Politics
Emperor Xian of Han Returns East 漢獻帝東歸
About this event
Emperor Xian of Han Returns East covers the events from the 2nd year of Xingping (195), when Emperor Xian slipped out of Chang'an while Li Jue and Guo Si were fighting each other there and moved east, until he returned to Luoyang in the autumn, in the 7th month of the 1st year of Jian'an (196). Yang Feng and Dong Cheng guarded the imperial carriage, but they were overtaken by Li Jue and Guo Si at Caoyang in Hongnong and badly defeated, and the Son of Heaven crossed the Yellow River and stayed at Anyi. After his return to Luoyang, Cao Cao came and guarded the capital, and in the 9th month of that year the imperial carriage moved to Xu. Records, Wei 1 §35 · 38–39Records, Wei 6 §25–28
Chen Shou recorded these events in detail in the section on Li Jue and Guo Si within the biography of Dong Zhuo in Records of Wei 6, and also included them in the Annals of Emperor Wu (Records of Wei 1), the biography of Zhang Yang in Records of Wei 8 and the biography of Xu Huang in Records of Wei 17. The Romance depicts them in the latter scene of the title of Chapter 13, "Yang Feng and Dong Cheng Rescue the Emperor," and at the beginning of Chapter 14. Records, Wei 6 §24–30Records, Wei 1 §35–39Records, Wei 8 §33–34Records, Wei 17 §57Romance, Ch. 13 §15 · 39–44Romance, Ch. 14 §1–2
Course of events in the Records
After Dong Zhuo's death, the generals who held Chang'an fought for power and killed Fan Chou, and Guo Si and Li Jue gradually grew suspicious of each other and fought within Chang'an. Li Jue held the Son of Heaven hostage in his camp, burned the palaces and city gates, and kept all of the emperor's carriages and garments in his own house, while Guo Si detained all the high ministers who came to him to ask for peace. They attacked each other for months, and the dead numbered in the tens of thousands. Records, Wei 6 §24
Li Jue's general Yang Feng plotted with the military officer Song Guo and others to kill Li Jue, and when the plot leaked he turned against him at the head of his troops, and Li Jue gradually weakened. The biography of Xu Huang records that Xu Huang, who was following Yang Feng, persuaded Yang Feng to escort the Son of Heaven back to Luoyang. When Zhang Ji, coming from Shan County, reconciled the two men, the Son of Heaven was at last able to get out and reached the area between Xinfeng and Baling. When Guo Si again tried to coerce the Son of Heaven into moving the capital back to Mei County, the Son of Heaven fled to Yang Feng's camp, and Yang Feng defeated Guo Si, who fled to the Southern Mountains. Yang Feng and the general Dong Cheng set off for Luoyang escorting the Son of Heaven. Records, Wei 6 §25Records, Wei 17 §57
Regretting that they had let the Son of Heaven go, Li Jue and Guo Si joined hands again and caught up with him at Caoyang in Hongnong. Yang Feng hastily summoned Han Xian, Hu Cai and Li Le, former leaders of the White Wave bandits of Hedong, and fought a great battle together with them, but was defeated, and Li Jue and the others killed high ministers and officials and seized the palace women. The Son of Heaven fled to Shan County and crossed the Yellow River northward, losing his baggage and going on foot, with only the empress and the honored ladies following him, and on reaching Dayang he stayed in a commoner's house. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that in the 2nd year of Xingping (195), as Chang'an fell into disorder, the Son of Heaven moved east, was defeated at Caoyang, and crossed the Yellow River to make a progress to Anyi. Records, Wei 6 §26Records, Wei 1 §35
Yang Feng, Han Xian and the others then made Anyi the Son of Heaven's capital; the Son of Heaven rode in an ox cart, and the close attendants following him, such as the Grand Commandant Yang Biao and the Minister Coachman Han Rong, numbered just over ten. Han Xian, Hu Cai and Li Le were made General Who Conquers the East, General Who Conquers the West and General Who Conquers the North, and held power over the government together with Yang Feng and Dong Cheng. Han Rong was sent to Hongnong to make peace with Li Jue and Guo Si, and they returned the palace women, high ministers and officials they had seized, along with several carriages. Locusts arose and drought set in, so the officials in attendance ate jujubes and wild greens. Zhang Yang of Henei came to Anyi with troops and became General Who Pacifies the State; he wanted to bring the Son of Heaven to Luoyang, but when the generals would not go along, he returned to Yewang. Records, Wei 6 §27Records, Wei 8 §33
As the generals could not command one another and provisions ran out, Yang Feng, Han Xian and Dong Cheng escorted the Son of Heaven back to Luoyang. When they came out of the Ji Pass and went down the road to Zhi, Zhang Yang welcomed them on the road with food, and he was made Grand Marshal. In the autumn, in the 7th month of the 1st year of Jian'an (196), when the Son of Heaven entered Luoyang, the palaces had all burned down and the streets lay desolate, and the officials cleared away the thorns and sheltered among the walls. The provinces and commanderies each kept their troops to themselves and none came, and officials from the Gentlemen of the Masters of Writing down went out themselves to gather firewood and greens, some starving to death among the walls. Records, Wei 6 §28Records, Wei 8 §33–34Records, Wei 1 §38
Earlier, intending to receive the Son of Heaven, Cao Cao had sent Cao Hong west with troops, but Dong Cheng and Yuan Shu's general Chang Nu held the passes against him and he could not advance. When the Son of Heaven was in Hedong, Guo Tu urged Yuan Shao to receive him at Ye, but Yuan Shao did not follow this advice. When the Son of Heaven returned to Luoyang, Cao Cao came to Luoyang and guarded the capital, and Han Xian fled. Cao Cao was granted the tally and battle-axe and became Intendant of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing, and because Luoyang was ruined and desolate, at the urging of Dong Zhao and others the imperial carriage left by the Huanyuan Pass in the 9th month and went east to Xu. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that the court, which had grown more disordered by the day since the Son of Heaven moved west, only now established the institutions of the ancestral temple and the altars of state. Records, Wei 1 §37 · 39Records, Wei 6 §48
In the Romance
In Chapter 13 of the Romance, Li Jue and Guo Si came to suspect each other through Yang Biao's scheme to sow discord and fought a confused battle beneath the walls of Chang'an, Li Jue carrying off the Son of Heaven and Guo Si the consorts and palace women, each to his own camp. Guo Si detained more than sixty officials, including Yang Biao, who had come to urge reconciliation, and the two fought every day for more than fifty days. Romance, Ch. 13 §11–17 · 23–24
In the latter part of Chapter 13, when Zhang Ji reconciled the two, the Son of Heaven set out for Hongnong. When Guo Si came in pursuit to seize the imperial carriage again, Yang Feng, who had been defeated by Li Jue and was staying at the foot of Mount Zhongnan, came out under a banner reading "Yang Feng of the Great Han" and cut down Guo Si's general Cui Yong with Xu Huang's axe, and the next day, when the imperial carriage was surrounded again, the imperial relative Dong Cheng came and rescued it. Romance, Ch. 13 §35–44
When Li Jue and Guo Si joined forces and pursued them, Yang Feng and Dong Cheng fought a great battle at Dongjian and barely got out the carriages of the emperor and empress, and they summoned Han Xian, Li Le and Hu Cai, former leaders of the White Wave bandits of Hedong. At Weiyang, Li Le's troops broke ranks picking up clothing thrown on the road and collapsed, and the emperor abandoned his carriage, went on foot to the Yellow River, and, clinging to silk, crossed the river in a small boat. When they reached the far bank, only a dozen or so people remained at his side. Romance, Ch. 13 §45–52
Reaching Dayang by ox cart, the emperor, on Yang Biao's advice, made Anyi his capital and lived in a thatched hut, while Li Le and Han Xian wielded power as they pleased. When Li Jue and Guo Si, persuaded by Han Rong, sent back the officials and palace women, Dong Cheng and Yang Feng had the palaces of Luoyang repaired and escorted the imperial carriage. Li Le, who came in pursuit pretending to be Li Jue and Guo Si, was killed by Xu Huang's axe at the beginning of Chapter 14, Zhang Yang presented grain and silk at Zhidao, and the Son of Heaven entered Luoyang, whose palaces had all burned down, and changed the era name to Jian'an. Romance, Ch. 13 §52–57Romance, Ch. 14 §1–2
When Li Jue and Guo Si attacked Luoyang again, Xiahou Dun and Cao Hong, sent by Cao Cao, guarded the imperial carriage and defeated them, and Cao Cao was made acting Colonel-Director of Retainers and Intendant of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing. Following Dong Zhao's advice, Cao Cao moved the imperial carriage to Xudu. Romance, Ch. 14 §7–11 · 20–21 · 25–26
Where the Romance differs
Why the two fought: In Chapter 13 of the Romance, Yang Biao, having received a secret edict from Emperor Xian, set the two against each other through a scheme to sow discord, having his wife spread word to Guo Si's wife that her husband was carrying on an affair with Li Jue's wife. The biography of Dong Zhuo in the Records records that the generals fought for power and killed Fan Chou, and that Guo Si and Li Jue gradually grew suspicious of each other and fought within Chang'an. Romance, Ch. 13 §11–15Records, Wei 6 §24
How Yang Feng received the imperial carriage: In Chapter 13 of the Romance, Yang Feng, who had been defeated by Li Jue and was staying at the foot of Mount Zhongnan, appeared on the road at Huayin on hearing that the imperial carriage was coming. In the biography of Dong Zhuo in the Records, the Son of Heaven fled to Yang Feng's camp to escape Guo Si's threats, and the biography of Xu Huang records that Xu Huang persuaded Yang Feng to escort the Son of Heaven back to Luoyang. Romance, Ch. 13 §39–40Records, Wei 6 §25Records, Wei 17 §57
Crossing the Yellow River: In Chapter 13 of the Romance, the emperor boarded the boat clinging to silk that Fu De had picked up, and Li Le cut off the fingers of those who clung to the boat's rope. The biography of Dong Zhuo in the Records records that the Son of Heaven fled to Shan County and crossed the Yellow River northward, losing his baggage and going on foot, with only the empress and the honored ladies following him. Romance, Ch. 13 §50–52Records, Wei 6 §26
The ends of Li Le and Hu Cai: In Chapters 13 and 14 of the Romance, Hu Cai was killed amid the confused fighting, and Li Le, pursuing the imperial carriage while pretending to be Li Jue and Guo Si, was killed by Xu Huang's axe. In the biography of Dong Zhuo in the Records, the two stayed behind in Hedong, where Hu Cai was killed by a family with a grudge against him and Li Le died of illness. Romance, Ch. 13 §50Romance, Ch. 14 §1Records, Wei 6 §31
The end of Li Jue and Guo Si: In Chapter 14 of the Romance, the two attacked Luoyang, were badly defeated by Cao Cao's troops, and went into the mountains to become bandits. In the biography of Dong Zhuo in the Records, in the 2nd year of Jian'an (197) the Supervisor of the Internuncios Pei Mao led the generals of Guanxi to execute Li Jue and exterminate his three sets of kin, and Guo Si was attacked by his general Wu Xi and died at Mei County. Romance, Ch. 14 §10 · 14Records, Wei 6 §30
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.