Battle of Sishui Pass
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Sishui Pass is a fictional battle described in Luo Guanzhong
Luo Guanzhong
Luo Ben , better known by his style name Luo Guanzhong , was a Chinese writer of the early Ming Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was also known as Huhai Sanren...

's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...

. The battle was fought between Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo was a politician and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He seized control of the capital city Luoyang in 189 when it was in a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling and a clash between the eunuch faction and some court officials led by...

 and a coalition of regional warlords and officials (known as the Guandong Coalition) as part of the Campaign against Dong Zhuo
Campaign against Dong Zhuo
The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against Dong Zhuo, Chancellor of State, in 190 during the late Han Dynasty of Chinese history...

 in 190 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

 period of Chinese history
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

.

Background

In 190, the warlord Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo was a politician and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He seized control of the capital city Luoyang in 189 when it was in a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling and a clash between the eunuch faction and some court officials led by...

 entered the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

's capital Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...

, taking control of the imperial court. Cao Cao
Cao Cao
Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

 saw this as a significant threat, and, together with other warlords, formed a new coalition
Campaign against Dong Zhuo
The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against Dong Zhuo, Chancellor of State, in 190 during the late Han Dynasty of Chinese history...

 with Yuan Shao
Yuan Shao
Yuan Shao was a warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil war that occurred towards the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms era...

 as their leader. Yuan Shao ordered his cousin Yuan Shu
Yuan Shu
Yuan Shu was a warlord during the late Han Dynasty era of Chinese history. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the imperial court in 189. He was said to be a younger cousin of the warlord Yuan Shao, but was actually Yuan Shao's younger half-brother...

 to manage the supplies for the coalition, and appointed Sun Jian
Sun Jian
Sun Jian was a military general and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power...

 as the vanguard to take Sishui Pass, one of several mountain passes leading to Luoyang.

Dong Zhuo was deeply worried by this news, but Lü Bu
Lü Bu
Lü Bu was a military general and later a minor warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, Lü Bu was highly-skilled in horse-riding and archery, and was thus nicknamed "Flying General"...

, his foster son, assured him and said he shall personally go meet the enemy and hang their severed heads at the gate. Hearing that, another general Hua Xiong
Hua Xiong
Hua Xiong was a military general under the warlord Dong Zhuo during the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. In 190, various warlords from around the country formed a coalition against Dong Zhuo, who was holding Emperor Xian hostage in the imperial court...

 stepped out and said, "Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? There is no need for Lü Bu to go personally, I can go cut each of their heads, it'll be as easy as taking from a sack!" Happily, Dong Zhuo appointed him as Colonel of Resolute Cavalry (驍騎校尉) and sent him to guard Sishui Pass with 50,000 men along with Li Su, Hu Zhen
Hu Zhen
Hu Zhen, style name Wencai , was a general serving under the warlord Dong Zhuo during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was described as a man of influence in Liang Province ....

, and Zhao Cen
Zhao Cen
Zhao Cen is a fictional character in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He was a military general serving under the warlord Dong Zhuo. He participated in the Battle of Sishui Pass and Battle of Hulao Pass against a coalition force led by Yuan Shao. When Dong moved the...

.

First blood

Bao Xin
Bao Xin
Bao Xin was a military general who lived during the late Han Dynasty of China. Initially, he participated in the imperial campaign against the Yellow Turbans along with other regional warlords. After the rise of Dong Zhuo, who usurped the power of the Imperial Court, Bao joined the campaign...

, one of the coalition leaders, wanting to get merit before Sun Jian did, secretly sent his brother Bao Zhong
Bao Zhong
Bao Zhong is a fictional character in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He was a younger brother of Bao Xin, and participated in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. He led a cavalry unit against Dong's forces of about 5,000 men...

 with 3,000 men through a shortcut towards Sishui Pass. Hua Xiong dashed out of the pass and charged towards the frightened Bao Zhong, who attempted to turn around but was slashed by Hua Xiong. Hua Xiong sent Bao Zhong's head back to Dong Zhuo as a token of his victory, and he was promoted.

Sun Jian then arrived at the pass with his generals Cheng Pu
Cheng Pu
Cheng Pu was a military general serving under the warlord Sun family of Eastern Wu for three generations during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history.-Early service under Sun Jian:...

, Huang Gai
Huang Gai
Huang Gai was a military general who served the warlord Sun family of Eastern Wu for three generations during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...

, Han Dang
Han Dang
Han Dang was a military general of Eastern Wu during the late Han Dynasty and early Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history.-Biography:...

, and Zu Mao
Zu Mao
Zu Mao was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Jian during the late Han Dynasty period in China. He was one of the first four generals of Sun Jian and set out with Sun Jian to fight Dong Zhuo....

. Hu Zhen led 5,000 men to engage Sun Jian, but Cheng Pu stabbed him in the throat with his spear soon after they clashed. Sun Jian then continued to the pass, where he was repelled by the archers. He retreated to Liangdong (梁東) and reported his victory to Yuan Shao, while pressing Yuan Shu for provisions.

Sun Jian defeated

Yuan Shu, however, refused to send the supplies; because someone in his camp had said if Sun Jian does kill Dong Zhuo, that will be "ridding a wolf to get a tiger". Sun Jian's armies, without food, then fretted and caused chaos amongst themselves. Spies from Sun Jian's camp reported the situation to Hua Xiong, and Li Su suggested that he should send a force around Sun Jian's camp and surround him. He took the suggestion, and ordered his men to eat well and prepare for battle.

At midnight, Hua Xiong attacked the front of Sun Jian's camp. Sun Jian hurriedly mounted his horse and dueled with Hua Xiong, but Li Su's force came from behind and set fire to Sun Jian's camp. Sun Jian and Zu Mao then led several dozen men to break through the encirclement. Hua Xiong came chasing from behind, and Sun Jian pulled out his bow and arrows to shoot him. Hua Xiong dodged the first two arrows, and on the third attempt Sun Jian applied too much force and broke his bow. Seeing that Sun Jian's red scarf could easily identify him, Zu Mao suggested to Sun Jian that he should give it to him. Sun Jian then handed his scarf over and split ways with Zu Mao, who later hung the scarf onto a half-burnt pillar, and hid himself in the tall grasses nearby. The enemies surrounded the pillar and shot arrows at it till they realized they had been fooled, whereupon Zu Mao came out of his ambush to attack Hua Xiong, but with a yell, Hua Xiong killed Zu Mao.

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang eventually regrouped with Sun Jian, who mourned the death of Zu Mao and reported his defeat to Yuan Shao.

Guan Yu slays Hua Xiong

Hua Xiong then rode towards the coalition camp with Sun Jian's scarf and taunted the coalition. Yu She
Yu She
Yu She is a fictional character in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He was a military general serving under the warlord Yuan Shu. During the Battle of Sishui Pass against Dong Zhuo's forces, Yu volunteered to fight Dong's general Hua Xiong...

, a general under Yuan Shu, rode out to battle, but was killed in a few rounds. Then Pan Feng
Pan Feng
Pan Feng is a fictional character in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He was a military general serving under the warlord Han Fu of Ji Province .-Biography:...

, serving Han Fu, was commanded to duel Hua Xiong but was killed as well. Then Guan Yu
Guan Yu
Guan Yu was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period, of which Liu Bei was the...

, a mere horse archer then, volunteered to duel Hua Xiong. Yuan Shu found it insulting that they are so deprived of able generals that they have to send a nameless horse archer to duel Hua Xiong, and was noticeably upset. However, Cao Cao, another one of the 18 coalition leaders, suggests that they should let Guan Yu try anyway, since he was brave enough to volunteer. To convince them to give him the opportunity, Guan Yu told them that if he failed against Hua Xiong, the coalition could take his head as punishment. Cao Cao then poured Guan Yu a cup of hot wine but the latter declined, claiming he would soon return. Within moments Guan Yu truly returned with Hua Xiong's head in hand, while the wine was still warm.

Hearing the death of Hua Xiong, Dong Zhuo led his men to Hulao Pass
Hulao Pass
Hulao Pass is a mountain pass northwest of Xingyang, Henan, China. It is the site of many historical battles, being the eastern guard for the capital Luoyang for several dynasties. With Mount Song to the south, the Yellow River to the north, the pass holds up a formidable defense...

. The coalition decided to attack Dong Zhuo directly, and lifted the siege on Sishui Pass to attack Hulao Pass.

Historicity

Historically, there was no battle in Sishui Pass recorded in Chen Shou
Chen Shou
Chen Shou was a historian during the Jin Dynasty period of Chinese history. He is best known as the author of Records of Three Kingdoms, a historical account of the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period.-Biography:...

's Records of Three Kingdoms
Records of Three Kingdoms
Records of Three Kingdoms , is regarded as the official and authoritative historical text on the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history covering the years 184-280 CE. Written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century, the work combines the smaller histories of the rival states of Cao Wei , Shu Han and...

, the authoritative source for the history of the Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

 period. In fact, Sishui Pass and Hulao Pass are the same mountain pass near Xingyang
Xingyang
Xingyang , is one of county-level cities of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. It is 15 kilometers in the west of Zhengzhou city and is the nearest city to Zhengzhou as well...

, only different in name, despite them being separate in the novel. Another point is that Guan Yu was fighting remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels
Yellow Turban Rebellion
The Yellow Turban Rebellion, also translated as Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a peasant revolt that broke out in 184 AD in China during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty...

 with Liu Bei
Liu Bei
Liu Bei , also known as Liu Xuande, was a warlord, military general and later the founding emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history...

 in Xiapi during the campaign against Dong Zhuo, and could not have been in Sishui Pass to kill Hua Xiong.

However, the confrontation between Hua Xiong and Sun Jian did take place in history, but not in Sishui Pass. The story concerning Sun Jian and his scarf can be found in Records of Three Kingdoms, but the pursuer was Xu Rong instead of Hua Xiong. Contrary to the novel, Hu Zhen and Zu Mao were not killed in this encounter. After the defeat, Sun Jian reassembled his troops to score a victory against the combined forces of Hu Zhen, Hua Xiong, and Lü Bu in Yangren (陽人), where he had Hua Xiong executed.

Cultural references

In Chinese literature, this battle is known as the first battle that led Guan Yu to fame, which, over time, accumulated and promoted him to deity status.

This scene became famous in Beijing opera
Beijing opera
Peking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court...

 as "Killing Hua Xiong" . The same scene is played in other types of Chinese opera
Chinese opera
Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE...

 as well.

More recently, this event has been reenacted in video games such as Koei's Sangokushi Eiketsuden, Sangokushi Sousouden
Sangokushi Sousouden
Sangokushi Sousouden is the fifth release in the Eiketsuden tactical role-playing series developed by Koei, and the third to be set during the Three Kingdoms Era.-Story:...

and Dynasty Warriors
Dynasty Warriors
is a series of tactical action video games created by Omega Force and Koei. The award-winning series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, based loosely around the Chinese classical novel of the same name. The first game titled Dynasty Warriors,...

, among others.
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