Jiang Wei 姜維

He lost his father young and lived with his mother, and he was fond of the scholarship of Zheng Xuan. He served his commandery as Clerk of Accounts (shangji yuan), and the province summoned him as an Attendant Officer (congshi). His father Jiang Jiong, while serving as the commandery's Officer of Merit (gongcao), had shielded the commandery's commander with his own body when the Qiang and Rong rebelled and had died on the battlefield, and so Jiang Wei was granted the post of Gentleman of the Palace (zhonglang) and took part in the military affairs of his home commandery. Records, Shu 14 §29

In the 6th year of Jianxing (228), when Zhuge Liang's army was heading for Qishan, Jiang Wei, together with the Officer of Merit Liang Xu, the Registrar Yin Shang and others, was accompanying the Administrator of Tianshui on a tour of inspection. On hearing that the counties were responding to the Shu army, the Administrator suspected Jiang Wei and the others and fled by night to Shanggui. Jiang Wei and the others went after him, but the city gates had already been shut; they returned to Ji, but Ji would not let them in either, so they went together to Zhuge Liang. Just then Ma Su was defeated at Jieting, and when Zhuge Liang withdrew taking more than a thousand households of Xi County with him, Jiang Wei went along too, and so he became separated from his mother. Records, Shu 14 §29–31

Zhuge Liang made him Granary Officer (cangcao yuan), added the title of General Who Upholds Righteousness (fengyi jiangjun), and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Dangyang Precinct; he was twenty-seven at the time. In a letter to Zhang Yi and Jiang Wan, Zhuge Liang wrote that Jiang Wei was loyal and diligent in the affairs at hand and meticulous in his thinking, calling him "a top-rank gentleman of Liang Province," and said that he was very quick in military matters and had his heart set on the house of Han. He was later transferred to Central Army Supervisor (zhong jianjun) and General Who Conquers the West (zhengxi jiangjun). Records, Shu 14 §31–32

When Zhuge Liang died in the 12th year of Jianxing (234), Jiang Wei returned to Chengdu, became Right Army Supervisor and General Who Supports the Han (fuhan jiangjun) in command of the various armies, and was advanced in rank to Marquis of Pingxiang. In the 1st year of Yanxi (238) he followed the General-in-Chief Jiang Wan to be stationed at Hanzhong, and when Jiang Wan became Grand Marshal, Jiang Wei became his Major (sima) and several times led detached forces westward. In the 6th year (243) he became General-in-Chief Who Guards the West (zhenxi da jiangjun) and Inspector of Liang Province, and in the 10th year (247) he became General of the Guards (wei jiangjun) and, together with the General-in-Chief Fei Yi, Intendant of the Affairs of the Imperial Secretariat (lu shangshu shi). Records, Shu 14 §33

That year he put down a rebellion of the Yi people of Pingkang in Wenshan, and he went out to the borders of Longxi, Nan'an and Jincheng and fought Wei's Guo Huai, Xiahou Ba and others at Taoxi. Jiang Wei, considering himself well versed in the customs of the west and confident in his talent and martial prowess, believed that if he made the Qiang and Hu his wings, the land west of Long could be cut off and taken. But every time he wanted to raise a great army, Fei Yi held him back, and the troops he was given never exceeded 10,000 men. Records, Shu 14 §34–35

When Fei Yi died in the spring of the 16th year of Yanxi (253), Jiang Wei led tens of thousands of men that summer to besiege Nan'an, but turned back when his provisions ran out. The following year he went out to Longxi again, received the surrender of Li Jian, Chief of Didao County, clashed with and defeated the Wei general Xu Zhi at Xiangwu, and then returned bringing with him the people of the three counties of Heguan, Didao and Lintao. In the 18th year (255) he went out to Didao with Xiahou Ba and others and inflicted a crushing defeat on Wang Jing, Wei's Inspector of Yong Province, at Taoxi, killing tens of thousands; he besieged the city of Didao, but when Chen Tai came to the rescue he fell back to Zhongti. Records, Shu 14 §36–37

In the spring of the 19th year (256) he became General-in-Chief. He had arranged to meet the General-in-Chief Who Guards the West Hu Ji at Shanggui, but Hu Ji broke the agreement and did not come, and Jiang Wei was defeated by Deng Ai at Duangu; his troops scattered and a great many died. As the people grumbled and the lands west of Long were also in turmoil, Jiang Wei acknowledged his fault and asked to be demoted, and as General of the Rear he acted in the office of General-in-Chief. In the 20th year (257), when Wei's Zhuge Dan rebelled in Huainan, Jiang Wei led tens of thousands of men out through the Luo Valley, encamped on the Mang River and offered battle, but Sima Wang and Deng Ai would not respond. In the 1st year of Jingyao (258), on hearing that Zhuge Dan had been defeated, he returned to Chengdu and became General-in-Chief once more. Records, Shu 14 §38–40

Jiang Wei proposed changing the method of defending Hanzhong that had been handed down since the time of the First Sovereign. Rather than simply filling the various strongpoints with troops to keep the enemy out, he proposed that when the enemy came, the troops and grain should be gathered into the two cities of Hancheng and Lecheng to hold the passes, and that when the enemy was worn out and withdrew, they should strike together with mobile forces. Accordingly the Area Commander of Hanzhong, Hu Ji, was pulled back to Hanshou, Wang Han was set to guard Lecheng, and Jiang Bin to guard Hancheng. Records, Shu 14 §41–42

In the 5th year of Jingyao (262) he went out to Houhe, was defeated by Deng Ai, and stayed on at Tazhong. At this time the eunuch Huang Hao was wielding power at court and sought to set up the Right General-in-Chief Yan Yu in Jiang Wei's place; Jiang Wei, suspecting this and feeling himself in danger, never returned to Chengdu again. In the 6th year (263), to prepare for an invasion by Zhong Hui, Jiang Wei memorialized proposing that Zhang Yi and Liao Hua be sent to the mouth of Yang'an Pass and the bridgehead at Yinping, but Huang Hao, trusting the words of shamans, spoke to the Later Sovereign, Liu Shan, and had the matter shelved. Records, Shu 14 §43–44

When the Wei army came in, Jiang Wei was beaten by Deng Ai and fell back to Yinping, and after the mouth of the pass fell he joined Liao Hua, Zhang Yi and Dong Jue and withdrew to Jiange to hold off Zhong Hui. Zhong Hui sent him a letter seeking friendship, but Jiang Wei did not reply and held the strategic ground, and Zhong Hui, with his supply lines stretched far, began to discuss turning back. But Deng Ai came in from Yinping by the Jinggu Road, defeated Zhuge Zhan at Mianzhu, and the Later Sovereign surrendered to Deng Ai. Records, Shu 14 §44–47

Only on receiving the Later Sovereign's edict did Jiang Wei throw down his spear, put off his armor and go to Zhong Hui's camp at Fu County, and his officers and men, in their fury, drew their swords and hacked at the rocks. Zhong Hui rode in the same carriage and sat on the same mat with him, and after Deng Ai had been carted off in a cage, Zhong Hui rebelled at Chengdu and intended to give Jiang Wei 50,000 troops and make him his vanguard. On the 18th day of the 1st month of the 5th year of Jingyuan (264), when the Wei officers and soldiers rose up, Jiang Wei led Zhong Hui's attendants in the fight and killed five or six men with his own hands, but he was cut down by the mob, and his wife and children were all put to death as well. Records, Shu 14 §47–48Records, Wei 28 §124 · 127–128

Xi Zheng wrote an essay saying that although Jiang Wei held the post of senior general, his house was shabby and he had no wealth to spare, and that he loved learning and never tired of it and was pure and frugal, so that he was a model for his age. In his assessment, Chen Shou wrote that Jiang Wei possessed a rough measure of both civil and military ability and was set on achieving merit and fame, but that he handled his forces lightly and used his army recklessly, and his clear judgment did not reach far enough, so that in the end he came to his death; he concluded by asking how a tiny, insignificant state could be disturbed so often. Records, Shu 14 §49–50 · 52