Novel scene
Wen Yang Repels a Mighty Army Riding Alone 文鴦單騎退雄兵
About this event
This scene is the episode named in the chapter title of Chapter 110 of the Romance, "Wen Yang, riding alone, repels a mighty army," the passage in Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin's Rebellion in which Wen Qin's son Wen Yang storms by night the camp Sima Shi has pitched at Lejia and, alone on a single horse, repeatedly drives back the Wei generals pursuing him. The Romance says that Sima Shi, startled by this raid, had his eyeball burst out through the place where a growth had been cut away, and that he died in the 2nd month of the 2nd year of Zhengyuan after Huainan was pacified. Romance, Ch. 110 §13–20 · 26–28
In Chen Shou's text, the Biography of Guanqiu Jian in Records of Wei 28 says only that Wen Qin tried to raid Deng Ai and the others at Lejia by night but withdrew when dawn came and he saw the great army; there is no story of Wen Yang riding alone. The Annals of the Three Young Emperors in Records of Wei 4 say that Wen Qin was defeated at Lejia on the jihai day of the intercalary month of the 2nd year of Zhengyuan (255). Records, Wei 28 §23Records, Wei 4 §54
In the Romance
In Chapter 110 of the Romance, in the first month of the 2nd year of Zhengyuan, Guanqiu Jian, Area Commander of Yang Province, angered that Sima Shi had deposed and installed an emperor at will, together with the Inspector Wen Qin falsely claims a secret edict from the Empress Dowager, gathers the troops of Huainan in the city of Shouchun to swear an oath, and garrisons Xiang with sixty thousand men while Wen Qin supports him from outside with twenty thousand. Sima Shi, who has just had a growth on his left eye cut away, sets out in person in a litter. Wang Ji seizes Nandun first, and when word comes that Sun Jun of Wu is coming to attack Shouchun, Guanqiu Jian falls back to Xiang. On the advice of the Master of Writing Fu Gu, Sima Shi has Deng Ai attack the city of Lejia. Romance, Ch. 110 §1–12
Wen Qin steps forward, saying that with his son Wen Yang and five thousand men he will hold Lejia, and the eighteen-year-old Wen Yang proposes to split their force in two and strike the Wei army before its camp is finished. At the third watch Wen Yang cuts through the encirclement on the north side of the camp and charges left and right; Sima Shi, lying in his tent, is so startled that his eyeball bursts out through the wound, yet for fear of shaking the army's morale he bites through his quilt and bears it. With his father still not arriving by daybreak, Wen Yang fights fifty bouts with Deng Ai, who has come from the north, and then flees south alone; by the Lejia Bridge he turns his horse's head into the Wei generals pursuing him and drives them back with his steel whip four or five times over. Romance, Ch. 110 §13–20
Wen Qin, who got lost on the mountain paths and arrived late, withdraws without fighting; failing to grasp the meaning of Yin Damu, who has followed to win him over, and finding even Shouchun taken by Zhuge Dan, he goes over to Sun Jun of Wu. Guanqiu Jian, who left Xiang to fight, reaches Shen County with some ten riders and is killed by the county magistrate Song Bai while drunk. Sima Shi returns to Xuchang, entrusts affairs to Sima Zhao, and dies as his eyeball bursts out. Romance, Ch. 110 §21–28
Where the Romance differs
The night raid at Lejia: In Chapter 110 of the Romance, Wen Yang throws Sima Shi's camp into turmoil all night, fights Deng Ai, and then drives back the Wei generals single-handed. In the account of Guanqiu Jian in Records of Wei 28, Deng Ai reached Lejia with more than ten thousand men and lured the enemy by feigning weakness; Wen Qin, unaware of this, tried to raid Deng Ai and the others by night, but when dawn came and he saw how strong the great army was he turned back, and the General-in-Chief pursued him with swift cavalry and routed him. Wen Yang does not appear in this passage of Chen Shou's text. Romance, Ch. 110 §16–21Records, Wei 28 §23–24
Guanqiu Jian's end: In Chapter 110 of the Romance, Guanqiu Jian gets drunk at a banquet given by Song Bai, the magistrate of Shen County, and is killed. In the Biography of Guanqiu Jian in the Records, by the time he reached Shen County the men around him had deserted, and Guanqiu Jian hid in the grass by the water with his younger brother Guanqiu Xiu and his grandson Guanqiu Zhong, but was shot dead by Zhang Shu, a commoner under the Commandant of Anfengjin, and his head was sent to the capital. Romance, Ch. 110 §25–26Records, Wei 28 §24
Where Sima Shi was stationed: In Chapter 110 of the Romance, Sima Shi leads the great army to camp at Xiangyang and confers with his generals. In the Biography of Guanqiu Jian in the Records, the General-in-Chief was stationed at Ruyang (汝陽) and had the Army Supervisor Wang Ji seize Nandun and wait there. Romance, Ch. 110 §7–8Records, Wei 28 §22
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.