SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

Yu Jin

  • The Fall of Lü Bu [Three Kingdoms]

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    In the year 198 AD, the turbulent struggle for dominance in central China reached a critical juncture with the collapse of Lü Bu’s short-lived power in Xuzhou (Xu Province). Once a feared warrior who had twice driven Liu Bei from Xuzhou and nearly toppled Cao Cao in Yan Province, Lü Bu now faced the…

  • Yuan Shu’s invasion of Chen State [Three Kingdoms]

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    In the year 197 AD, Yuan Shu, having declared himself Emperor of the short-lived Zhong dynasty, found his ambitions crumbling under a cascade of military defeats, diplomatic failures, and internal decay. Once a powerful warlord controlling the fertile lands of Huai River region, Yuan Shu’s realm rapidly contracted due to betrayals, strategic miscalculations, and…

  • The Battle of Wancheng [Three Kingdoms]

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    The year 197 AD marked a turning point in Cao Cao’s southern expansion—not through victory, but through a catastrophic defeat born of arrogance and personal folly. His campaign against Zhang Xiu in Nanyang Commandery began with a bloodless surrender but ended in humiliation, death, and strategic reversal. What should have been a swift annexation…

  • Cao Cao’s Recovery of Yanzhou [Three Kingdoms]

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    Having endured the devastating winter of 194 AD, during which famine, betrayal, and isolation brought him to the brink of collapse, Cao Cao launched a decisive counteroffensive in the spring of 195 AD to reclaim Yanzhou from Lü Bu.

  • The second massacre of Xuzhou by Cao Cao [Three Kingdoms]

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    In the summer of 194 AD, Cao Cao assembled a massive army to launch his second invasion of Xu Province, this time under the banner of filial vengeance. His father, Cao Song, had been murdered by soldiers of Tao Qian.

  • The first massacre of Xuzhou by Cao Cao [Three Kingdoms]

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    Historically, Cao Cao carried out two large-scale massacres in Xuzhou. The first occurred in 193. According to According to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when his father was killed by a general under the command of Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, Cao Cao led his army to attack Tao Qian, capturing over ten…