people were eating one another, the general Yang Zuo and others surrendered. Records, Wei 8 §46–48
Chen Shou's main text does not record what became of Yang Zuo after he surrendered. In the Romance he first appears in Chapter 106 as the commander whom Gongsun Yuan made his vanguard, and appears in 1 of its 120 chapters; no chapter has his name in its title. Holding out at Liaosui with Bei Yan, he falls into an ambush on the way back to Xiangping and flees, and he does not appear again after the battle at Mount Shou. Records, Wei 8 §48–49Romance, Ch. 106 §5 · 9–13
In the Records
In the 1st year of Jingchu (237), when Guanqiu Jian, Inspector of You Province, and others came bearing a sealed edict to summon Gongsun Yuan, Gongsun Yuan raised troops and met them in battle at Liaosui County, and Guanqiu Jian and the others, faring badly, went back. Gongsun Yuan then made himself King of Yan. In the spring of the following year Wei sent the Grand Commandant Sima Yi to attack Gongsun Yuan, and in the 6th month the Wei army reached Liaodong. Records, Wei 8 §46–47
Gongsun Yuan had his generals Bei Yan, Yang Zuo and others station themselves at Liaosui County with several tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry, ringed by trenches more than twenty li long. When Sima Yi's army arrived, Gongsun Yuan had Bei Yan meet it in battle, and the general Hu Zun and others, sent by Sima Yi, defeated him. When Sima Yi headed southeast and then turned sharply northeast to make straight for Xiangping, Bei Yan and the others fled by night, and they fought to the death again at Mount Shou but were heavily defeated. Records, Wei 8 §47–48
The Wei army advanced to below the walls of Xiangping and dug siege trenches. Just then the rains fell for more than thirty days and the Liao River suddenly rose, so that transport boats came straight from the mouth of the Liao to below the walls. When the rain cleared, the Wei army built earthen mounds, raised watchtowers and shot into the city with stone-throwing engines and repeating crossbows. Gongsun Yuan was hard pressed; the food ran out, people ate one another, and very many died. The general Yang Zuo and others surrendered. Records, Wei 8 §48
On the renwu day of the 8th month, when Gongsun Yuan's host collapsed, Gongsun Yuan broke through the siege with his son Gongsun Xiu and several hundred horsemen and fled southeast, but was beheaded. When the city fell, the heads taken from the Chancellor of State downward numbered in the thousands, and Liaodong, Daifang, Lelang and Xuantu were all pacified. Chen Shou's main text does not record what became of Yang Zuo after his surrender. Records, Wei 8 §49
In the Romance
In Chapter 106 of the Romance, Gongsun Yuan styles himself King of Yan and beheads in the marketplace the Deputy General Jia Fan and the Army Adviser Lun Zhi, who remonstrated with him. He then makes the general-in-chief Bei Yan supreme commander and Yang Zuo the vanguard, raises 150,000 troops of Liaodong and sets out to invade the Central Plains. Romance, Ch. 106 §3 · 5
When Sima Yi makes Hu Zun his vanguard and has him first pitch camp in Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan divides off 80,000 men for Bei Yan and Yang Zuo and stations them at Liaosui. They ring the camp with moats for more than twenty li and surround it with abatis, making it very tight. Bei Yan confers with Yang Zuo and says that even if the Wei army attacks they should not meet it in battle, but wait until its food runs out and it withdraws and then strike with an unexpected force; in that way they can capture Sima Yi. Romance, Ch. 106 §9–10
When a report comes that the Wei army has gone south, Bei Yan, alarmed that Xiangping may be lost, breaks camp and follows after it, while Sima Yi has Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Wei lie in ambush on the bank of the Liao River. When Bei Yan and Yang Zuo arrive with their troops, the ambushers strike from both sides, and the two, with no heart for fighting, cut their way out and flee. Reaching Mount Shou and meeting Gongsun Yuan's troops, the two join forces with him and fight the Wei army again. Romance, Ch. 106 §11–12
The battle collapses when Bei Yan is cut down by Xiahou Ba's blade, and as the Liaodong troops fall into great disorder, Gongsun Yuan leads the remnants of his army into the city of Xiangping and holds it fast. The Romance does not record what became of Yang Zuo after this. Those who go to Sima Yi's camp to ask for surrender after the food in the city runs out are the Chancellor of State Wang Jian, the Imperial Counselor Liu Fu and the Palace Attendant Wei Yan (衛演). Romance, Ch. 106 §13 · 21–22
Where the Romance differs
Post and troops: In Chapter 106 of the Romance, Yang Zuo is the vanguard of the 150,000 Liaodong troops, with Bei Yan as supreme commander, that set out to invade the Central Plains, and at Liaosui he is stationed with Bei Yan leading 80,000. In the Records Yang Zuo is a general, and Gongsun Yuan gave Bei Yan, Yang Zuo and others several tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry and stationed them at Liaosui County. Romance, Ch. 106 §5 · 9Records, Wei 8 §47
The plan at Liaosui: In Chapter 106 of the Romance, Bei Yan proposes to Yang Zuo that they not meet the Wei army in battle but wait for it to withdraw. In the Records, when the Wei army arrived Gongsun Yuan had Bei Yan meet it in battle, and Hu Zun and others defeated him. Romance, Ch. 106 §10Records, Wei 8 §47
The ambush: In Chapter 106 of the Romance, Yang Zuo and Bei Yan meet the ambush of Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Wei on the bank of the Liao River and flee. The account of Gongsun Yuan in the Records has neither the ambush nor the names of Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Wei, and records that Bei Yan and the others, fearing that Xiangping was undefended, fled by night. Romance, Ch. 106 §11–12Records, Wei 8 §47–48
Surrender: In Chapter 106 of the Romance Yang Zuo does not appear after the battle at Mount Shou, and those who go to ask for surrender are Wang Jian, Liu Fu and Wei Yan (衛演). In the Records, when the city of Xiangping was hard pressed and its food ran out, the general Yang Zuo and others surrendered. Romance, Ch. 106 §12 · 21–22Records, Wei 8 §48
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.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
Records total384 / 1000Rank 704 of 996 · Top 71%Romance total369 / 1000Rank 743 of 1,113 · Top 67%
Romance adaptation index−15Romance total − Records total
- LEA5045−5
- STR4242±0
- INT4042+2
- POL3533−2
- CHA3835−3
- VIR3540+5
- ADP4535−10
- SCH3131±0
- DIP3333±0
- DIS3533−2
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
9 similar abilities — show evidence
RLed several tens of thousands with Bei Yan and ringed Liaosui with trenches over twenty liWei 8 §47
NServed as vanguard and held Liaosui, but fell into an ambush and fledCh. 106 §5Ch. 106 §9
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Gongsun Yuan's generalWei 8 §47
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as the Liaodong vanguardCh. 106 §5
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Gongsun Yuan's generalWei 8 §47
NAgreed with Bei Yan to hold fast and wait for the Wei army's food to run outCh. 106 §10
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Gongsun Yuan's generalWei 8 §47
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as the Liaodong vanguardCh. 106 §5
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Gongsun Yuan's generalWei 8 §47
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as the Liaodong vanguardCh. 106 §5
RSurrendered when the city was hard pressedWei 8 §48
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as the Liaodong vanguardCh. 106 §5
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Gongsun Yuan's generalWei 8 §47
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as the Liaodong vanguardCh. 106 §5
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Gongsun Yuan's generalWei 8 §47
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as the Liaodong vanguardCh. 106 §5
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Gongsun Yuan's generalWei 8 §47
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as the Liaodong vanguardCh. 106 §5
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (1)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →
Allegiance history
- Gongsun Yuan faction · Romance · Romance ch. 106 「渊令卑衍，杨祚分八万兵屯于辽隧」 · Q124613630
Related events (2)
- Sima Yi's Liaodong campaign 237~238 · Command
- Gongsun Yuan Defeated and Killed at Xiangping 238 · Appears (Romance scene)
Includes automatic matching from Wikipedia infoboxes and source keywords (unverified).