Battle of Jinyang
Battle of Jinyang | |||||||
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Part of Spring and Autumn period | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
House of Zhi House of Wei (until 453 BC) House of Han (until 453 BC) |
House of Zhao House of Wei (453 BC) House of Han (453 BC) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Zhi Yao |
Zhao Xiangzi |
The Battle of Jinyang (
Background
By 490 BC, after the destruction of the houses of
Zhao Xiangzi suspected an attack from Zhi, since he had heard that Zhi sent envoys to Han and Wei three times, but never to Zhao. After rejecting suggestions to move to
Battle
This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2016) |
When the three armies of Zhi, Wei, and Han reached Jinyang in 455 BC, they laid siege to the city, but for three months they could not take the city. They fanned out and surrounded the city, and a year later[6] diverted the flow of the Fen River to inundate the city. All buildings under three stories high were submerged, and the people of Jinyang were obliged to live in nest-like perches above the water and hang their kettles from the scaffolding in order to cook.
By the third year, supplies had run out for the Zhao, diseases broke out, and the populace were reduced to eating each other's children.[7] Although the common people remained firm in the defence,[8] the court ministers' loyalties began to waver.[9] Zhao Xiangzi asked Zhang Mengtan, "Our provisions are gone, our strength and resources are exhausted, the officials are starving and ill, and I fear we can hold out no longer. I am going to surrender the city, but to which of the three states should I surrender?"[10] Zhang Mengtan, much alarmed, persuaded Zhao not to surrender but instead send him out to negotiate with the houses of Wei and Han.
The houses of Wei and Han were promised an even split of Zhao's territories when the battle was won, however both the Wei and Han leaders were uneasy, since they understood that they too would be conquered if Zhao fell to Zhi. Zhi Yao's minister, Xi Ci (郤疵), warned Zhi that the two houses were going to revolt, since "the men and horses [of Jinyang] are eating each other and the city is soon to fall, yet the lords of Han and Wei show no signs of joy but instead are worried. If those are not rebellious signs, then what are they?"[11] Zhi paid Xi Ci no heed, and instead told the lords of Han and Wei of Xi's suspicion. Xi, knowing that his warning fell to deaf ears, excused himself from the battlefield by going to the State of Qi as an envoy.
Indeed, when Zhang Mengtan secretly met with Wei Huan-zi and Han Kangzi (韓康子), who confessed that they were secretly planning to mutiny against Zhi. The three discussed their plans and settled on a date to execute the plans. Zhang Mengtan returned to Jinyang to report back to Zhao Xiangzi, and Zhao, in joy and apprehension, bowed to Zhang several times as a sign of great reverence.
One of Zhi Yao's clansmen,
Hearing this, Zhang Mengtan urged Zhao Xiangzi to take action immediately, lest Zhi Yao changes his mind.[13] Zhao then dispatched Zhang Mengtan to the camps of Wei and Han, alerting them of the time of the final attack. On the night of May 8, 453 BC,[1] Zhao troops killed the men guarding the dams of the Fen River and let the river flood the Zhi armies. As the Zhi armies fell into chaos trying to stop the water, the Wei and Han armies attacked Zhi from the sides and Zhao led his soldiers in a frontal attack. Together they inflicted a severe defeat on Zhi Yao's army and took him prisoner.
Zhao Xiangzi had a grudge on Zhi Yao because Zhi had often humiliated him in the past, thus he executed Zhi and made his skull into a winecup.[14] No one in the house of Zhi was spared except for Zhi Guo's family, who had already changed their surnames and fled. The territories of Zhi were evenly distributed among the three victors.
Aftermath
With the elimination of the Zhi house, control of the State of Jin fell to the remaining three families, their powers unchecked by anyone in the state. In 434 BC, following the death of Duke Ai, the three families annexed all of Jin's lands, leaving only the capital estates of
The Legalist thinker Han Feizi of the late Warring States period used this battle as an example of failure via greed and perversity, one of the "Ten Faults" that a ruler should not have.[15] He reasoned that because Zhi Yao was too fond for profit, he opened himself to the destruction of the state and his own demise.
The Song Dynasty statesman Sima Guang, in his Zizhi Tongjian, attribute Zhi Yao's failure to his lacking virtue compared to his talents, and thus invited disaster.[16]
Notes
- ^ a b Sima Qian vol. 43: "On the 1st day of the eighth month, the three states eliminated the Zhi house and partitioned its lands." (以三月丙戌,三國反滅知氏,共分其地。) The 23rd day of the third month in 453 BC in the Chinese calendar corresponds to May 8th in the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ Sima Qian vol. 39: 晉國政皆決知伯,晉哀公不得有所制。知伯遂有范、中行地,最彊。
- ^ Liu vol. 18[permanent dead link]. The received Zhan Guo Ce had Cai (蔡) and Gaolang as the territories, but Cai was neither near Gaolang nor was it in Zhao. Later compilers like Sima Guang assumed that "Cai" was supposed to be "Lin".
- ^ Sima Guang vol. 1: 襄子將出,曰:「吾何走乎?」從者曰:「長子近,且城厚完。」襄子曰:「民罷力以完之,又斃死以守之,其誰與我!」從者曰:「邯鄲之倉庫實。」襄子曰:「浚民之膏澤以實之,又因而殺之,其誰與我!」
- ^ Watson 58.
- ^ Sima Qian vol. 43: 三國攻晉陽,歲餘,引汾水灌其城
- ^ Sima Qian vol. 43: 城中懸釜而炊,易子而食。
- ^ Sima Guang vol.1: 沈竈產鼃,民無叛意。
- ^ Sima Qian vol. 43: 群臣皆有外心,禮益慢
- ^ Watson 59.
- ^ Sima Guang vol. 1: 人馬相食,城降有日,而韓、魏之君無喜誌而有憂色,是非反如何也?
- ^ Watson 60–61
- ^ Liu vol.18, commentary by Bao Biao (鮑彪): 恐智伯以過之去之決,有感動矣。
- ^ Sima Qian vol.86: 趙襄子最怨智伯,漆其頭以為飲器。
- ^ Watson 56
- ^ Sima Guang vol. 1: 智伯之亡也,才勝德也。
References
- Sima Guang, Zizhi Tongjian
- Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian
- Liu Xiang et al., Zhan Guo Ce
- Watson, Burton (2003). Han Feizi: Basic Writings. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-12969-6.