Battle
Siege of Chencang 陳倉之圍
About this event
The Siege of Chencang was the battle in the winter of the 6th year of Jianxing (228) in which Zhuge Liang of Shu, who had withdrawn after Jieting, came out again through San Pass and besieged Wei's Chencang, but failed to take it and went back when his provisions ran out; it was the second campaign of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions. The Annals of Emperor Ming of Wei date it to the 12th month of the 2nd year of Taihe (early 229 CE). Chencang was a city that Cao Zhen had earlier had Hao Zhao and Wang Sheng hold, and as Zhuge Liang withdrew he beheaded the Wei general Wang Shuang, who pursued him. Records, Shu 5 §35Records, Wei 3 §10Records, Wei 9 §65–66
Chen Shou recorded this battle in the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5, the Biography of the Later Sovereign in Records of Shu 3, the Annals of Emperor Ming in Records of Wei 3, the Biography of Cao Zhen in Records of Wei 9 and the biography of Zhang He in Records of Wei 17. The Romance depicts Zhuge Liang failing to take the city of Chencang in Chapter 97, and Wang Shuang's death and the fall of Chencang in Chapter 98, "Pursuing the Han Army, Wang Shuang Is Slain; Raiding Chencang, the Marquis of Wu Wins Victory." Records, Shu 5 §35Records, Shu 3 §9Records, Wei 3 §10Records, Wei 9 §65–66Records, Wei 17 §52–53Romance, Ch. 97 §18–28Romance, Ch. 98 §21–22 · 35–38
Course of events in the Records
In the spring of the 6th year of Jianxing (228), after the three commanderies around Mount Qi had been pacified, Wei's General-in-Chief Cao Zhen reasoned that since Zhuge Liang had been chastened at Mount Qi, the next time he came out he would surely come by way of Chencang, and had the generals Hao Zhao and Wang Sheng hold Chencang and repair its walls. Records, Wei 9 §65
That winter Zhuge Liang came out again through San Pass and besieged Chencang. The Annals of Emperor Ming date this to the 12th month of the 2nd year of Taihe and say that Cao Zhen sent the general Fei Yao and others to resist him. The Biography of Cao Zhen records that "in the spring of the following year" Zhuge Liang did indeed besiege Chencang but, since the city was already prepared, could not take it. Records, Shu 5 §35Records, Wei 3 §10Records, Wei 9 §66
When Zhuge Liang pressed his attack on Chencang, Emperor Ming summoned Zhang He to the capital by post-horse, went in person to Henan City to hold a banquet and see him off, and sent 30,000 soldiers of the Northern and Southern Armies along with detachments of the Martial Guard and Tiger Guard to escort him. When the emperor asked whether, if the general arrived late, Zhuge Liang might not already have taken Chencang, Zhang He, knowing that Zhuge Liang had come deep with no grain and could not attack for long, answered that Zhuge Liang would have fled before he arrived, and that by his reckoning Zhuge Liang's provisions would not last ten days. Zhang He pressed on day and night, and when he reached Nanzheng, Zhuge Liang withdrew. Records, Wei 17 §52–53
When Cao Zhen blocked him, Zhuge Liang's provisions ran out and he went back. When the Wei general Wang Shuang pursued him with cavalry, Zhuge Liang turned and fought, defeated him and beheaded Wang Shuang, and the Biography of the Later Sovereign records that he then returned to Hanzhong. The edict of the following year cited as Zhuge Liang's merit that he had displayed the army's might the year before and taken Wang Shuang's head. In Wei, Cao Zhen's fief was increased to 2,900 households in all. Records, Shu 5 §35–36Records, Shu 3 §9Records, Wei 9 §66
In the Romance
In Chapter 97 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang, having heard of the defeat at Shiting and then suffered the death of Zhao Yun, submitted the Later Memorial on Dispatching the Troops and advanced with 300,000 men, Wei Yan leading the vanguard, toward the mouth of the Chencang road. The ruler of Wei made Cao Zhen Grand Commander and Wang Shuang vanguard. At the mouth of the Chencang road, Hao Zhao, recommended by Sima Yi, had built a fortress and was holding it. Romance, Ch. 96 §21–22Romance, Ch. 97 §3–5 · 8 · 15–17
Saying that Jieting lay directly north of Chencang and that he must take this city, Zhuge Liang had Wei Yan attack it, and twice sent Jin Xiang, a man from Hao Zhao's hometown, to persuade him, but Hao Zhao, saying that having received the state's favor he had only death before him, drew his bow on him. Told that there were only about 3,000 men inside, Zhuge Liang sent a hundred scaling ladders up, but they were burned by fire arrows; his battering rams were smashed by stones, and Liao Hua's tunnel was blocked by a double moat, so that after more than twenty days of attack and defense he still could not break the city. Romance, Ch. 97 §18–28
When Wang Shuang, coming to the rescue, beheaded Xie Xiong and Gong Qi and struck Zhang Ni with a meteor hammer, Zhuge Liang, as Jiang Wei advised, had Wei Yan hold the mouth of the Chencang road and headed for Mount Qi by way of the Xie Valley. Cao Zhen's subordinate Fei Yao, deceived by Jiang Wei's letter feigning surrender, fell into an ambush and cut his own throat. Romance, Ch. 97 §29–34 · 36–44
In Chapter 98 Sima Yi, saying that the Shu army had only a month's provisions, had his forces hold fast, and Zhuge Liang, turning Sun Li's ruse with the grain carts against him, won a victory but then, lacking provisions, secretly withdrew. Wei Yan at the mouth of the Chencang road, following a secret plan, sprang out of the woods and beheaded Wang Shuang, who had come in pursuit. Romance, Ch. 98 §1–2 · 8–18 · 21–22 · 24
Later, hearing that Hao Zhao was gravely ill, Zhuge Liang hid among the troops of Guan Xing and Zhang Bao (張苞) and reached Chencang by a night march, and when fires broke out inside the city Hao Zhao died of fright. Zhuge Liang took Chencang, let Hao Zhao's wife and children escort his coffin back to Wei, and sent Wei Yan and Jiang Wei to seize San Pass. Romance, Ch. 98 §35–41
Where the Romance differs
The outcome at Chencang: In Chapter 98 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang took Chencang when Hao Zhao, ill, died of fright, and went on to gain San Pass as well. In the Biography of Zhuge Liang and the Biography of the Later Sovereign in the Records, he besieged Chencang but withdrew when his provisions ran out, and Cao Zhen's biography records that the city could not be taken because it was prepared. Romance, Ch. 98 §37–41Records, Shu 5 §35Records, Shu 3 §9Records, Wei 9 §66
Wang Shuang: In Chapters 97–98 of the Romance, Wang Shuang appears as a fierce general who beheads two Shu generals, and is cut down by Wei Yan's ambush while pursuing the retreating Shu army. In the Biography of Zhuge Liang in the Records, Wang Shuang pursued with cavalry, and Zhuge Liang turned and fought, defeated him and beheaded him. Romance, Ch. 97 §31–32Romance, Ch. 98 §21–24Records, Shu 5 §35
Fei Yao: In Chapter 97 of the Romance, Cao Zhen's subordinate Fei Yao, deceived by Jiang Wei's false letter, fell into an ambush and cut his own throat. In the Annals of Emperor Ming in the Records, Cao Zhen sent the general Fei Yao and others to resist Zhuge Liang at Chencang, and Wei Yan's biography records that in the 8th year of Jianxing (230) Fei Yao, Wei's General of the Rear, fought Wei Yan at Yangxi together with Guo Huai. Romance, Ch. 97 §39–44Records, Wei 3 §10Records, Shu 10 §58
Zhang He's relief: In Chapter 98 of the Romance, Zhang He came to replace Hao Zhao but, after Chencang had fallen, was heavily defeated by Wei Yan at San Pass. In the Biography of Zhang He in the Records, Emperor Ming summoned him by post-horse and sent him off with 30,000 troops; Zhang He said that Zhuge Liang's provisions would not last ten days and that he would withdraw before Zhang He arrived, and when Zhang He reached Nanzheng, Zhuge Liang withdrew. Romance, Ch. 98 §36–37 · 41–42Records, Wei 17 §52–53
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 | Wei | Shu |
| Commanders | Cao Zhen, Hao Zhao, Fei Yao, Wang Shuang | Wei Yan(魏延), Zhuge Liang |
Factions, commanders, strength and casualties are checked against the source texts (3KDEX). Strength and casualties show only figures stated in the sources. Source: Shu 3 §9