In 597 BCE, after King Zhuang of Chu crushed the Jin army at the Battle of Bi, Duke Jing of Jin turned westward to expand his influence. He seized the opportunity of internal strife in the neighboring state of Lu (in modern Shanxi) and annexed it. When Qin attempted to contest the territory, Jin…
In the vast tapestry of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Pei Yuanshao appears only briefly—yet his fleeting arc encapsulates a profound theme: the difficulty of escaping one’s past in an era defined by rigid loyalties and violent reckonings.