SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

Hanzhong

  • Ashes of the Palace, Seeds of Rebellion [Western Han]

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    Juan

    The Execution of Ziying and the Sack of Xianyang Days after the Hongmen Banquet, Xiang Yu marched into Xianyang city at the head of a coalition of feudal lords, with Liu Bang following cautiously behind. The first order of business was the fate of Ziying, the last ruler of Qin, who had reigned for…

  • Zhang Liang

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    Ana

    Zhang Liang (?–189 BCE) was a prominent statesman in the early Western Han dynasty. His courtesy name was Zifang, and he was from Chengfu, Yingchuan (in present-day southwestern Xiangcheng, Henan). His ancestors were nobles of the former state of Han, with five generations serving as Han ministers. Seeking revenge for the Qin conquest of…

  • The tragedy of King Huai of Chu [Warring States]

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    Rob

    King Wu of Qin, still haunted by Zhang Yi’s earlier counsel to seize Han state. In 307 BCE, he launched a bold campaign. His general Gan Mao captured Han’s Yiyang city (in modern Henan), opening the path to the heart of ancient China.

  • The Master of Deceit: Zhang Yi [Warring States]

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    Rob

    After the collapse of Su Qin’s Vertical Alliance (Hezong), a new threat emerged to Qin’s ambition: the alliance between Qi and Chu, the two most powerful eastern states. United, they could block Qin’s path to unification.

  • Zhuge Liang’s self-demotion [Three Kingdoms]

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    Rob

    In 227 AD, following the successful pacification of the Nanzhong rebellion, Zhuge Liang returned to Chengdu to prepare for his long-planned Northern Expeditions against Cao Wei. With the death of Emperor Cao Pi and the ascension of the young Cao Rui (Emperor Ming of Wei), Zhuge Liang saw a strategic opening.

  • Chapter 60. Zhang Song offers the map [Three Kingdoms]

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    Rob

    Chapter 60 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms marks a decisive turning point in the novel’s geopolitical arc. With Cao Cao dominant in the north and Sun Quan entrenched in the east, the vast, fertile province of Yizhou (modern Sichuan) becomes the final prize for aspiring hegemonies.

  • The Map Unbestowed [Three Kingdoms]

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    Juan

    Before the formal tripartite division of China into Wei, Shu, and Wu, Cao Cao stood closer than ever to unifying the empire – including the fertile and defensible province of Yizhou (modern Sichuan).

  • The Battle for Hanzhong [Three Kingdoms]

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    Juan

    When Cao Cao learned that Liu Bei had taken control of Yizhou (Yi Province, modern Sichuan), he realized that unifying the empire would be impossible without securing the strategic corridor of Hanzhong, which lay directly north of Yizhou.

  • How Liu Bei seized Yizhou? [Three Kingdoms]

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    Juan

    In 211 CE, news reached Liu Zhang, governor of Yizhou (modern Sichuan province), that Cao Cao planned to march through Guanzhong to attack Hanzhong – the northern gateway to Yizhou.