Liao Li ( 209–234),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Gongyuan, was an official of the state of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period of China.

Service under Liu Bei

Liao Li was from Linyuan County (), Wuling Commandery (), which is located within present-day

Changde Changde ( ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. In addition to the urban districts, Changde also administers the county-level city of Jinshi City, Jinshi and six counties. Changde is adjacent ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

. He started his career under the warlord

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...

around 209 after Liu Bei succeeded Liu Qi as the Governor of

Jing Province Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in Chinese historical texts such as the ''Tribute of Yu'', '' Erya'' and '' Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of Empe ...

. Liu Bei employed Liao Li, who was then below the age of 30, as an assistant officer () and later appointed him as the Administrator of Changsha Commandery. In 211, when Liu Bei led his troops to

Yi Province Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture, was a '' zhou'' (province) of ancient China. Its capital city was Chengdu.de Crespigny, p. 256. During the Han dynasty, it included the commanderies Hanzhong, Ba, Guanghan, Shu, Wenshan, Jianwei, ...

(covering present-day

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

and

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

), he left his chief adviser

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...

behind to take charge of his territories in Jing Province during his absence. During this time, Liu Bei's ally

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...

sent a representative to meet Zhuge Liang and ask him to recommend

scholar-official The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...

s who were well-versed in managing a state. Zhuge Liang replied: "

Pang Tong Pang Tong () (179–214), courtesy name Shiyuan, was a key adviser to the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. In his youth, Pang Tong was disregarded because he was plain looking, however Sima Hui highly esteemed him callin ...

and Liao Li are talents from Jing Province. They are capable of assisting me in governing a state." In 215, when tensions ran high between Liu Bei and Sun Quan over a territorial dispute in Jing Province, Sun Quan ordered his general

Lü Meng Lü Meng () (178 – January or February 220), courtesy name Ziming, was a Chinese military general and politician who served under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early in his career, he fought in several batt ...

to lead troops to seize three commanderies in southern Jing Province. During this time, Liao Li abandoned his post at Changsha Commandery and fled west to

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

, the capital of Yi Province, to join Liu Bei. As Liu Bei highly regarded Liao Li, he did not blame him for losing Changsha and instead reassigned him to serve as the Administrator of Ba Commandery (巴郡; covering parts of present-day

). In 219, after Liu Bei seized control of Hanzhong Commandery and declared himself King of Hanzhong, he appointed Liao Li as a Palace Attendant ().

Service under Liu Shan

Following Liu Bei's death in 223, his son

Liu Shan Liu Shan () (207–271), courtesy name Gongsi, was the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. As he ascended the throne at the age of 16, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of the Chancellor Zhuge Lia ...

succeeded him as the next emperor of the state of Shu. After his coronation, Liu Shan appointed Liao Li as a Changshui Colonel (). Liao Li had all along thought highly of himself and believed that he was on par with

, the Imperial Chancellor of Shu, in terms of talent and fame. However, after he realised that his status in the Shu government was actually lower than that of the general Li Yan and others, he became very unhappy.

Defamation incident

On one occasion, when Zhuge Liang's assistants Li Shao and

Jiang Wan Jiang Wan (180s - November or December 246), courtesy name Gongyan, was a regent and military general of the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty, Jiang Wan initially served as a scribe, c ...

came to discuss something with him, he told them: Li Shao and Jiang Wan reported Liao Li to Zhuge Liang, who then wrote a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

to the emperor Liu Shan as follows: Zhuge Liang also wrote:

Downfall and exile

The Shu emperor

issued an edict as follows: Liao Li was removed from office and reduced to the status of a commoner. He and his family were exiled to Wenshan Commandery (汶山郡; around present-day

Mao County Mao County or Maoxian (; ; Qiang: ʂqini) is a county in Ngawa Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. It has an area of 3,903 and a population of 106,700 as of 2006. 88.9% of the population are Qiang people. The county seat is Fengyi (). Natura ...

), where they lived as peasants and sustained themselves by farming. In 234, when he received news of Zhuge Liang's death, he shed tears and cried: "I now have to live the rest of my life like a ''zuoren''!" Some years later, when the Shu general

Jiang Wei Jiang Wei (202 – 3 March 264), courtesy name Boyue, was a military general of the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in Ji County (present-day Gangu County, Gansu), Jiang Wei started his career as a military officer ...

passed by Wenshan Commandery, he visited Liao Li and saw that the latter was still the proud and ambitious man he was, and that he remained calm and composed when he spoke. Liao Li died in an unknown year in Wenshan. After his death, his wife and children were pardoned and allowed to return to the Shu capital

.(後監軍姜維率偏軍經汶山，往詣立，稱立意氣不衰，言論自若。立遂終於徙所。妻子還蜀。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 40.

Notes

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...