The Battle of Quebei was a military offensive launched in 241 by the state of Eastern Wu against its rival state,

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

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 Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

period of China. The campaign was initiated by Wu's founding emperor, Sun Quan, two years after the death of the second Wei emperor,

Cao Rui Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later rem ...

. The campaign ended with an overall failure. Despite its name, Quebei being the location where most of the fighting took place, the campaign was actually a two-front attack and covered a wide area in

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

and

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

Prelude

In the spring of 241, Sun Quan prepared to launch a campaign against Wei. Yin Zha (殷札), the administrator of

Wu Commandery Wu Commandery was a commandery of imperial China. It covers parts of the contemporary Northern Zhejiang and Southern Jiangsu. The capital of Wu commandery was Wu (today's Suzhou). Major counties of Wu commandery include Wu (county), Yuhang county ...

, advised Sun Quan to attack Wei in coordination with their ally state, Shu Han. According to Yin Zha's suggested plan, the Shu forces would attack Wei from the west of

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...

, while the Wu forces would attack Wei from three directions:

Zhuge Jin Zhuge Jin (174 – July or August 241), courtesy name Ziyu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty, Zhuge Jin started his career in ...

and

Zhu Ran Zhu Ran (182 – March or April 249), born Shi Ran, courtesy name Yifeng, was a Chinese military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Despite being a childhood friend of Wu's founding emperor, Sun Quan, h ...

to attack

Xiangyang Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

;

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. ...

to attack Shouchun (壽春; present-day

Shou County Shou County or Shouxian () is a county in the north-central part of Anhui Province, China, and is located on the southern (right) bank of the Huai River. It is the southernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Huainan. Its p ...

); Sun Quan to attack the

Huai River The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to ea ...

region and enter

Xu Province Xuzhou as a historical toponym refers to varied area in different eras. Ordinarily, it was a reference to the one of the Nine Provinces which modern Xuzhou inherited. History Pre-Qin era Xuzhou or Xu Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ...

. Yin Zha explained that this coordinated campaign would wear down Wei's defences because they were unable to fend off attacks on two fronts. However, Sun Quan did not follow his plan.

The battle

Sometime between 28 April and 27 May, Wu forces attacked Wei at four different locations:

Quan Cong Quan Cong (196–247 or 198–249), courtesy name Zihuang, was a Chinese military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in present-day Hangzhou towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Quan Cong b ...

attacked the

region and clashed with Wei forces at Quebei (芍陂; south of present-day

);

Zhuge Ke Zhuge Ke (203 – November or December 253), courtesy name Yuanxun (元逊), was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the eldest son of Zhuge Jin, a military gene ...

attacked

Lu'an Lu'an (), is a prefecture-level city in western Anhui province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northwest and Hubei to the southwest. As of the 2020 census, it had a total population of 4,393,699 inhabitants whom 1,752,537 liv ...

;

and Sun Lun (孫倫) attacked Fancheng (樊城; present-day

Fancheng District Fancheng is a District (PRC), district of the city of Xiangyang, Hubei, People's Republic of China. History Fancheng, or Fan City, was an ancient city in Hubei, situated on the northern side of the Han River (Hanshui), Han River, opposite Xia ...

);

and Bu Zhi attacked Zhazhong (柤中; in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei). Wang Ling and Sun Li led an army to resist Quan Cong at Quebei, defeating several Wu detachments. In an effort to prevent a total rout, Zhang Xiu and Gu Cheng led troops to intercept Wang Ling and managed to halt their advance. Taking an advantage of their progress, Quan Cong's eldest son Quan Xu (全緒) and relative Quan Duan (全端), who were also serving in the Wu army, led their troops to attack the Wei forces after they stopped advancing, and succeeded in driving them back. When Zhu Ran was defeated in the

Battle of Fancheng The Battle of Fancheng or the Battle of Fan Castle was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in 219 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. It is named after Fancheng in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei, a fortress that played a significant ro ...

by the Wei regent Sima Yi, Sun Quan ordered the complete withdrawal of the Wu army, forcing Zhuge Ke to retreat from Lu'an. After the battle, when Sun Quan was giving rewards to the officers who participated in the battle, he deemed Zhang Xiu and Gu Cheng's contributions greater than those of Quan Xu and Quan Duan because he believed that it was more difficult to halt the enemy advance than to drive the enemy back. As a result, he promoted Zhang Xiu and Gu Cheng to the rank of general, while Quan Xu and Quan Duan were respectively promoted to lieutenant-general and major-general only. Due to this incident, the Quans bore a grudge against Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu and, by extension, against Gu Cheng's brother

Gu Tan Gu Tan ( 205–246), courtesy name Zimo, was an official of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Family background Gu Tan's ancestral home was in Wu County, Wu Commandery, which is present-day Suzhou, Jiangs ...

as well.

Aftermath

After successfully repelling the Wu invasion, the Wei imperial court wanted to promote agriculture and build up an abundant stockpile of food supplies in

Yang Yang may refer to: * Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy * Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902 * YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration ...

and Yu provinces in preparation for a future campaign against Wu.

Deng Ai Deng Ai (197 – late March 264Vol.04 of ''Sanguozhi'' and vol.02 of ''Jin Shu'' both indicated that Deng Ai was arrested in the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Xianxi'' era. The month corresponds to 15 Feb to 14 Mar 264 in the Julian calendar ...

was sent to survey the lands in the

region from

Chen Commandery Chen Commandery ( zh, 陳郡) was a Chinese commandery that existed from the late Han dynasty to the Sui dynasty. It was located in present-day eastern Henan province. For much of the Western Han dynasty, the territory was part of the vassal Prin ...

(陳郡; around present-day

Zhoukou Zhoukou (; Postal romanization, postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Zhumadian to the southwest, Xuchang and Luohe to the west, Kaifeng to the northwest, Shangqiu to the north ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

) east to Shouchun, and he proposed constructing a series of canals to irrigate the lands. Sima Yi approved Deng Ai's plan. The project commenced in the following year and helped to resolve not only food shortages but also flooding problems once it was in place. Two years later, in 243, Zhuge Ke sent spies to scout the strategic locations near Shouchun (壽春; present-day

) in preparation for an attack on Shouchun. In October 243, Sima Yi led troops from

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang ...

to attack Zhuge Ke at Wan (皖; present-day

Qianshan County Qianshan is a county-level city in the southwest of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China; it is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Anqing. It has a population of 570,000 and an area of . The government of Qianshan County ...

, Anhui). When Sima Yi and the Wei army reached Shu County (舒縣; present-day

Shucheng County Shucheng County () is a county in the west-central part of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. It is located in the southeastern corner of the prefecture-level city of Lu'an and is its easternmost county-level division The administr ...

, Anhui), Zhuge Ke gave orders to burn down all the supplies stockpiled in Wan, abandon the garrison and retreat. Sun Quan eventually reassigned Zhuge Ke to guard Chaisang Commandery (柴桑郡; near present-day

Jiujiang Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

Lü Ju Lü Ju (died 12 November 256), courtesy name Shiyi, was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Lü Fan, a general who served under Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Wu. ...

, a son of the Wu veteran general

Lü Fan Lü Fan (died 228), courtesy name Ziheng, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He continued serving in the state of Eastern Wu during the early Three King ...

, was also promoted to lieutenant-general (偏將軍) for his contributions in the campaign. The Quans later found an opportunity to report Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu for committing serious offences, claiming that they had secretly collaborated with the staff officer Chen Xun (陳恂) to make false submissions about their contributions during the battle. As a result, Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu were imprisoned, while Gu Cheng's brother Gu Tan was implicated in the case because of his relationship with them. Sun Quan was reluctant to punish them but sought to appease the Quan clan, so he ordered Gu Tan to publicly apologise with the intention of pardoning the three men. However, Gu Tan refused to capitulate, stating: "Your Majesty, how can you let baseless accusations have their way?" An official accused Gu Tan of displaying great disrespect towards the emperor when he protested his innocence and lobbied to have him executed. Sun Quan took into consideration that Gu Tan's grandfather

Gu Yong Gu Yong (168 – November or December 243), courtesy name Yuantan, was a minister and the second Imperial Chancellor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty in the Jiangdong ...

had rendered meritorious service in the past, and decided to have Gu Tan, Gu Cheng and Zhang Xiu exiled to

Jiao Province Jiaozhou (; Wade–Giles: Chiao1-Cho1; vi, Giao Châu) was an imperial Chinese province under the Han and Jin dynasties. Under the Han, the area included Liangguang and northern Vietnam but Guangdong was later separated to form the province o ...

instead. As the official

Sun Hong The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

had previously feuded with Zhang Xiu, he seized the opportunity to accuse him of further crimes, which resulted in Zhang Xiu being forced to commit suicide by imperial order. (為魯王霸友黨所譖，與顧譚、承俱以芍陂論功事，休、承與典軍陳恂通情，詐增其伐，並徙交州。中書令孫弘佞偽險詖，休素所忿，弘因是譖訴，下詔書賜休死，時年四十一。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 52.

References

{{reflist * Chen, Shou. '' Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Fang, Xuanling. ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang ...

'' (''Jin Shu''). * Sima, Guang. ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...

''. 241 Campaigns of the Three Kingdoms