Battle of Xiangyang (191)

The Battle of Xiangyang in 191 was a battle between Sun Jian and Liu Biao during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period in China. Liu Biao emerged victorious against Sun Jian's forces. Shortly after their coalition had ousted Dong Zhuo from the capital city, Luoyang, Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao, two feudal lords vying for power, had formed alliances against one another, with Sun Jian and Gongsun Zan supporting Yuan Shu while Cao Cao and Liu Biao supported Yuan Shao. Sun Jian was asked by Yuan Shu to attack Liu Biao in order to extinguish Yuan Shao's influence in the southern half of China. Although Sun's forces initially outmanoeuvred and outfought Liu's, Sun Jian himself was killed in battle, forcing his army to retreat.

Battle

Sun Jian and his forces encountered the forces of Liu Biao's general, Huang Zu, between Fancheng and Deng . There, he easily routed Huang's forces and surrounded the city of Xiangyang itself. Within the confines of the city, Liu Biao again sent Huang Zu out, this time to make a surprise sortie. However, Huang was again defeated, and when he attempted to withdraw to the city once more, Sun Jian cut off his line of retreat, and he fled to Xianshan. Wishing to follow up on his success, Sun Jian pursued. According to Sun Jian's ''Sanguozhi'' biography, he was shot by a soldier in Huang Zu's unit who was hiding in a bamboo grove where he was carried off the battlefield and died. Other theories of Sun Jian's death include Sun Jian fighting in the wilderness and being killed, or being crushed to death by boulders thrown down from above in 193.

Aftermath

Sun Jian's death effectively ended the battle, although Liu's forces had suffered far more casualties. Huan Jie, one of Sun Jian's officers, successfully negotiated for Sun's corpse to be returned, and Sun Jian's army temporarily came under the control of Sun Jian's nephew, Sun Ben. Sun Ben then went to join Yuan Shu with most of Sun Jian's followers. Sun Ce, Sun Jian's eldest son, was given Sun Jian's marquisate, but chose to pass the position down to his youngest brother, Sun Kuang, who was still young.

Modern references

The Battle of Xiangyang appears in video games such as ''Dynasty Warriors'', but the name of the battle changes with almost every release. After Sun Jian is killed, Sun Ce takes command of the army instead of Sun Ben. How Sun Jian dies changes with each game release possibly to reflect the confusion on how he died.

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