Pang Tong
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Pang Tong (179 - 213)[1] was an advisor to Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty in the History of China. He was nicknamed "Young Phoenix" (鳯雛; Fèngchú) by his uncle Pang Degong due to his ugly appearance but great capabilities and talent (just like how the baby phoenix is very ugly, but grows to be a beautiful and legendary creature). Pang Tong rose to fame after he met Sima Hui, a reclusive scholar who named him as one of the great talents in southern Jing Province after spending a whole day chatting with him.
Early life
Pang Tong started his career as a secretary in Nan Commandery (南郡) and was promoted to the rank of Administrator after Zhou Yu annexed Jing Province. Following the death of Zhou Yu, Pang Tong went to Chaisang to offer his condolences, where he met and befriended other famous scholars from Eastern Wu, such as Lu Ji, Gu Shao and Quan Cong. Pang left Eastern Wu and entered Liu Bei's service later due to Sun Quan calling him ugly.
Taking over Yi Province
When Liu Bei led his army to Yi Province (present-day Sichuan) to help Liu Zhang defend against Zhang Lu's invasion, Pang suggested to Liu Bei to take Liu Zhang hostage when they meet and force Liu to hand over Yi Province. Liu Bei declined and allowed Liu Zhang to return to Chengdu (capital city of Yi Province), on the grounds that he did not want to take the risk and that he was still unfamiliar in the area. When relations between Liu Bei and Liu Zhang deteriorated until the point of war, Pang Tong offered three options for his lord to take, namely the upper, middle and lower plans. The upper plan involved sending an elite special task force to invade Chengdu secretly, take Liu Zhang by surprise and force him to surrender. The middle plan was to spread false information that Liu Bei was returning to Jing Province, then lure Liu Zhang's generals Yang Huai and Gao Pei away from their positions, kill them and take over their castles and armies, and finally advance towards Chengdu. The lower plan entailed retreating to Jing Province and await for another time to attack Yi Province. Liu Bei chose the middle one and requested reinforcements from Liu Zhang to deal with Zhang Lu. Liu Zhang sent him only a small number of troops with low fighting capability and a mediocre amount of supplies. Liu Bei rallied his troops to turn against Liu Zhang and killed Yang Huai and Gao Pei, on charges of showing disrespect towards him, and took over command of their armies. Liu Bei's forces then attacked Liu Zhang's city of Luo, which was defended by Liu Zhang himself, and besieged the city for over a year.
Liu Bei expressed joy during a banquet in Fucheng (涪城) to celebrate his victory over Liu Zhang so far, and Pang Tong chided him, saying that "celebrating the invasion of others' territory is not what a man of Ren (仁; a Confucian value which advocates showing kindness) should do". The drunk Liu Bei retorted angrily, "King Wu of Zhou also rejoiced after his victory over King Zhou of Shang. Is he not an example of a man of Ren? You're wrong, so get out now!" After Pang Tong left, Liu Bei regretted for making that response and invited Pang back. Pang returned to his seat and did not apologise to Liu. Liu asked, "When that happened, whose fault did you think it was?" Pang replied, "It was both yours and mine." Liu laughed and the banquet continued.
Death
Pang Tong was killed by enemy arrows during the siege of Luocheng (雒城) at the age of 36. Liu Bei wept whenever the incident was mentioned and Zhuge Liang attended Pang's funeral personally. Pang was conferred the posthumous titles of Marquis of Guannei (關內侯) and Marquis of Jing (靖侯) after the founding of Shu Han.
Pang Tong's son Pang Hong was appointed as the governor of Fu later while his brother Pang Lin surrendered to Cao Wei sometime later.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Pang Tong is portrayed as a brilliant military strategist who equalled Zhuge Liang. Sima Hui recommended Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong as talents to aid Liu Bei in his ambitious plans, by the following words: "Sleeping Dragon, Fledging Phoenix - receive one, and you can settle all things under Heaven."
Like Sima Hui, Pang Tong was first introduced as a reclusive scholar in Xiangyang. He made his first appearance in the events prior to the Battle of Red Cliffs and played a major role in Liu Bei and Sun Quan's victory over Cao Cao. When Cao Cao's guest advisor Jiang Gan paid a second visit to Zhou Yu for the purpose of leaking back military information back to Cao, Zhou accused him of stealing secret information about enemy generals Cai Mao and Zhang Yun during his earlier visit (which was a ruse staged by Zhou) and had Jiang locked up in a temple. Jiang met Pang Tong in the temple and they returned to Cao Cao's camp together. Cao Cao was overjoyed and received Pang Tong warmly. Pang suggested to Cao Cao to link his battleships together with iron chains, so as to minimise the ships from rocking when they sailed on the river. Cao Cao heeded Pang's suggestion and his decision proved to be a fatal mistake later on.
Pang Tong appeared again after the death of Zhou Yu, when Lu Su recommended Pang to Sun Quan as an advisor. Sun granted Pang an audience but Pang's ugly appearance immediately put him off. Sun then asked Pang about his abilities as compared to Zhou Yu, to which Pang haughtily replied that he was "different" from Zhou. Greatly offended by his appearance, and his attitude towards Zhou (who Sun Quan greatly respected), Sun dismissed Pang as a common fool who boasted about his knowledge.
After leaving Sun Quan, Pang went to serve Liu Bei and presented his plan for the occupation of Liu Zhang's territory in Yi Province (present-day Sichuan). Zhuge Liang had mentioned earlier in his Longzhong plan that Yi Province would be Liu Bei's home base for his future conquests. Pang followed Liu Bei to Yi Province on the invitation of Liu Zhang to deal with Zhang Lu. During the first meeting between Liu Bei and Liu Zhang, Pang ordered Wei Yan to assassinate Liu Zhang during the banquet under the guise of performing a sword dance. Liu Bei was unwilling to harm Liu Zhang, as the latter was from the imperial clan just as he was, and stopped Wei Yan.
Pang Tong continued to provide strategies for Liu Bei in his subsequent battles against Liu Zhang's forces after relations between Liu Bei and Liu Zhang deteriorated to the point of war. Before Liu Bei's forces set off to attack Luocheng, Pang suggested to Liu Bei to lead a smaller contingent and take a shortcut, while he would lead the main army to attack Luocheng head-on. Liu Bei refused and decided that Pang should take the shortcut instead. Before leaving the camp, Pang's horse reared on its hind legs and threw him off. Liu Bei noticed that it was a bad omen and wanted to call off the battle, but Pang insisted. Liu Bei then offered his own steed Dilu (said to bring ill luck to its rider, however it saved Liu's life once so he thought it was a horse of good luck) to Pang instead. Pang was ambushed at the Valley of the Fallen Phoenix (落鳯坡) by archers under the command of Liu Zhang's general Zhang Ren. He died under showers of arrows along with his men. As if his death was predestined by Heaven's will, his place of death was called "Valley of the Fallen Phoenix", in which the "Phoenix" referred to Pang, as Pang's nickname was "Young Phoenix".
Modern references
Pang Tong is featured in the Dynasty Warriors video game series by Koei. He is portrayed as a hunched figure who wields the "Tornado Staff", a weapon capable of conjuring magic. In Dynasty Warriors 6, Pang Tong, like many other characters, is given a graphical make-over and he is seen wearing a strange mask. His clothing was also redesigned to give the appearance of a moth.
In Dynasty Warriors 4 Xtreme Legends, he proves his worth to Zhuge Liang and competes with Zuo Ci and Zhang Jiao for Laozi's magic book in one level. In his Dynasty Warriors 5 ending, he helps to unite the land under Shu Han and becomes the top strategist after Zhuge Liang's death.
In Dynasty Tactics 2, Pang's face can be seen and he is not a hunchback.
Pang also appears in Warriors Orochi. He joins Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan in the resistance against Orochi. Eventually, they join Cao Pi when they hear that he is planning to restore Cao Wei and rebel against Orochi. He helps Cao Pi, Zhen Ji, and Cao Ren in protecting Komaki-Nagakute against Kiyomori. In Dream Mode, he works with Zuo Ci and Zhang Jiao in proving to the ninjas that trickery is not as strong as magic.
See also
- Three Kingdoms
- Personages of the Three Kingdoms
- Records of Three Kingdoms
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms
References
- ^ de Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A biographical dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Brill. p. 689. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.