RAs head of a powerful clan, Xu Gong took refuge with him and Chen Yu sought to collude with himWu 11 §4Wu 11 §35
NNo direct record — estimatedCh. 15 §50
Yan Baihu 嚴白虎
| Occupation | RRuler NRuler · Virtuous King of Eastern Wu | Faction | Yan Baihu faction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Born | Native place | Wu Commandery Wucheng County | |
| Cause of death | NKilled Unverified | ||
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R7 |
Profile
Yan Baihu was the leader of a band whom Chen Shou's main text records as 'a man of Wu'. Around the time Sun Ce entered Jiangdong he had gathered a following of more than ten thousand; Xu Gong, Administrator of Wu Commandery, took refuge with him, and he was in league with Chen Yu, who styled himself Administrator of Wu Commandery. Sun Ce called them a pack of bandits without great ambitions, and after crossing the Zhe River and occupying Kuaiji he attacked and defeated Yan Baihu and the others. Records, Wu 1 §30–31Records, Wu 11 §4 · 35
He has no separate biography in the Records; his name appears in Records of Wu 1, the Biographies of Sun Jian and Sun Ce, and Records of Wu 11, the Biographies of Zhu Zhi, Zhu Ran, Lü Fan and Zhu Huan, and Chen Shou's assessments do not mention him. In the Romance he appears only in Chapter 15, and his name is in that chapter's title, 'Sun Bofu Fights a Great Battle with Yan Baihu'. The Romance portrays him as a man who styles himself Virtuous King of Eastern Wu and holds Wu Commandery, and ends his story with his being driven out by Sun Ce, taking refuge with Wang Lang of Kuaiji, and at last having his head presented to Sun Ce by Dong Xi. Records, Wu 1 §41Romance, Ch. 15 §50 · 56 · 64
In the Records
As Sun Ce crossed the river and fought battle after battle, Liu Yao abandoned his army and fled, and the administrators of the commanderies also abandoned their cities and ran away. At this time Yan Baihu, a man of Wu, and others each had a following of more than ten thousand, gathered and encamped here and there. Wu Jing and the others wanted first to crush Yan Baihu and the rest and then go to Kuaiji, but Sun Ce said that Yan Baihu and the others were merely a pack of bandits with no great ambitions and would certainly be captured. Sun Ce at last led his troops across the Zhe River, occupied Kuaiji and massacred Dongye, and then attacked and defeated Yan Baihu and the others. Records, Wu 1 §29–31
According to the Biography of Zhu Zhi, when Zhu Zhi was about to advance from Qiantang to Wu, Xu Gong, Administrator of Wu Commandery, held him off at Youquan, but Zhu Zhi fought him and routed him. Xu Gong went south and took refuge with the mountain bandit Yan Baihu, and Zhu Zhi at last entered the commandery and took charge of the administrator's affairs. Records, Wu 11 §4
According to the Biography of Lü Fan, Chen Yu of Xiapi styled himself Administrator of Wu Commandery and, staying at Haixi, was in league with Yan Baihu, head of a powerful clan. Sun Ce personally led troops to subdue Yan Baihu and separately sent Lü Fan and Xu Yi to attack Chen Yu at Haixi, and they beheaded his chief general Chen Mu and displayed the head. Records, Wu 11 §35
Chen Shou's main text does not record Yan Baihu's courtesy name or home district, nor his whereabouts and death afterwards, and his name is absent from the assessments of volumes 1 and 11 as well. Records, Wu 1 §30–31 · 41Records, Wu 11 §35
In the Romance
In Chapter 15 of the Romance, when Sun Ce goes south to attack Wu Commandery, Yan Baihu, who styles himself Virtuous King of Eastern Wu, holds Wu Commandery and has sent subordinate generals to guard Wucheng and Jiaxing, has his younger brother Yan Yu take out troops to meet him at Fengqiao. When Jiang Qin and Chen Wu storm the riverbank, Yan Yu retreats and flees, and when Han Dang drives all the way to the foot of the Chang Gate, the enemy withdraws into the city. For three days after Sun Ce surrounds the city of Wu no one comes out to fight, but when Taishi Ci shoots an arrow through the left hand of a lieutenant cursing from the wall and pins it to a beam, Yan Baihu, saying that there is no standing against an army with such a man in it, decides to sue for peace. Romance, Ch. 15 §49–53
The next day Yan Yu comes out of the city and drinks with Sun Ce, and when asked what his elder brother intends, he answers that he wishes to divide Jiangdong equally with the general. Sun Ce, enraged, orders Yan Yu beheaded, and when Yan Yu draws his sword and rises, Sun Ce cuts him down with a flying stroke of his sword and sends his head into the city. Reckoning that he cannot withstand Sun Ce, Yan Baihu abandons the city and flees, and Huang Gai attacks Jiaxing and Taishi Ci Wucheng. Fleeing to Yuhang and plundering along the way, Yan Baihu is defeated by villagers led by Ling Cao, a man of that district, and heads for Kuaiji, and at Xijin Ford he is again heavily defeated by Cheng Pu. Romance, Ch. 15 §53–55
Wang Lang, Administrator of Kuaiji, rebukes and dismisses Yu Fan, who advises capturing Yan Baihu and presenting him to Sun Ce, joins forces with Yan Baihu and encamps on the plain of Shanyin. Wang Lang cries out that today he will avenge the Yan family, but when Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu attack from the rear, he cuts a bloody path out with Yan Baihu and Zhou Xin and flees into the city. When Wang Lang wants to go out and fight again, Yan Baihu advises him that if he digs the moats deep, raises the ramparts high and holds fast, Sun Ce will run out of provisions and withdraw within a month, and Wang Lang follows his advice. Romance, Ch. 15 §55–59
When Sun Ce, following Sun Jing's plan, lifts the siege by night and departs southward, Yan Baihu, suspecting that Sun Ce means to go to Zhadu, pursues him with Zhou Xin at the head of 5,000 troops. They meet Sun Ce in a wood some twenty li from the city; Zhou Xin is speared to death by Sun Ce, and Yan Baihu cuts a bloody path out and flees to Yuhang. Before a day has passed, Dong Xi of Yuyao in Kuaiji presents Yan Baihu's head to Sun Ce, and Sun Ce, delighted, makes him Major of a Separate Command. Romance, Ch. 15 §60 · 62–64
Where the Romance differs
His title: 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 with a following of more than ten thousand; the Biography of Zhu Zhi calls him a mountain bandit and the Biography of Lü Fan the head of a powerful clan. 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: In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Sun Ce first attacks Yan Baihu of Wu Commandery and drives him out, and the ousted Yan Baihu joins forces with Wang Lang of Kuaiji. In the Biography of Sun Ce in the Records, Wu Jing and the others proposed attacking Yan Baihu and the rest first, but Sun Ce crossed the Zhe River, occupied Kuaiji and massacred Dongye, and only then defeated Yan Baihu and the others. Romance, Ch. 15 §49–56Records, Wu 1 §30–31
Relations with Wang Lang: In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Wang Lang joins forces with Yan Baihu to save him, while Yu Fan proposes capturing Yan Baihu and presenting him to Sun Ce. In the Biography of Wang Lang in the Records, his Officer of Merit Yu Fan held that they could not resist by force and had better avoid Sun Ce, but Wang Lang, holding that as an official of Han he must defend the city, fought Sun Ce and was defeated. Yan Baihu does not appear. Romance, Ch. 15 §55–56Records, Wei 13 §45
Xu Gong and Chen Yu: In the Biography of Zhu Zhi in the Records, Xu Gong, Administrator of Wu Commandery, defeated by Zhu Zhi, takes refuge with Yan Baihu, and in the Biography of Lü Fan, Chen Yu, who styled himself Administrator of Wu Commandery, is in league with Yan Baihu. In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Yan Baihu appears as a man who has seized Wu Commandery for himself, and Xu Gong and Chen Yu do not appear alongside him. Records, Wu 11 §4 · 35Romance, Ch. 15 §50–64
His younger brother Yan Yu: In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Yan Baihu's younger brother Yan Yu comes out to make peace and is cut down by Sun Ce. Yan Yu does not appear in Chen Shou's main text in the Records. Romance, Ch. 15 §53–54Records, Wu 1 §30–31Records, Wu 11 §4 · 35
His death: In Chapter 15 of the Romance, Yan Baihu flees to Yuhang, and before a day has passed Dong Xi presents his head to Sun Ce. Chen Shou's main text in the Records states only that Sun Ce attacked and defeated Yan Baihu and the others, and does not record his death. In the Biography of Dong Xi, the men whom Dong Xi beheaded after welcoming Sun Ce were the long-standing Shanyin bandits Huang Longluo and Zhou Bo. Romance, Ch. 15 §63–64Records, 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.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
Records total387 / 1000Rank 693 of 996 · Top 70%Romance total355 / 1000Rank 860 of 1,113 · Top 78%
Romance adaptation index−32Romance total − Records total
- LEA4840−8
- STR4240−2
- INT3842+4
- POL3533−2
- CHA5040−10
- VIR3528−7
- ADP3835−3
- SCH3131±0
- DIP3533−2
- DIS3533−2
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
9 similar abilities — show evidence
RLed a following of more than ten thousand but was defeated by Sun CeWu 1 §30Wu 1 §31
NHeld Wu Commandery but was repeatedly defeated by Sun Ce and fled to YuhangCh. 15 §54Ch. 15 §55Ch. 15 §63
RNo direct record — estimatedWu 1 §31
NNo direct record — estimatedCh. 15 §63
RNo direct record — estimatedWu 11 §35
NProposed a plan of holding fast, but fell into Sun Ce's ambushCh. 15 §59Ch. 15 §63
RNo direct record — estimatedWu 1 §30
NNo direct record — estimatedCh. 15 §50
RNo direct record — estimated from his being recorded as a mountain banditWu 11 §4
NStyled himself Virtuous King of Eastern Wu and plundered along the road as he fledCh. 15 §50Ch. 15 §54
RNo direct record — estimatedWu 11 §35
NSued for peace but lost his younger brother Yan Yu, abandoned his city and fledCh. 15 §53Ch. 15 §54
RNo direct record — estimatedWu 1 §30
NNo direct record — estimatedCh. 15 §50
RNo direct record — estimatedWu 11 §35
NSent his younger brother to sue for peace, but it came to nothingCh. 15 §53
RNo direct record — estimatedWu 11 §35
NNo direct record — estimatedCh. 15 §50
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (1)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →
Allegiance history
- Yan Baihu faction · Records
Relations
- Yan Baihu faction Led by · Records
Family
| Siblings | Yan Yu(嚴輿) Romance |
|---|
Based on Wikidata items for the historical and Romance figures. Relations without the Unverified badge were also confirmed in the Records.
Related events (2)
- Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong 195~200 · Command
- Sun Ce Battles Yan Baihu Romance ch. 15 · Appears (Romance scene)
Includes automatic matching from Wikipedia infoboxes and source keywords (unverified).