Was Lü Meng’s capture of Jing Province in AD 219 a betrayal of an ally? Some people argue that the Sun–Liu alliance effectively collapsed after the Xiang River Partition (circa AD 215), when Liu Bei and Sun Quan divided Jing Province along the Xiang River. However, primary sources from the Records of the Three…
In Chapter 42 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, following Liu Cong’s swift and bloodless surrender of Jing Province to Cao Cao, an unexpected act of clemency unfolds: Cao Cao orders the immediate release of a prisoner in Xiangyang city and promptly promotes him to office. That man is Han Song.
In Chapter 40 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Li Gui appears as a minor yet morally significant figure – a retainer in Liu Cong’s court following the death of Liu Biao, Governor of Jing Province. When Cai Mao and his faction conspire to install the younger son Liu Cong as successor by forging…
Liu Qi, as the eldest son of Liu Biao, was the legitimate heir to Jing Province. Why did not he join forces with Liu Bei to reclaim the governorship from Liu Cong amid the chaos?
In 208, when Cao Cao launched his southern campaign against Jingzhou, his army swept through Xinye with overwhelming momentum. Behind him marched hundreds of thousands of northern troops; at the vanguard were elite generals like Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun.