Mi Fang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mi Fang | |
|---|---|
| Official of Liu Bei | |
| Born | 169 |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 麋芳[I] |
| Traditional Chinese | 麋芳 |
| Pinyin | Mí Fāng |
| Wade-Giles | Mi Fang |
| Courtesy name | Zifang (子方) |
|
I.^ 麋芳 is often (mis)printed as 糜芳 in copies of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in circulation. |
|
Mi Fang (169 - ?) was an official under the powerful warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era in ancient China. He was also the younger brother of Mi Zhu, who served the same lord. In 219, Mi Fang surrendered to Sun Quan, directly resulting in the loss of Jing province (荊州, present day Hubei and Hunan) and the death of his superior Guan Yu. The modern historian Rafe de Crespigny notes that Mi Fang had the remarkable record of serving each of the leaders of the Three Kingdoms during his lifetime.
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[edit] Life
A local of the county of Qu (胊, present day Linqu County, Shandong), Mi Fang was born in an extremely rich merchant family. His elder brother Mi Zhu initially served under Tao Qian, governor of Xuzhou (徐州, present day northern Jiangsu). Upon his death, Tao Qian passed on the governorship to Liu Bei, to whom Mi Zhu thereafter rendered his service. When Liu Bei served under the warlord Cao Cao, Cao Cao enticed Mi Zhu and Mi Fang by offering them governorships of Ying Commandery (嬴郡, northwest of present day Laiwu, Shandong) and Pengcheng respectively, but both chose to follow Liu Bei when he left Cao Cao and did not stay to enjoy the high positions Cao Cao had rewarded them.
In 213, Liu Bei's most prominent general Guan Yu was given charge of the defense of Jing province (荆州, present day Hubei and Hunan). Mi Fang then took up the post of the Administrator of Nan Commandery (南郡, present day Jiangling, Hubei), the base city of Guan Yu in Jing province. Together with Fu Shiren, governor of Gong'an (公安, northwest of presentday Gongan, Hubei), they begrudged Guan Yu for belittling them. In 219, Guan Yu personally led an offensive against Cao Ren in Fancheng (樊城, a district of present day Xiangfan, Hubei), Mi Fang and Fu Shiren were tardy in providing military supplies. Guan Yu threatened to punish them when he returned.
The fearful Mi Fang and Fu Shiren then surrendered to the forces of Sun Quan, lord of the lands east of the Yangtze River in 219, when the latter launched a surprise attack on Jing province. Sandwiched on both sides by enemies, Guan Yu was eventually captured by Sun Quan and executed. Mi Fang's brother Mi Zhu was deeply ashamed of his brother's betrayal and soon died of sickness. Mi Fang was not only hated by people of Shu Han for his betrayal, but was also been discriminated against by people of Eastern Wu for the very same reason, including Yu Fan, the Wu officer who convinced Mi Fang to surrender, as shown in the following two incidents.
Once, Mi Fang's boat met with that of Yu Fan in a narrow waterway, the servants on Mi Fang's boat demanded Yu Fan to move out of the way by shouting: "Get out of the way for our general's boat." Yu Fan shouted back angrily in response: "How can one serve the lord when he had lost his loyalty? And how can one be called a general when he caused his [former] master to lose two cities?" Mi Fang was very ashamed and let Yu Fan's boat to pass instead. Another incident also involved Yu Fan when he had to pass through Mi Fang's camp. The officers at Mi Fang's camp did not open the gates, and Yu Fan angrily shouted: "How can one do this when what is supposed to be open is closed, but what is supposed to be closed is open instead?" Mi Fang was even more ashamed than the incident in the waterway. Despite the ridicule, Sun Quan still treated Mi Fang with trust and dignity.
In June, 223, a Wu commander named Jin Zong (晋宗) in charge of Qichun (蕲春) defected to Cao Wei by launching a rebellion and Sun Quan ordered He Qi to put down the rebellion. Mi Fang then served under He Qi as a commander, along with another two generals named Liu Shao (劉邵) and Xianyu Dan (鮮于丹) and succeeded in their mission and captured Jin Zong alive and retook Qichun. That was the last historical record of Mi Fang, after which he was not mentioned again.
[edit] Mi Fang in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In the 14th century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, both Mi Fang and Fu Shiren served military posts under Sun Quan after they surrendered to the latter. In Chapter 83, Liu Bei personally led a force against the Eastern Wu to avenge his sworn brother Guan Yu. When they discovered that their own troops were harboring plots to kill them and surrender to Liu Bei, Mi Fang and Fu Shiren assassinated Ma Zhong, who captured Guan Yu previously, and brought his head to surrender themselves. However, the unimpressed Liu Bei ordered Guan Xing, son of Guan Yu, to execute the traitors before the tablet of Guan Yu.
[edit] Personal information
[edit] References
- Chen Shou (2002). San Guo Zhi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80665-198-5.
- de Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A biographical dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.
- Luo Guanzhong (1986). San Guo Yan Yi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80520-013-0.
- Lo Kuan-chung; tr. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor (2002). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-3467-9.
