Mi Fang 麋芳

Mi Fang, courtesy name Zifang, was a man of Donghai. His elder brother Mi Zhu welcomed Liu Bei after Tao Qian's death, and in the 1st year of Jian'an (196), when Liu Bei lost his wife and children to Lü Bu, Mi Zhu presented his younger sister to Liu Bei to become his wife. Later Lord Cao (Cao Cao) memorialized the throne to have Mi Zhu serve as Administrator of Ying Commandery and to make Mi Fang Chancellor of Pengcheng, but both of them gave up their posts and followed Liu Bei in his wanderings. Records, Shu 15 §82Records, Shu 8 §21–22

Mi Fang was at Jiangling as Administrator of Nan Commandery, and the general Shi Ren was stationed at Gong'an. Both of them had long resented the way Guan Yu slighted them. When Guan Yu took the field, Mi Fang and Shi Ren supplied military provisions but did not do their utmost to help him, and when Guan Yu said, 'When I return I shall surely deal with them,' they both became fearful and uneasy. Sun Quan then secretly enticed the two, and they sent men to welcome Sun Quan. Records, Shu 15 §82Records, Shu 6 §11–12

According to the Biography of the Lord of Wu, in the 24th year of Jian'an (219), when Guan Yu besieged Cao Ren and captured Yu Jin's troops, Sun Quan attacked Guan Yu in the intercalary month, first sending Lü Meng to make a surprise attack on Gong'an, where he captured the general Shi Ren. When Lü Meng reached Nan Commandery, Mi Fang, the Administrator of Nan Commandery, surrendered the city, and Lü Meng occupied Jiangling. The Biography of Lü Meng records that when he reached Nan Commandery, Shi Ren and Mi Fang both surrendered, and that Lü Meng entered the city and took into his hands all the families of Guan Yu and of his officers and men. Records, Wu 2 §26–27Records, Wu 9 §83

According to the biography of Yu Fan, when Lü Meng led his army west up the river, Mi Fang opened the city gates and came out to surrender. When Lü Meng, before occupying the commandery seat, had music played on the sandbank, Yu Fan said, 'The only one who now shows a single-hearted sincerity is General Mi; the people in the city cannot all be trusted,' and urged him to enter the city at once and take hold of its keys. Lü Meng followed this advice, and a scheme of ambush inside the city was not carried out. Records, Wu 12 §7–8

Sun Quan took Jiangling and captured all the wives and children of Guan Yu's soldiers, and Guan Yu's army scattered. Guan Yu was beheaded together with his son Guan Ping at Linju. The Biography of Mi Zhu records that Mi Fang, as Administrator of Nan Commandery, worked together with Guan Yu but was privately on bad terms with him, so that he became disloyal, turned against him and welcomed Sun Quan, and that Guan Yu was ruined because of this. Records, Shu 6 §12Records, Shu 8 §23

His elder brother Mi Zhu bound himself and asked to be punished. Liu Bei consoled and reassured him that the crimes of brothers do not extend to one another, and treated him with the same high regard as before, but Mi Zhu fell ill from shame and anger and died a little over a year later. Records, Shu 8 §23

In the 6th month of the 2nd year of Huangwu (223), Jin Zong, the commander guarding Xikou, who had earlier defected to Wei and become Administrator of Qichun, had repeatedly raided the border, and Sun Quan had the generals He Qi, Mi Fang, Liu Shao (劉邵) and others make a surprise attack on Qichun; Liu Shao and the others captured Jin Zong alive. The Biography of He Qi records that Sun Quan issued an edict ordering He Qi to lead Mi Fang, Xianyu Dan and others in a surprise attack on Qichun. Records, Wu 2 §49–50Records, Wu 15 §19

Yu Fan once met Mi Fang while travelling by boat. When the man clearing the way on Mi Fang's boat shouted, 'Make way for the general's boat!', Yu Fan cried out, 'Having lost loyalty and good faith, how can one serve a lord? Is it right to be called a general after toppling two cities and handing them to others?' Mi Fang shut his door without answering and hurriedly got out of the way. Later, when Yu Fan's carriage passed the gate of Mi Fang's camp, an officer closed the gate so that the carriage could not pass, and Yu Fan rebuked him: 'When it should be closed, it is opened instead; when it should be opened, it is closed instead.' Mi Fang heard of this and looked ashamed. Records, Wu 12 §12–13

The Records do not state the year or circumstances of Mi Fang's death. He does not appear in Chen Shou's assessment. Yang Xi's Encomia on the Supporting Ministers of Ji Han, included in the Records of Shu, treats Mi Fang, Shi Ren, Hao Pu and Pan Jun together, saying that resentment arose from the posts they held and they disregarded great kindness; that, with none of them trying to come to the rescue, they turned their backs and caused a rout; and that they cut themselves off from others and became a laughingstock to two states. Records, Shu 15 §81–82