Wei Yan

Wei Yan (175–234) was a military general of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of China. He became a soldier of Liu Bei when the latter fled Jing Province and seek protection from the eastern warlord, Sun Quan, in 208. In 211, Wei had climbed up the ranks and become a general in Liu Bei's invasion to Yi Province (益州, modern Sichuan and Chongqing). His talent and performance during battles helped him to become a major general of Liu Bei's army in a short period of time and was later named Administrator of Hanzhong (漢中), and regional Area Commander in the year 219.

According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, Wei was a very arrogant man and others tended to avoid him. Some believed that he was an aggressive person, who was incompatible with the strategies and methods of Zhuge Liang, the Chancellor of Shu Han. Moreover, Wei's personality caused Yang Yi, a scholarly official, to fear and despise him, with the two barely capable of avoiding fighting one another. Eventually Wei Yan lost his life and his family to this personal conflict.

Life

Early and mid-career

Wei Yan was a native of Yiyang. As one of Liu Bei's personal retainers, he followed Liu Bei into the Yi province. He had many military accomplishments and was assigned as General of the Standard (牙門將軍). When Liu Bei became King of Hanzhong, he selected Wei Yan as the general who would guard Hanzhong and then honored him with the title, General Who Suppresses the North. This was despite Zhang Fei being considered by many to be the likely candidate for the position. Zhang Fei himself thought he was likely to be chosen.

In 223, Wei Yan was enfeoffed as Marquis of a Chief Village (都亭侯). In 227, Zhuge Liang, following Liu Bei's death, employed Wei Yan for the war with Cao Wei. Wei Yan was to supervise the front division with the rank of Major of the Prime Minister (丞相司馬) and Inspector of Liang province (涼州刺史). Wei was very good to his soldiers and was braver than others. On the other hand, he was boastful of his talents and his peers tended to avoid him. However, Yang Yi alone made no concession to him and thus Wei Yan was extremely resentful of him.

Northern Campaign

When Zhuge became the regent of Shu, he launched several campaigns against the kingdom of Wei, whereins Wei Yan attended most of them, if not all. However, Wei was disappointed by his supposedly supervisor, on account the latter used Ma Su as the vanguard for the first campaign, which ended up with a total disaster. During the second campaign, Wei suggested Zhuge to attack Chang'an, but was refused, and the self-proclaimed 100,000 strong Shu forces laid a siege on Chencang, where they could only lament upon the staunch defense of the 1,000 defenders under Hao Zhao's command. In the fall of 230, the Cao Wei regime launched a counter-offensive with a sizable army, Wei Yan and Wu Ban were then sent north with a mixed cavalry-infantry force behind enemy lines to join forces with the Qiang tribes to harass the Wei rear, while at the same time sell the famous Chengdu silk brocades in return for horses and weapons. From the start the Wei attack ran into problems: heavy rain continued for more than 30 days, which rendered that the narrow valleys impassable, while Zhang He in the west had to deal with the threat from the rear. After a month or a half of little progress, the disastrous campaign was terminated. However, the Wei General of the Rear Army, Fei Yao, and the Inspector of Yong province, Guo Huai, decided to earn some merits before their retreat, so they attacked Wei Yan at Yangqi, where Wei heavily defeated his rivals. Thus, the Shu Han force behind the enemy line was able to make a prudence dictated return to Hanzhong. Wei was then promoted as Advisor of the Front Army (前軍師), General Who Conquers the West, and Marquis of Nanzheng. During the fourth norther campaign, Zhuge sent Wei Yan to counter the enemy commander, Sima Yi's frontal assault to Lu fortress from the central main road. Together with Wu Ban, and Gao Xiang, they resisted the enemy outside the city wall. In this particular battle, they killed 3000 armoured Cao Wei soldiers ,and seized 5000 sets of armor and 3100 crossbows.

The Ziwu Valley Plan

Each time Wei Yan accompanied Zhuge Liang on expedition, he always wanted to lead ten thousand and go along different paths to meet up with Zhuge at the Tong Pass, based on the previous strategy of Han Xin. But Zhuge never allowed this plan and Wei Yan often said Zhuge was faint-hearted.

The Weilüe records Wei Yan's reasoning in detail: Wei Yan received intelligence that the defender of the strategic city Chang'an, Xiahou Mao, was fainthearted and without counsel. Thus, he reasoned, it would be easy for him to take five thousand troops (plus another five thousand to carry supplies) across the Qinling Mountains via the Ziwu Valley and into Chang'an. Wei estimated that he would reach Chang'an in ten days and scare Xiahou into flight, leaving the grain in the storehouses of Hengmen for Shu Han's taking. There Wei Yan's force can wait for Zhuge Liang's main force to take the safer road out of Xie valley and rendezvous in Chang'an. This way, the region west of Xianyang could be settled in one stroke. Despite Weilüe's detailed account of this plan, a Liu Song Dynasty historian, Pei Songzhi, questioned about the authenticity of this log. Even Weilue could address the concern of Wei, there's no certainty on its ability to gather intelligence on Wei Yan's plan in such detail, so the records might be based on hearsay.

Upon Chen Shou's compilation on the unofficial works on Shu's history (Shu had no official logs on its history) in the book of Shu, it only tells that Wei Yan wanted to spilt the force in two and meet at Tong Pass, not much detail was recorded due to fact that the position of Historian was banned by Zhuge Liang. The reason Zhuge rejected Wei's plan remained dubious, but it's generally believed Zhuge considered the plan to be dangerous and preferred to travel along the flat roads so that Longyou could be taken easily. He was certain that his plan would work out without any worry, and so did not accept Wei Yan's plan.

When Cao Wei received intelligence about Ziwu Valley Plan (子午谷計), the emperor immediately removed Xiahou Mao from his command and reassigned him to a civilian job in the imperial court as Imperial Secretariat (尚书). Thus, whether Wei Yan's plan could have succeeded, Zhuge had forfeited the chance to act on it. After Zhuge's own plan had failed as history manifests, Wei Yan then sighed that his talents were not used to their full potential. The viability of Wei Yan's Ziwu Valley Plan (before Xiahou's reassignment) would become a subject of debate over the generations.

Death

In 234, Zhuge Liang set out on his last northern expedition against Cao Wei, with Wei Yan leading the Van. During the standoff in the Battle of Wuzhang Plains, Zhuge Liang fell sick and sent secret orders to the Chief Clerk (長史) Yang Yi, the Major Fei Yi, and the Protector of the Army, Jiang Wei for the armies to retreat after his death. Wei Yan was to guard the rear with Jiang Wei after him. If Wei Yan refused to accept the order, they were to retreat without him. Eventually, Zhuge Liang died, but his death was kept secret. Yang Yi ordered Fei Yi to go to Wei Yan and to discover his intentions. Wei Yan said:

Although the Prime Minister had died, I am still here. The officials belonging to the Office of Prime Minister may carry his mortal remains to be buried. I, on the other hand, should command the various troops and strike at the rebels. Because of the death of one man, must we neglect the affairs of the State? Besides, who am I, Wei Yan, that I should be commanded by Yang Yi to serve as general of the rearguard?

So Wei Yan and Fei Yi took charge of the troops left behind with Fei Yi writing a letter to be signed by both of them which was to be announced to the various generals. Fei Yi offered to go on Wei Yan's behalf and explain the situation to the Chief Clerk, Yang Yi, saying that the Chief Clerk is a civil official and is not experienced in military affairs, making it certain that Yang Yi would not disobey him. Wei Yan let him go, but regretted it and went after him, but was unable to catch up to him. He then sent someone to Yang Yi and the others, and discovered that the various encampments were returning, according to Zhuge Liang's plan to retreat. Wei Yan had wanted to continue the campaign against Cao Wei despite Zhuge Liang's death, and was thus angry at this development. Intending to block the retreating Shu force, Wei Yan led his troops back to the South before Yang Yi's main force, and cut off the Shu retreat by burning the gallery roads.

Both Wei Yan and Yang Yi sent memorials, each accusing each other of treason. Within the same day, their memorials arrived and the Shu Emperor Liu Shan asked Dong Yun and Jiang Wan for their opinions. Both of them supported Yang Yi and were suspicious of Wei Yan. Yang Yi had trees hewn to make roads and marched day and night to get close behind Wei Yan. Wei Yan arrived first at the Southern Valley and ordered his troops to attack Yang Yi and the others. Yang Yi ordered Wang Ping forward to resist Wei Yan. Wang Ping was critical of Wei Yan and Wei Yan's soldiers knew their leader was in the wrong, thus they scattered.

Wei Yan, along with his sons and a few followers, fled to Hanzhong. Yang Yi sent Ma Dai to give chase. Ma Dai caught up to Wei Yan and chopped Wei Yan's head off and sent it to Yang Yi. Yang Yi then ordered the execution of Wei Yan's family to the third degree. Before, Jiang Wan had led the various camps of the imperial bodyguards north to cope with the disorders. He travelled about ten li (1 quarter mile) when he heard news of Wei Yan's death, and so he returned.

Analysis

Chen Shou, the compiler for the Records of the Three Kingdoms, analyzed Wei Yan's death as thus: In the beginning, Wei Yan did not go north to Wei but instead returned to the South. His desire was to kill Yang Yi and the others in disagreement with him, with the hope that opinion of the time would make him Zhuge Liang's successor. This was his actual aim and he did not think of rebelling. However, it was his own fault for bringing upon his downfall by being boastful and ignorant of discipline.

An alternative account exists in the Weilüe. It states that when Zhuge Liang died, he said to Wei Yan and the others, "After I am dead, be cautious in guarding but do not return here". Wei Yan was ordered to assist in the operations and keep his death a secret, and he did as he was told. When they reached the entrance of Bao, the death was announced and a funeral was held. Zhuge Liang's Chief Clerk, Yang Yi, was never in agreement with Wei Yan, and after noticing that Yan was in charge of military affairs, feared that he would be harmed. So he made rumours that Wei Yan was going to submit to the North and led his troops to attack him. In reality, Wei Yan had no intention to do such a thing, and so offered no resistance. The later compiler Pei Songzhi, when combining this account with Shu's account in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, argued that the official Weilüe account was derived from hearsay or spies planted in an enemy state, and might not be reliable when compared to the the account Chen Shou chose from Shu's folklore.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is suggested that Wei Yan originally served as a mid-ranked military officer under the warlord Liu Biao, though history books did not recognize that. Before the Battle of Changban, Wei Yan tried to revolt against Cai Mao, who had already surrendered to Cao Cao, to give the city of Xiangyang to Liu Bei. Liu Bei, however, didn't want to bring chaos to Xiangyang and chose to go to Jiangling instead. Wei Yan was not able to rendezvous with Liu Bei and became a subject of Han Xuan. Liu Bei later came to invade Han Xuan's city of Changsha, and Han Xuan became suspicious at his top general Huang Zhong amidst the battle and wanted to execute him. Wei Yan, outraged at Han Xuan's distrust, killed Han Xuan, rescued Huang Zhong, and surrendered the city to Liu Bei. While Zhuge Liang welcomed Huang Zhong, he ordered Wei Yan executed, saying that Wei Yan had a complexion that shows him to be a man of betrayal. Nonetheless, Liu Bei ordered Wei Yan's life to be spared and welcomed him into his forces.

Wei Yan became a valuable asset to Liu Bei's military, and he continued to serve Liu Bei's state of Shu Han well until Zhuge Liang died. At the eve of his death, Zhuge Liang predicted that Wei Yan would rebel, and so laid out a secret plan that would remove this threat after his death. Wei Yan openly rebelled with Ma Dai after Zhuge Liang died, as predicted. In one particular standoff between Wei Yan and Wang Ping, Wei Yan repeatedly shouted the challenge: "Who dares to kill me?" Unbeknownst to him, Ma Dai was actually an agent as part of Zhuge Liang's plan to remove Wei Yan. Responding to Wei Yan's challenge, Ma Dai sprung out from Wei Yan's own ranks and decapitated him.

Modern references

File:DWWeiYan.jpg

Wei Yan as he appears in Koei's Dynasty Warriors 6.

Wei Yan is a playable character in the Koei video game series Dynasty Warriors. He is depicted as a fearsome and unpredictable man, barely capable of maintaining the trust of his fellow officers and often merely grunting a few words and with qualities that can be described as barbaric. In DW5, he wields a double pole blade. In In Dynasty Warriors 6 he wields a giant club and wears armour similar to that of Orochi from Warriors Orochi.

In his ending in DW5, he is sad after the loss of many of his friends. In DW5 Xtreme Legends, Jiang Wei and others have to influence him to retreat in order to do a successful ambush on Wei.

In Dynasty Tactics 2, he is more of a normal human, and you can see his face.

In Warriors Orochi, he is in command of a small force made up of other Shu Officers, and is being sieged by Yuan Shao. Wei Yan is assisted by Zhao Yun's coalition, and they are successful. Wei Yan then joins Zhao Yun's coalition. In Warriors Orochi 2, Wei Yan, along with Zhao Yun and Hanzo Hattori, burn down the central garrison to weaken the morale of Keiji Maeda's men. In a gameplay scene, Hanzo and Wei Yan are shown as equals in strength and speed. In Dream Mode, he proves to Zhuge Liang that he can protect Liu Bei no matter what.

References

• Template:Harvrefcol. Internet Edition 2004.
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• Template:Harvrefcol. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0

See also

• Three Kingdoms
• Personages of the Three Kingdoms
• Records of Three Kingdoms
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms
• Three Kingdoms Online

This category is for people born in the year 175.

See also: 175 deaths. ***Category series navigation failed to generate navbox***