Wei Yan

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wei.

adopted by those who later succeeded his post.

In 221, Liu Bei founded the state of Shu Han and became
its rst emperor. He died in 223 and was succeeded by
his son, Liu Shan. In that year, Wei Yan was enfeoed by
Liu Shan as a Marquis of a Chief Village (
). About
four years later, Shus chancellor Zhuge Liang launched
the rst of a series of campaigns to attack Shus rival state
Cao Wei, and Wei Yan was called into battle. Wei Yan supervised the front division, and he held the appointments
of Major under the Chancellor (
) and Inspector of
Liang Province (
).[3] Wei Yan treated his soldiers
well and was known for his bravery. However, he was also
boastful of his talents and his peers tended to avoid him.
The minister Yang Yi, who was a close aide of Zhuge
Liang, made no concession to Wei Yan, and Wei was extremely resentful of him.[4]

Wei Yan (died 234),[1] courtesy name Wenchang, was

a military general of the state of Shu Han during the
Three Kingdoms period. Originally a foot soldier under
the warlord Liu Bei (the founding emperor of Shu), Wei
Yan rose through the ranks and became a general when
Liu Bei invaded Yi Province ( ; covering present-day
Sichuan and Chongqing) in 211.[1] His talent and performance during battles helped him to become a prominent
gure in the Shu military in a short period of time. He
was later appointed as the Administrator of Hanzhong
Commandery[lower-alpha 1] and as an Area Commander in
219.[1] Between 228 and 234, he participated actively
in the Northern Expeditions led by the Shu chancellor
Zhuge Liang against Shus rival state, Cao Wei. After
Zhuge Liangs death in 234, Wei Yan was killed by another Shu general, Ma Dai, for alleged treason.

2 Northern Expeditions
1

Early and mid-career

Wei Yan was from Yiyang Commandery (

; around
present-day Tongbai County, Nanyang, Henan) in Jing
Province. As one of Liu Beis personal retainers, he followed Liu Bei into Yi Province (covering present-day
Sichuan and Chongqing) in 212 to attack the warlord Liu
Zhang. He had many military accomplishments and was
assigned as a General of the Standard (
). When
Liu Bei became King of Hanzhong" in 219 after his
victory over his rival Cao Cao in the Hanzhong Campaign, he selected Wei Yan as the general who would
guard Hanzhong and then honoured him with the title
General Who Suppresses the North (
). This was
despite Zhang Fei being considered by the majority and
himself to be the likely candidate for the position, which
assumed the imminent military responsibility to resist invasion from Cao Cao. When Wei Yan was nominated
by Liu Bei, the court was shocked. Liu Bei then asked
Wei Yan in front of the mass how would he serve his
new post, wherein Wei condently replied, If Cao Cao
mustered all his forces and invaded, let me assist my lord
to repel the enemies; if an Assistant-General came with
100,000 troops, let me engulf them for my lord.[2] During his tenure, Wei Yan borrowed the concept of double
gates from the ancient text Zhou Yi ( ) and laid numerous camps along the outskirt and trail exits linking
to Hanzhong. His defence mechanism was very eective
in driving the enemy out, and his arrangement would be

A illustration of Wei Yan from a Qing dynasty edition of

Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It shows Wei Yan (far left)
trapping Sima Yi and his sons in Shangfang Valley (
) during
one of the Northern Expeditions.

Main article: Zhuge Liangs Northern Expeditions

Wei Yan participated in most if not all of the Northern
Expeditions against the state of Cao Wei. However, he
was disappointed with his superior Zhuge Liang because
the latter employed Ma Su as the vanguard for the rst
campaign, which ended up in a total disaster after the
Shu defeat at the Battle of Jieting. During the second
1

2
campaign, Wei Yan suggested to Zhuge Liang to take an
alternative route to attack Chang'an, a strategic city in
Wei, but Zhuge rejected his plan. Zhuge Liang then led
the Shu army to besiege Chencang, where they could only
lament upon the staunch defence of the 1,000 defenders
commanded by the Wei general Hao Zhao.
In late 230, when the Cao Wei regime launched a counteroensive with a sizeable army, Zhuge Liang sent Wei
Yan and Wu Yi as military attachs to join forces with
the Qiang tribes in the northwest to harass the Wei armys
rear. Wei Yan swiftly led a mixed cavalry-infantry force
to his destination, and he sold the famous Chengdu silk
brocades to the Qiang people in return for their military
support, as well as for horses and weapons. From the
very beginning, the Cao Wei attack encountered problems: heavy rains continued for more than 30 days, which
rendered that the narrow valleys impassable, while the
Wei general Zhang He was threatened in the west by Wei
Yans pincer movement towards his rear. After one and a
half months of little progress, the ill-fated campaign was
terminated. However, the Wei generals Fei Yao and Guo
Huai wanted to earn some merits before their retreat, so
they attacked Wei Yan at Yangxi ( ), but Wei Yan inicted a crushing defeat on the enemy. Thus, the Shu
force behind the enemy lines was able to make a prudence
dictated return to Hanzhong. Wei Yan was then promoted
to Front Military Adviser Senior General Who Attacks
the West (
), and he also received the title
Marquis of Nanzheng (
).[5]

4 DEATH
recorded in the historical text Weilue, which was then
added as annotations to his biography in the Sanguozhi.
It stated: Wei Yan received intelligence that the defender
of the strategic city Chang'an, Xiahou Mao, was cowardly and incompetent. Thus, he reasoned, it would be
easy for him to take 5,000 troops (and another 5,000 to
carry supplies) across the Qin Mountains via the Ziwu
Valley (
) and into Chang'an. Wei Yan estimated that
he would reach Chang'an in ten days and scare Xiahou
Mao into ight, leaving the grain in Chang'ans storehouses for Shus taking. There, Wei Yans force can wait
for Zhuge Liangs main army to take the safer road out
of Xie Valley ( ) and rendezvous in Chang'an. In this
way, the region west of Xianyang could be conquered in
one movement.[8]
When the Cao Wei court received intelligence about Wei
Yans Ziwu Valley Plan, the emperor Cao Rui immediately removed Xiahou Mao from his military command
in Chang'an and reassigned him to be an Imperial Secretary ( ) in the capital.[9]

3.1 Analysis

The reason as to why Zhuge Liang rejected Wei Yans

plan remained dubious due to the absence of details in
historical records. However, it is generally believed that
Zhuge Liang considered Wei Yans plan to be dangerous and he preferred to travel along the at roads so that
Longyou ( ) could be taken easily. He was certain that
During the fourth Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang sent his plan would work out without any worry, so he did not
Wei Yan, Wu Ban and Gao Xiang to lead troops in three accept Wei Yans plan.
columns to counter the Wei commander Sima Yi, who
was leading a frontal assault from the central main road. The viability of Wei Yans Ziwu Valley Plan (before XiThey resisted a Wei army personally led by Sima Yi out- ahou Maos reassignment) became a subject of debate
side the fortress and scored a major victory over the en- among historians over the centuries. However, there is
emy, killing 3,000 Wei armoured soldiers and seizing no doubt that Zhuge Liang had forfeited a chance to execute Wei Yans plan, regardless of whether it would
5,000 sets of armour and 3,100 crossbows.[6]
have turned out to be successful or not. When Zhuge
Liangs own strategy during the second Northern Expedition failed, Wei Yan sighed that his talent was not em3 Ziwu Valley Plan
ployed to its full potential.
Each time Wei Yan followed Zhuge Liang to battle, he
would request to command a separate detachment of
about 10,000 men and take a dierent route and rendezvous with Zhuges main force at Tong Pass (presentday Tongguan County, Shaanxi), per an earlier strategy
used by Han Xin during the ChuHan Contention in the
200s BCE. Zhuge Liang rejected the plan, and Wei Yan
felt that Zhuge was a coward and complained that his talent was not put to good use.[7]
When Chen Shou compiled the unocial works on the
history of Shu to write the Sanguozhi, he only mentioned
that Wei Yan suggested to Zhuge Liang to split the Shu
army into two, and the two forces would take two dierent
routes and rendezvous at Tong Pass.[lower-alpha 2]

4 Death
In 234, Zhuge Liang launched the sixth northern expedition against Cao Wei, with Wei Yan leading the vanguard
force. When he became critically ill during the stalemate
at the Battle of Wuzhang Plains, he gave secret orders to
Yang Yi, Fei Yi and Jiang Wei to lead the Shu army on
a retreat back to Shu after his death, with Wei Yan in
charge of the rearguard and Jiang Wei to follow behind.
If Wei Yan refused to follow the order, they were to retreat without him. When Zhuge Liang died, news of his
death were kept secret. Yang Yi sent Fei Yi to meet Wei
Yan and test his intention.[10]

Wei Yans reasoning for his Ziwu Valley Plan was Wei Yan said to Fei Yi, Although the Chancellor (Zhuge

4.1

Analysis

3
soldiers to attack Yang Yi. Yang Yi sent Wang Ping to
resist Wei Yan. Wang Ping shouted at Wei Yan, His
lordship (Zhuge Liang) had just died and his body had
yet to turn cold, and now you dare to do something like
this!" Wei Yans men knew that their commander was in
the wrong so they deserted.[13]

Wei Yan was left with only his son(s) and a few followers.
They ed towards Hanzhong. Yang Yi ordered Ma Dai
to give chase. Ma Dai caught up with Wei Yan, decapitated him, brought his head back, and threw it in front of
Yang Yi. Yang Yi trampled on Wei Yans head and said,
You inferior slave! Now, can you still commit evil?"
Wei Yans family members and close relatives were also
executed. Before Wei Yans death, Jiang Wan had led divisions of the imperial guards from Chengdu to deal with
An illustration from a Qing dynasty edition of Romance of the the conict. They had travelled for about 10 li (about
Three Kingdoms. It shows Wei Yan (far left) ruining Zhuge three miles) when they received news of Wei Yans death,
Liang's ritual to extend his life at the Battle of Wuzhang Plains. after which they returned to Chengdu.[14]

4.1 Analysis

Liang) is dead, I am still around. The ocials serving

in the Chancellors Oce may bring his body back (to
Chen Shou, who wrote Wei Yans biography in the SanChengdu) for burial, but I should remain behind to lead
guozhi, analysed Wei Yans death as such:
the army to attack the enemy. Must we abandon our mission just because of the death of one man? Besides, who
Wei Yans initial intention was not to head
am I, Wei Yan, to submit to Yang Yis command and lead
north
to surrender to Cao Wei. Instead, he
[11]
the rearguard?"
wanted to retreat back to the south. He desired
Wei Yan and Fei Yi then took command of the troops left
to kill Yang Yi and the others who disagreed
behind. Fei Yi also wrote a letter, which was signed by
with him. Although the ocers held diering
both of them and would be read out to all the ocers. He
opinions, he strongly believed that they would
oered to return to the main camp and help Wei Yan exgenerally agree to him becoming Zhuge Liangs
plain the situation to Yang Yi. He also said that Yang Yi
successor. That was his true intention; he was
was a civil ocial who was less experienced in handling
not thinking of rebelling.[15]
military aairs, so Wei Yan stood a chance of becoming
the new commander. Wei Yan then let Fei Yi leave, but A similar, but somewhat dierent and more detailed ache immediately regretted his decision and went after Fei, count exists in the historical text Weilue, which states:
but could not catch up with him in time. He then sent
his subordinate to meet Yang Yi and the others, but was
When Zhuge Liang was ill, he told Wei
shocked to discover that the various encampments were
Yan and the others, After I die, all of you
preparing to retreat in accordance with Zhuge Liangs should be cautious in setting up defences, but
nal orders. Wei Yan wanted to continue the campaign
do not return here. Wei Yan was then ordered
against Cao Wei even though Zhuge Liang had died, so
to take Zhuge Liangs command and to not rehe turned furious when he heard of the retreat. He inveal news about Zhuges death. He did as he
tended to block the Shu forces from retreating, so he led
was instructed after Zhuge Liang died. When
his force towards the south ahead of the main army unthe Shu forces reached Baokou ( ), Zhuge
der Yang Yis command and sealed the return route by
Liangs death was announced and a funeral was
destroying the gallery roads leading back to Shu.[12]
held. Zhuge Liangs Chief Clerk ( ), Yang
Wei Yan and Yang Yi separately wrote memorials to the
Shu imperial court and accused each other of treason.
Their memorials arrived in Chengdu on the same day.
The Shu emperor Liu Shan asked the ministers Dong Yun
and Jiang Wan for their opinions. Both of them sided
with Yang Yi and felt that Wei Yans actions were suspicious. In the meantime, Yang Yi ordered his men to
cut down trees to rebuild the gallery roads, and his troops
marched day and night to catch up with Wei Yan. Wei
Yan arrived at the southern valley rst and ordered his

Yi, was on bad terms with Wei Yan all this

while, and he feared that he would be harmed
when he heard that Wei Yan had taken charge
of the armies. He spread rumours that Wei Yan
was planning to surrender to Cao Wei, and then
led the soldiers to attack Wei Yan. Wei Yan
had no intention of defecting to Cao Wei, so
he did not put up resistance and retreated instead, but Yang Yi and his men caught up with
him and killed him.[16]

10

REFERENCES

Pei Songzhi, who added the Weilue account to Wei Yans 7 Modern references
biography and annotated the Sanguozhi, commented on
the Weilue account as follows:
Wei Yan is featured as a playable character in Koei's
Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi video game series.
He also appears in Koeis Dynasty Tactics 2.
I feel that this account was derived from
hearsay in the enemy state (Cao Wei) and may
not be as reliable as compared to the original
8 See also
account (by Chen Shou).[17]
Wei Yans death was explained in political terms in Injustice to Wei Yan (
), a neoteric article by Zhu
Ziyan, a history professor from Shanghai University. In
the article, Zhu wrote that Zhuge Liang personally appointed Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Jiang Wei to be his successors, but Wei Yans appointments and contributions
were greater than those of any of them at the time. Zhuge
Liang ostracised Wei Yan and cracked down on him because he wanted to eliminate Wei Yan as a possible obstacle to his appointed successors.[18]

Wei Yan Shrine

A Wei Yan Shrine (

) is located in Baique Village,
Sanquan Township, Zitong County, Mianyang, Sichuan.
In front of the shrine ows a Wei Family River (
). On
the plains east of the river, there once stood a Wei Family River Temple (
), which had three stone tablets
in front of it. One of the stone tablets bore the words
Wei Yan once led soldiers and was stationed here. According to legend, in 231, during the fourth Shu Northern
Expedition against Wei, Zhuge Liang ordered Wei Yan to
lead a separate force to station south of the Wei Family
River. In memory of the incident, the locals built the Wei
Family River Temple beside the river and a small bridge
called General Bridge (
). The stone tablet was lost
when the temple was destroyed in 1968; only the bridge
remained, but it is usually submerged until the low tide
in June or July. The Wei Yan Shrine was initially demolished by the government but was rebuilt in 1995. A statue
of Wei Yan stands in the main hall of the shrine.[19]

In ction

Wei Yan appears as a character in the historical novel

Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong,
which romanticises the historical events leading to, and
during the Three Kingdoms period.
See the following for some ctitious stories in Romance
of the Three Kingdoms involving Wei Yan:
Battle of Changsha (ctional)
Zhuge Liangs Northern Expeditions#In ction

List of people of the Three Kingdoms

9 Notes
[1] This post had previously been held by Lu Su. See Passage
G of Jian'an 15 in the Zizhi tongjian of Sima Guang; de
Crespigny (2004).
[2] Not much details were recorded due to the fact that
when Zhuge Liang served as chancellor-regent in Shu, he
banned the position of Historian an ocial whose task
was to maintain records of historical events in the Shu
imperial court. When Chen Shou attempted to compile
the histories of Shu, he lamented on Zhuge Liangs policy
of banning ocial historical records. It is noteworthy that
Shu had 40,000 civil servants when it was conquered by
Wei in 263, but out of these 40,000, none of them held the
appointment of Historian. Quote from Sanguozhi vol. 32:
(
,
,
,
,
,

10 References
[1] de Crespigny (2007), p. 857.
[2] (
,
Sanguozhi vol. 40.

[3] (
,
...
,
...) Sanguozhi vol. 40.
[4] (
,
,
Sanguozhi vol. 40.

[5] ( ,
,
Sanguozhi vol. 40.

[6] (
: ...
,
,
Hanjin Chunqiu annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 35.
[7] (
,
,
Sanguozhi vol. 40.

[11] ( :
,
Sanguozhi vol. 40.

,
)

,
,

[8] (
:
,
,
, :
Weilue annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 40.

[10] ( ,
,
Sanguozhi vol. 40.

,
,

[9] (
: ...
,
,
,
Weilue annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 9.

,
,

,
?

10.1

Additional information

[12] (
,
Sanguozhi vol. 40.

[13] (
,
,
...
,
,
Sanguozhi vol. 40.
[14] (
... ,
40.

:
,

,
,

,
[Injustice to , Wei
(Weekly Academic Read-

)
,

) Pei Songzhis annota-

[18] (
,
Zhu Ziyan. Injustice to Wei Yan (

,
).

[19] "
[Shrine of General Wei Yan]".
[Chinese Wei Family Website] (in Chinese). 5 January 2012.
Retrieved 21 February 2015.

Additional information

Chen, Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).

de Crespigny, Rafe (1990), Generals of the South:
The foundation and early history of the Three Kingdoms state of Wu, Canberra: Australian National
University. Internet Edition 2004.
de Crespigny, Rafe (2003), The Three Kingdoms and
Western Jin A history of China in the Third Century
AD Internet edition.
de Crespigny, Rafe (2004), To Establish Peace: being the Chronicle of the Later Han dynasty for the
years 189 to 220 AD as recorded in Chapters 59 to
69 of the Zizhi Tongjian of Sima Guang (Volume 1),
Canberra: Australian National University. Internet
Edition.
de Crespigny, Rafe (2004), To Establish Peace: being the Chronicle of the Later Han dynasty for the
years 189 to 220 AD as recorded in Chapters 59 to
69 of the Zizhi Tongjian of Sima Guang (Volume 2),
Canberra: Australian National University. Internet
Edition.
de Crespigny, Rafe (2007), A biographical dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220
AD), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, ISBN 978-9004-15605-0
Pei, Songzhi. Annotations to Records of the Three
Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).
Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian.

[16] (
:
,
:
,
,
Weilue annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 40.
[17] (
,
tion in Sanguozhi vol. 40.

, :
!
) Sanguozhi vol.

[15] (
,
Sanguozhi vol. 40.

10.1

, Zhu,, Ziyan (2010),

Yan], China:
ings)

11

11
11.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Wei Yan Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei_Yan?oldid=723577057 Contributors: Kowloonese, Olivier, DopeshJustin, Suisui,

Poor Yorick, Kucing, Bkell, Baojie, Neutrality, Rich Farmbrough, ESkog, Liuyao, Patrickov, Susvolans, Remuel, Nk, Ynhockey,
Woohookitty, Plastictv, Nandesuka, FlaBot, Chobot, Uvaduck, Jasonglchu, Chensiyuan, Gaius Cornelius, Haakonsson, Nlu, Pyeknu,
SmackBot, Lds, Bluebot, Underbar dk, Denise from the Cosby Show, Disavian, Jonathan Gro, Cao Wei, Aherunar, The Cake is a Lie,
Banedon, Cydebot, Lugnuts, JamesAM, Hensu75, Armando12, Illithid Tentacles, Magioladitis, Farquaadhnchmn, Ling.Nut, Waacstats,
Glen, CommonsDelinker, TottyBot, Satsu Ryu, TXiKiBoT, BotKung, Waycool27, Bporopat, CarbonRod85, Ponyo, Barkeep, Adania
ebonsong, Fratrep, CharlesGillingham, EveryDayJoe45, ImageRemovalBot, Dohe, EoGuy, Keith-farrell, The Red Guy, Exiled Ambition,
XLinkBot, Addbot, Aquaguy1, Tyrhonius, Chamal N, Gemoru, Lightbot, Narutolovehinata5, Luckas-bot, Yobot, THEN WHO WAS
PHONE?, AnomieBOT, LilHelpa, Xqbot, Timmyshin, GrouchoBot, DynastyApple369Sax588tee, DefaultsortBot, Infokazu74023god,
YiMa9187432, Scyz, Aprillyw, ZroBot, EkmanLi, , Rigley, Evertide05, Kamek98, Helpful Pixie Bot, CitationCleanerBot, ChrisGualtieri, Ahendra, Drayten, KasparBot and Anonymous: 66

11.2

Images

File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0

Contributors:
Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:
Tkgd2007
File:Wei_Yan_Qing_dynasty_illustration.jpg Source:
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dynasty_illustration.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Zengxiang quantu Sanguoyanyi
this image has been taken from Gongjins Campaign Memorials: a Three Kingdoms Wiki without consent. Original artist:
Unknown author
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Yan_ruins_Kongming%27s_life_extending_ritual.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: The Scholars of Chenzhou Original artist:
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File:Wei_Yan_traps_Sima_Yi_and_his_sons.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Wei_Yan_traps_
Sima_Yi_and_his_sons.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: The Scholars of Chenzhou Original artist: Qing Dynasty

11.3

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