Zhuge Liang
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Zhuge Liang (181 - 234) was one of the greatest strategists of post-Han China, as well as a statesman, engineer, scholar, and legendary inventor of baozi. Zhuge is an uncommon two-character compound family name.
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Various names in different forms
Family name and given name
- Traditional Chinese characters: 諸葛亮
- Simplified Chinese characters: :诸葛亮
- Pinyin: Zhūge Liàng
- Wade-Giles:Chuko Liang
Courtesy name
- Chinese characters: 孔明
- Pinyin: Kǒngmíng
- Wade-Giles: K`ung-ming
Other names
- Crouching Dragon Xiansheng 臥龍先生
- The Crouching or Sleeping Dragon 臥龍 (Taoist name)
- Hidden Dragon 伏龍
- Pinyin: Wòlóng Xiānsheng or Wòlóng
- Wade-Giles:Wo-lung Hsien-sheng
Early life
Zhuge Liang was born in Yangdu County in Langya Commandery, at present-day Yishui County, Shandong Province. He was the second of three brothers and orphaned early; his mother died when he was nine, and his father when he was twelve. His uncle raised him and his siblings. When Cao Cao invaded Shandong in 195, his family was forced to flee south, and his uncle soon died of illness.
Although both his sisters married into important families with numerous connections in the area, for ten years he resided in Longzhong Commandry (in present-day Hubei province) with his elder brother Zhuge Jin (who later served the Wu Kingdom) in a simple peasant life - farming by day and studying by night. He got to know a group of friends among the intellectuals of the area. His reputation soon grew, and he was named the Crouching (or Sleeping) Dragon, wise among his peers in many areas. At the meantime, he married the daughter of another renowned scholar Huang Chengyan. His wife's name is rumored to be Huang Yueying. The Huang Family was also connected to several other well established clans in the region.
Rise to prominence
The warlord Liu Bei harbored in the neighboring city Xiangyang under his distant relative and the governor of the Jing Region, Liu Biao. Legends recounted that Zhuge Liang joined Liu Bei in 207 only after Liu visited him in person three times. In reality, one of Zhuge Liang's works accounted for three visits. Zhuge Liang soon presented his famous Longzhong Plan before Liu, and he travelled in person to the Kingdom of Wu and formed an alliance with its ruler Sun Quan. His elder brother Zhuge Jin served as a high official in Sun's administration.
In the Battle of Red Cliffs of 208, allied armies of Liu Bei and Sun Quan defeated Cao Cao, thus enabling Liu Bei to establish his own territories. It is popular mythos that Zhuge Liang called forth a southeastern wind to sweep Huang Gai's fire-attack throughout Cao Cao's ships, however, in reality it was the Wu general Zhou Yu, a rival of Zhuge, who masterminded the wind attack. In folklore, the wind is attributed to either Zhuge Liang's magic or his ability to predict the weather.
The union with Sun Quan broke down when Guan Yu retaliated on the Kingdom of Wu in 219 after the surprise attack of Lü Meng. Guan Yu was defeated and decapitated. Liu Bei, infuriated with the execution of his longtime comrade, ignored all arguments of his well-meaning subjects and turned on the Kingdom of Wu, leading a huge army to seek revenge. He was defeated in the ensuing Battle of Yiling by Lu Xun and died in a lone fortress of "Baidi Cheng" (literary meaning: "the White Emperor Fortress") after a hasty and humiliating retreat to his own borders. After the death of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang became the chancellor under Liu Shan, Liu Bei's son, and renewed the alliance with Sun Quan.
The Southern Expedition
Zhuge Liang felt that in order to march North he would first have to unify Shu completely. If he fought against the North while the Nanman people rebelled, then the Nanman people would march further and perhaps even press into areas surrounding the capital. So rather than embarking on a Northern Campaign, Zhuge Liang led an army to pacify the south first.
Ma Su (Ma Liang's brother) proposed the plan that Zhuge Liang should work toward getting the rebels to join him rather than killing all of them and he took this plan. Zhuge Liang defeated the rebel leader, Meng Huo, seven different times, but released him each time, in order to achieve his genuine surrender.
During this campaign he got sick from the poison marshes in the area (according to the novel). Luckily, he was healed to good health, but possibly the effects of this sickness continued to ail him later, during the Northern Expeditions.
Finally, Meng Huo agreed to join Zhuge Liang in a genuine aquiescence, and thus Zhuge Liang appointed Meng Huo governor of the region, so he could govern it as he already had, keeping the populace content, and keeping Southern Shu border secure to allow for the future Northern Expeditions. Zhuge Liang obtained resources from the South, and after this, Zhuge Liang made his moves North.
The Northern Expeditions
Zhuge Liang persuaded Jiang Wei, a general of Kingdom of Wei, to defect to the Kingdom of Shu during his first Northern Expedition. Jiang would become one of the prominent Shu generals, and inheritor of Zhuge Liang's battle strategies. Jiang Wei continued to carry on Zhuge Liang's ideals and fight for the Kingdom of Shu after Zhuge Liang's death in 234.
In Zhuge Liang's later years, he launched expeditions against the Wei five times, but all except one failed, usually because his food supplies ran out, rather than failure on the battlefield. His only permanent gain was the addition of the Wudu and Yin Ping prefectures as well as relocating Wei citizens to Shu on occasion.
On the fifth expedition, he died of overwork and illness in an army camp in Battle of Wuzhang Plain. (The novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms related a story of Zhuge Liang passing "The 24 Volumes on Military Strategy" (兵法二十四篇) to Jiang Wei at the eve of his death.) At Zhuge's recommendation, Liu Shan commissioned Jiang Wan to succeed him as regent. According to the novel, Zhuge attempted to extend his lifespan by twelve years, but failed when the ceremony was disturbed near the end.
Legacy
His name is synonymous with wisdom in Chinese. He was believed to be the inventor of the landmine and a mysterious automatic transportation device (initially used for grain described as a "wooden ox and floating horse" (木牛流馬), which is sometimes identified with the wheelbarrow. Although he is often credited with the invention of the repeating crossbow which is named after him, called Zhuge Nu, this type of semi-automatic crossbow is actually an improved version of a model that first appeared during the Warring States Period (though there is debate whether the original warring states bow was semi-automatic, or rather shot multiple bolts at once). Nevertheless, Zhuge's version could shoot further and faster. He is also credited for constructing the mysterious Stone Sentinel Maze, an array of stone piles that is said to produce supernatural phenomenon, located near Baidicheng. An early type of hot air balloon used for military signalling is also named after him called "Kongming Deng" or Kongming Lantern(孔明灯).
Some books rumored to be written by Zhuge Liang can be found today, for example the Thirty-six Strategies of Zhuge Liang, and Mastering the Art of War are two that are generally available. Supposedly, his mastery of infantry and calvary formation tactics based upon the Taoist I-Ching were unrivaled.
He is also the subject of many Chinese literary works. A poem by Du Fu, one of the most prolific poets from the Tang Dynasty, was written in remembrance of Zhuge Liang:
- THE TEMPLE OF THE PREMIER OF SHU
- Where to seek the temple of the noble Premier?
- In the deep pine forest beside the City of Silk,
- Where the green grass of spring cover the steps,
- And songbirds chirp happily between the leaves.
- Triple summons weighted by affairs of the State
- To two generations he served with his true heart,
- To die before completing a lifetime of achievement,
- Always have heroes weep on their fleece ever since.
Pai Chung-hsi, a military leader of the Republic of China and warlord from Guangxi province, earned the laudatory nickname "Little Zhuge" due to his tactical decisions in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Zhuge Liang's Wife Huang Yueying
Zhuge Liang married Huang (Personal name unknown, but some people misunderstood her name as 黄月英 - Huang Yueying), daughter of the scholar Huang Chenyan, in 197 (when he was seventeen years old). According to legend, Miss Huang was considered a plain and self-effacing girl, but also very intelligent and wise. Many of the rumours of her plainness were self-distributed, to discourage any suitors who would judge her on her looks. Zhuge Liang was the only one able to see through her ruse and come to woo her for her wisdom.
Remarkably enough, it appears that Zhuge had no other wives or concubines even after he became prime minister of Shu Han, even though powerful men of the time were generally polygamists. Together, Zhuge and his wife had a son, Zhuge Zhan (諸葛瞻), who served Shu Han until his death in battle in defending the empire.
Both Zhuge Liang and Lady Huang died at The Battle of Wuzhangyuan in 234 CE. Commanding the Shu Han army in an invasion of Cao Wei, Zhuge Liang fell sick during the battle and died, causing the forces he led to retreat. The Cao Wei general, Sima Yi, pursued, but when confronted with a soldier dressed as Zhuge Liang, told his forces to turn and flee. As a result, Shu Han won the engagement and Jiang Wei took command of the victorious army. Lady Huang died after the battle was over, however, as though following her husband. With her last words, she told her son Zhuge Zhan to 'be filial and have piety'.
See also
- Three Kingdoms
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- Chronicles of the Three KingdomsTemplate:People of the Three Kingdoms
de:Zhuge Liang fr:Zhuge Liang ko:제갈량 id:Zhuge Liang ja:諸葛亮 simple:Zhuge Liang th:ขงเบ้ง vi:Gia Cát Lượng zh:诸葛亮