Warlord
Yan Baihu faction 嚴白虎
About this faction
This faction was the band led by Yan Baihu, a man of Wu, around the time Sun Ce entered Jiangdong. The Biography of Sun Ce records that Yan Baihu and others each led a following of more than ten thousand, gathered and encamped here and there. Xu Gong, Administrator of Wu Commandery, took refuge with him after being defeated by Zhu Zhi, and when Chen Yu, who styled himself Administrator of Wu Commandery, was in league with him, Sun Ce sent Lü Fan and others to attack Chen Yu. The Biography of Zhu Zhi calls Yan Baihu a mountain bandit and the Biography of Lü Fan the head of a powerful clan. Records, Wu 1 §30Records, Wu 11 §4 · 35
Calling Yan Baihu and the others a pack of bandits without great ambition, Sun Ce first crossed the Zhe River and occupied Kuaiji, and then personally led troops to attack and defeat Yan Baihu and the others. In this way the band was crushed by the Sun Ce faction. Chen Shou's main text does not record what became of Yan Baihu afterwards. Records, Wu 1 §30–31Records, Wu 11 §35
Chen Shou did not record this faction separately; Yan Baihu's name appears in the biography of Sun Ce in the Biographies of Sun Jian and Sun Ce, Records of Wu 1, and in the biographies of Zhu Zhi and Lü Fan in the Biographies of Zhu Zhi, Zhu Ran, Lü Fan and Zhu Huan, Records of Wu 11. The Romance depicts, within the single Chapter 15, Yan Baihu holding Wu Commandery and styling himself Virtuous King of Eastern Wu, and ends with his head being presented to Sun Ce. Records, Wu 1 §30Records, Wu 11 §4 · 35Romance, Ch. 15 §50 · 64
Rise and fall in the Records
As Sun Ce crossed the river and fought battle after battle, Liu Yao, Inspector of Yang Province, abandoned his army and fled, and the administrators of the various commanderies also abandoned their cities and ran. At this time Yan Baihu, a man of Wu, and others each led a following of more than ten thousand, gathered and encamped here and there. Records, Wu 1 §30
When Zhu Zhi tried to advance from Qiantang to Wu, Xu Gong, Administrator of Wu Commandery, held him off at Youquan; badly defeated by Zhu Zhi, Xu Gong went south and took refuge with the mountain bandit Yan Baihu, and Zhu Zhi entered the commandery and took charge of the administrator's affairs. Also, Chen Yu of Xiapi, styling himself Administrator of Wu Commandery and staying at Haixi, was in league with Yan Baihu, the head of a powerful clan. Records, Wu 11 §4 · 35
Wu Jing and the others wanted to crush Yan Baihu and the rest first and then go to Kuaiji, but Sun Ce said that Yan Baihu and the others were merely a pack of bandits, not men of great ambition, and would surely be captured. Sun Ce crossed the Zhe River, occupied Kuaiji, massacred Dongye, and then attacked and defeated Yan Baihu and the others. While Sun Ce personally led troops to subdue Yan Baihu, he sent Lü Fan and Xu Yi to Haixi to attack Chen Yu, and they beheaded his chief general Chen Mu and displayed the head. Sun Ce then appointed new senior officials, making Zhu Zhi Administrator of Wu Commandery. Records, Wu 1 §30–31Records, Wu 11 §35
Chen Shou's main text does not record Yan Baihu's courtesy name or home district, nor his whereabouts and death after his defeat, and his name is also absent from the assessments at the ends of Books 1 and 11. Records, Wu 1 §30–31 · 41Records, Wu 11 §67
In the Romance
In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Yan Baihu, styling himself Virtuous King of Eastern Wu, holds Wu Commandery and sends subordinate generals to guard Wucheng and Jiaxing. When Sun Ce comes south to attack Wu Commandery, Yan Baihu's younger brother Yan Yu (嚴輿) leads out troops to meet him at Fengqiao but retreats when Jiang Qin and Chen Wu storm in, and Han Dang drives all the way to the Chang Gate. On the third day after Sun Ce surrounds the city of Wu, Taishi Ci shoots an arrow through the hand of a lieutenant cursing from the wall, pinning it to a beam, and Yan Baihu, saying that the enemy has such men and cannot be withstood, decides to sue for peace. Romance, Ch. 15 §49–53
Yan Yu, coming out to make peace, answers Sun Ce, who asks what his elder brother intends, that he wishes to divide Jiangdong in half, and the moment he draws his sword and rises he is cut down by a flying stroke of Sun Ce's sword, and his head is sent into the city. Yan Baihu abandons the city and flees, and Huang Gai and Taishi Ci attack Jiaxing and Wucheng. Fleeing to Yuhang and plundering along the way, Yan Baihu is defeated by villagers led by Ling Cao, a local man, heads toward Kuaiji, and is again badly beaten by Cheng Pu at the Xijin ford. Romance, Ch. 15 §53–55
Wang Lang, Administrator of Kuaiji, rebukes and sends away Yu Fan, who proposes capturing Yan Baihu and presenting him to Sun Ce, and joins forces with Yan Baihu. When, attacked front and rear by Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu on the plain of Shanyin, they are driven back into the city, Yan Baihu advises Wang Lang that if they dig the moats deep and hold fast, Sun Ce will run out of provisions and withdraw within a month. Romance, Ch. 15 §55–59
When Sun Ce lifts the siege by night and departs southward, Yan Baihu, saying that Sun Ce is aiming at Zhadu, pursues him with Zhou Xin at the head of 5,000 troops and meets Sun Ce in a forest. Zhou Xin dies on Sun Ce's spear and Yan Baihu flees toward Yuhang, but before a day has passed Dong Xi of Yuyao in Kuaiji brings his head and presents it to Sun Ce. The Romance states that from then on the eastern routes were all pacified. Romance, Ch. 15 §60 · 62–64
Where the Romance differs
Title and base: In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Yan Baihu styles himself Virtuous King of Eastern Wu and holds Wu Commandery. In the Records he appears as one of 'Yan Baihu, a man of Wu, and others', each leading a following of more than ten thousand; the Administrator of Wu Commandery at the time was the Han official Xu Gong, and Chen Yu styled himself Administrator of Wu Commandery. There is no mention of his calling himself king. Romance, Ch. 15 §50Records, Wu 1 §30Records, Wu 11 §4 · 35
The order of the fighting with Sun Ce: In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Sun Ce first drives Yan Baihu out of Wu Commandery and then pursues him to Kuaiji. In the Biography of Sun Ce in the Records, Sun Ce rejected the proposal of Wu Jing and others to attack Yan Baihu and the rest first, occupied Kuaiji, and only then defeated Yan Baihu and the others. Romance, Ch. 15 §54–55Records, Wu 1 §30–31
Alliance with Wang Lang: In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Wang Lang joins forces with Yan Baihu to resist Sun Ce. In the Biography of Wang Lang in the Records, Wang Lang, saying that as an official of the Han he must defend his city, fought Sun Ce on his own and was defeated, and Yan Baihu does not appear. Romance, Ch. 15 §56Records, Wei 13 §45
His younger brother Yan Yu (嚴輿): In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Yan Baihu's younger brother Yan Yu proposes dividing Jiangdong in half and is cut down by Sun Ce. Yan Yu does not appear in any of the three places in Chen Shou's main text where Yan Baihu appears. Romance, Ch. 15 §53–54Records, Wu 1 §30–31Records, Wu 11 §4 · 35
The end: In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Dong Xi presents Yan Baihu's head to Sun Ce. The Records state only that Sun Ce defeated Yan Baihu and the others, and his death does not appear; in the Biography of Dong Xi, the men Dong Xi beheaded while following Sun Ce were Huang Longluo and Zhou Bo, long-standing bandits of Shanyin. Romance, Ch. 15 §64Records, Wu 1 §31Records, Wu 10 §46
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.
Lineage
- Destroyed by: Sun Ce faction — 「遂引兵渡浙江，據會稽，屠東冶，乃攻破虎等」
Members (2)
Related events (1)
- Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong 195~200 · Combatant
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