The Rebellion in southern Jing Province (luàn zài nán Jīngzhōu 亂在南荊州), in the commanderies of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang, was fought against by Sun Jian 孫堅 shortly after he returned from his campaign against the Liang Province Rebels. The rebelgroup was rather large for such a local rising, but Sun Jian dealt with it swiftly.
The Battle[]
After the initial Liang Province Rebellion, Sun Jian returned to the capital in 186 AD. There, he was appointed as Gentleman-Consultant in the civil administration. With this title Sun Jian held position as an adviser at the imperial court.[4]
In 187 AD, after only a few months of rest since the campaign against the Liang Province Rebels, Sun Jian was appointed as Grand Administrator of Changsha commandery.[5] The territory of Changsha commandery, however, appeared to be one with rebel activity and perhaps for this reason Sun Jian was appointed as the commanderies’ Grand Administrator. The imperial court must have been impressed with Sun Jian’s achievements against the Yellow Turban rebels and Liang rebels, or at least impressed enough to sent him against the rebels in southern Jing.
Local Rising in Changsha[]
In the winter of 187 AD, during the tenth month (17 November ~ 16 December), the rebel leader of Changsha, one Ou Xing 區星, gave himself the title of General and was attacking and besieging cities with an army consisting of over 10.000 men. Then, Sun Jian was sent to Changsha commandery as its Grand Administrator. He worked out a plan and defeated and destroyed Ou Xing and his followers within only one month since his arrival.[1][6]
The Bandits in Lingling and Guiyang[]
We are given three names for the rebels in the neighbouring commanderies of Lingling and Guiyang, two of them were supposed to have a loose alliance with Ou Xing, however these names are not always the same.[6]
The three most common names are Guan Gu 觀鵠, Guo Shi 郭石 and Zhou Chao 周朝, with Guo Shi and Zhou Chao having a loose alliance with Ou Xing. We are told that the rebel Guan Gu was a religious one and he gave himself the title of General Who Pacifies Heaven[n 2] and was ravaging Guiyang commandery. Sun Jian supposedly attacked him too in the tenth month of 187 and destroyed the rebels swiftly, beheading Guan Gu in the process.[6][7]
The remainder of Guan Gu’s troops, however, were shortly thereafter under the leadership of the bandits Guo Shi and Zhou Chao. Together they ravaged the three commanderies Lingling, Guiyang and Changsha. Sun Jian attacked them and went outside the borders of his Changsha commandery to pursue and destroy them. Following his victory Sun Jian was made Marquis of Wucheng.[6][8][9]
Notes[]
- ↑ Though we are not told Sun Jian was assisted by anyone during this campaign, it might be possible that Cheng Pu 程普 and/or Han Dang 韓當 were with him. Cheng Pu joined Sun Jian in 184, while Han Dang joined him "in the late 180's".[2][3]
- ↑ General Who Pacifies Heaven is sometimes seen as General of the Peaceful Heaven.
Fact vs Fiction[]
Historically...
- ...the Regular Attendants did not hide any dire reports that came flooding in when the rebels broke out.
- ...the Regular Attendants are not mentioned in relation to this rebellion.
- ...Sun Jian was sent by the Imperial Court. The eunuchs did not have any influence on this decision.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 de Crespigny, Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, Zhongping 4
- ↑ de Crespigny, A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms, biography of Cheng Pu, page 90
- ↑ de Crespigny, A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms, biography of Han Dang, page 295-296
- ↑ de Crespigny, Generals of the South, page 96
- ↑ de Crespigny, Generals of the South, page 97
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 de Crespigny, Generals of the South, page 98
- ↑ de Crespigny, A Biographical Dictionary, biography of Guan Gu, page 276
- ↑ de Crespigny, A Biographical Dictionary, biography of Guo Shi, page 288
- ↑ de Crespigny, A Biographical Dictionary, biography of Zhou Chao, page 1139
Sources[]
- de Crespigny, Rafe. A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23 - 220 AD). Leiden: BRILL, 2007.
- —. Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1989.
- —. Generals of the South: the foundation and early history of the Three Kingdoms state of Wu. Canberra: The Australian National University, 1990.
- Fan Ye 范曄 (398–445). Hou Han shu 後漢書 “History of the Later Han”.
- Sima Guang 司馬光 (1019–1086). Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑒 “Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government”.