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Studies in Medieval Chinese Siegecraft: The Siege of Ying-chʻuan, A.D. 548–549

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Benjamin E. Wallacker
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Abstract

When the duplicitous Hou Ching, the Eastern Wei satrap of Honan, declared his independence from the mother state, he invited both Western Wei and Liang to assume his allegiance and his territories. While Liang, capital at modern Nanking, eagerly accepted Hou Ching's bid, Western Wei, capital at Ch'ang-an, rejected it. But Western Wei did reluctantly allow one of its officers, the daring but personally insecure Wang Ssu-cheng, to occupy and try to hold Hou Ching's exposed city of Ch'ang-she in north-central Honan. After neatly sweeping Hou Ching and his Liang allies out of Honan, Eastern Wei turned its forces against Wang Ssu-cheng in Ch'ang-she. A long and costly siege ensued in which Wang Ssu-cheng brilliantly and doggedly fought against the overwhelmingly superior strength of Eastern Wei. Wang Ssu-cheng finally sur-rendered, not to save his own life but to save those under his command; he was honored both by his captors and by Western Wei.

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Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , May 1971 , pp. 611 - 622
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1971

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References

Abbreviations used:

1 The fullest account of the siege of Ying-chʻuan is contained in the biography of Wang Ssu-cheng, in CS 18.7a–9a and in PS 62.6b-8b. Sparse coverage is contained in the several Annals: Chou Annals, CS 2.nb–12b, PS 9.14b-15a; Chʻi Annals, PCS 3.2a–b, PS 6.23b–26a; and Wei Annals, WS 12.15a–18b, PS 5.26b–28a. All references to Standard Histories are to the Taiwan reprint of the Po-na pen edition. Quotations from Wang Ssu- chengʻs biography appear in TPYL 318.15a–b, 319.17b (Shanghai, 1894 edition), and in TT 161.853 (Taiwan reprint of Wan-yu wen-kʻu edition). Citations from TCTC refer to the Taiwan Commercial Press edition of 1966, Volume 9. Three valuable passages from the lost book San-kuo tien-lüeh are cited from TPYL 321.2b, 318.15a, and 328.16a.

2 Yü-wen Tʻai was de facto ruler of Western Wei from 534 until his death in 556. His Annals are in CS 1–2 and PS 9–10. I define as his inner circle those six men who, in the late 540's, were given the supreme military title, Pillar of State Generalissimo: Li Hu, Tu-ku Hsin, Chao Kuei, and Hou-mo-chʻen Chʻung, all of whom came from Yü-wen Tʻaiʻs home region in Suiyuan; Li Pi and Yü Chin, who declared their allegiance to him early.

3 Kao Huan's Annals are in PCS 1–2, PS 6. For a review of the warfare between Eastern and Western Wei from 534 to 547, see Wallacker, B. E., “Studies in Medieval Chinese Siegecraft: The Siege of Yü-pi, A.D. 546,” Journal of Asian Studies 28 (1969) 789–801.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

4 Shu-pʻu was apparently a dice-like game, possibly of non-Chinese origin. In this case at least the winner was the player who threw in such a way as to have all the pieces come up black. See Morohashi 15433.26 for textual references.

5 Hou Ching's biography is in Liang shu 56 and Nan shih 80.

6 In the second month of 543, Kao Shen, whose biography is in CS 21 and PS 31, rebelled against Eastern Wei from his province governed at Hu-lao, northwest of Ssu-shui. Yü-wen Tʻaiʻs reluctant acceptance of Kao Shen's bid culminated in the batde of Mang-shan, northeast of Loyang on the Yellow River. The Western Wei forces were driven back into Shensi, Wang Ssu-cheng holding Hung-nung as rear-guard.

7 As we shall see, Hsiang-chʻengʻs location is vital to the strategy of Wang Ssu-cheng, and I locate it just south of the present district on the authority of Tu-shih fang-yü chi-yao (Taiwan, 1968, reprint of edition of 1879), 47.46a.

8 For Chʻang-she and the Wei River, see Tu-shih fang-yü chi-yao 47.493–b). For Tsʻui Yuʻs role in the affair, see his biography, CS 35.10b and PS 32.15a.

9 I have followed the CS version. PS and TCTC 162.114 have, “Should the bandit come in stealth, [he could] straightaway arrive at the foot of the citywall.

10 Hsing-tʻai.

11 Kuo Hsien whose biography is in CS 28.21b–22b, was an old and trusted lieutenant of Wang Ssu-cheng, and it was he who led the forces of Wang Ssu-cheng out from Ching through Lu-yang Pass.

12 See the biographies of Kao Yüeh in PCS 13, PS 51; Mu-jung Shao-tsung in PCS 20, PS 53; and Liu Feng in PCS 27, PS 53. It appears that the Eastern Wei armies were dispatched to Ying- chʻuan in the eighth month of 548 and arrived sometime in the ninth month. See the Wei Annals in PS 5.27b (which has the least definite dating), the IIWei Annals in WS 12.17b, die Chʻi Annals in PS 6.25b, and die PS version of Wang Ssu-cheng's biography. TCTC 162.65 has the same cyclical date as two of the other sources have but places it in the fourth month, two full cycles earlier. I follow the other sources.

13 All die texts I have consulted have wo ku yen chʻi jo wu jen, except the version quoted in TT 161.853b which adds die word chi “quiet, re-pose,” before jo, nicely matching the word an occurring in a description of the same technique in LS 45.4a, NS 63.3a.

14 Tʻu. The Po-na CS is in error with ju, “to enter.” Wang Ssu-cheng's own sally, see below, it preserved only in the TT and TPYL 319.17b quotations; while PS fails to give any details of the initial attempt to storm the city, having only the last four words of the account, “The killed and wounded [among Eastern Wei forces] were very numerous.”

15 Fei-tʻi.” There is an illustration of a “flying ladder” in Wu-pei chin, reproduced in Morohashi 44000.253, with an accompanying description. IIWei lustration and description suggest it was simply a long ladder with wheels attached to the distal end permitting it to be rolled up a wall. The device is apparently not to be confused with the “cloud ladder,” in Wu-pei chih, reproduced in Morohashi 42235.456, described as a two-piece extension ladder mounted on a six-wheel bed. Partially similar, but perhaps more complex, is die device described as “flying cloud ladder” in Tai-po yin-ching 4.1b, the same description taken in TT 160.846a, quoted in TPYL 336.12b. The flying cloud ladder appears to have been an extension ladder capable of standing clear some distance from the wall for observation but also equipped with the means of scaling, The cloud ladder is mentioned in Mo-tzu 56, 14.323 (Chu-tzu chi-chʻeng edition, Peking, 1954), Alfred Forke. “Me ti,” Mitteilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen, Supplement 23–25, (1922) page 609.

16 Huo-chʻe, sec Wu-pei chih as reproduced in Morohashi 18850.183. The Po-na edition of CS seems clearly to be in error with its ta “great,” for huo “fire.” The incendiary wagons were pushed against wooden structures such as gates.

17 I believe the version quoted in TPYL 319.17b: chou yeh chin kung chi chih fa is the original text, fragmented, respectively, in CS and PS (and TCTC) as chou yeh kung chih and chin kung chi chih fa.

18 The Tʻai-po yin-ching 4.2b notes an ingenious device which might have been used in conjunction with the incendiary spears and arrows, an arrow carrying on its tip a small gourd filled with oil. On impact, the gourd breaks and discharges its inflammable contents over the wooden target's surface. The oil is then set aflame by a fire arrow (or spear, one would suppose), and the fire is fed by subsequent shots with the gourd-filled arrows. The item describing the device has been used in TT 160. 846a–b, from which TPYL 321.2a quotes it.

19 Chui erh chʻu chan, “he let down a rope and put (them) out to battle.” For an early use of the expression chui erh chʻu in this sense, see Tso chuan, 30th year of Duke Hsi, Legge, The Chinese Classics, Vol. 216.

20 TT 161.853b and TPYL 320.17b have here the word che “to bend, break,” for which I am unable to discover a satisfactory sense in this condevice text, preceding the word tieh, which I render “breastworks.” PS and TCTC, however, have lou “tower.”

21 Liu Feng whose biography is in PCS 27 and PS 53, is often known by his courtesy name, Fengsheng. For his role in the Ying-chʻuan affair, see PCS 27.4a–b, PS 53.4b. His primacy in the planning of the flood tactic is mentioned in TCTC 162.110.

22 Both versions of Liu Feng's biography say that the large sea animals were present in the backed- up waters; they are called chʻang yü pieh. It seems likely that yü-pieh should be taken as a compound referring to some large turtle, perhaps a species particularly adapted to swimming, with finlike flippers, etc.

23 See Chao Kuei' biography in CS 16.3, omitted in PS 59.2a–b.

24 There is no biography of Mu-jung Yung-chen in the Standard Histories. For the events following see, in addition to Wang Ssu-cheng's biography, those of Mu-jung Shao-tsung, PCS 20.14a–b, PS 53.15b, and Liu Feng, PCS 27.4a–b, PS 53.4b.

25 I follow Ssu-ma Kuang in accepting the version contained in the biographies of Mu-jung Shaotsung and Liu Feng rather than that in the biography of Wang Ssu-cheng that the men were in the multi-decked boat observing the city when the “great” wind came up. Of course, either version could be true.

26 See the biography of Chʻen Yūan-kʻang in PCS 24.5a–b, PS 55.5a; TCTC 162.112, and San-kuo tien-lüeh quoted in TPYL 318.15a.

27 TCTC 162.114 also mentions the “great” wind from the northwest which finished the city.

28 The emissary's name was Chao Yin he is called by his courtesy name, Yen-shen in all accounts. See his biography, PCS 38.70–83, PS 55. 25b–26a. Wang Ssu-cheng wanted to die in battle, but Chao Yen-shen, sent alone to speak to him, was able to bring about his surrender. Oddly, the biography speaks here of his entering “the city” and numbringing Wang Ssu-cheng out of “the city.” TCTC 162.114 however believes the other accounts that place Wang Ssu-cheng on one of the earth mounds at this final stage. Kao Chʻeng presented Chao Yen- shen with Wang Ssu-cheng's sword.

29 See Lu Chʻienʻs biography, PCS 42.3b, PS 30.12b, and TCTC 162.114.

30 There is some discrepancy about the numbers of men under Wang Ssu-cheng's command. According to his biography, Wang Ssu-cheng had eight thousand officers and men as he entered the city, and the PS version (and the quotation in TPYL 318.15a–b) reports that the survivors numbered just three thousand. Yet the Wei Annals (WS 12.18b) says that Eastern Wei forces captured over ten thousand officers and men in addition to several myriads in civilian populace. Ssu-ma Kuang follows the PS version of Wang Ssu-cheng's biography in his account.