The Battle of Shi'ting (literal meaning "stone pavilion") was fought between the states of

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

and

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

in 228 during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period of China. The battle concluded with a Wu victory.

Battle

The Wu king

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

ordered Zhou Fang to lay a trap for the Wei general

Cao Xiu Cao Xiu (died 28 November 228), courtesy name Wenlie, was a Chinese military general of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. A distant younger relative of the warlord Cao Cao, Cao Xiu started his career in the late Easter ...

by pretending to defect to Wei. Cao Xiu was deceived into leading his troops straight into Wan (皖; present-day

Qianshan County Qianshan() is a county-level city in the southwest of Anhui, Anhui Province, China; it is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Anqing. It has a population of 570,000 and an area of . The government of Qianshan County is located i ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

). Sun Quan then appointed his general

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

as Grand Chief Controller and ordered him to lead an attack on Cao Xiu. On the way to Wan, Cao Xiu fell into an ambush by Wu forces. He was unable to gain the upper hand in battle so he ordered a retreat to Shiting. In the middle of the night, the Wei soldiers started panicking and many of them deserted and abandoned their weapons, armour, and equipment. After his defeat, Cao Xiu wrote a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

to the Wei emperor

Cao Rui Cao Rui () (204 or 205 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later remarr ...

to apologize for his failure and requesting to be punished. After realising that he had been tricked by Zhou Fang, Cao Xiu felt too ashamed to turn back. Thinking that he had more troops and supplies, he chose to engage Lu Xun's army. Lu Xun personally led the central force and ordered Zhu Huan and

Quan Cong Quan Cong (196–247 or 198–249), courtesy name Zihuang, was a Chinese military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in present-day Hangzhou towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Quan Co ...

to take the left and right flanks. The three armies advanced simultaneously, and decisively took on Cao Xiu's army. Following that, the Wu troops pursued the fleeing Wei forces until they reached Jiashi, where they annihilated some 10,000 enemy soldiers and obtained over 10,000 spoils of war; in addition, all of the Wei army's equipment and weaponry were looted. Lu Xun regrouped his men; and when he passed by Wuchang (武昌; present-day

Ezhou Ezhou ( zh, s= ) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hubei Province, China. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,079,353, of which 695,697 lived in the core Echeng District. The Ezhou - Huanggang built-up (''or metro'') area w ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

), Sun Quan instructed his attendants to shield Lu Xun with his own canopy when entering and leaving the palace doors.''Sanguozhi'' vol. 58.''Sanguozhi'' vol. 9. Sun Quan bestowed upon Lu Xun as reward were imperial items, precious items of the finest grade. The honours Lu Xun received were matched by no one in that era. Cao Xiu barely escaped the battlefield with his life. He died some months later from skin infections on his back resulting from the wounds he sustained during the battle. According to legend, Cao Xiu did not believe Zhou Fang at first. Zhou Fang cut off locks of his hair to prove his "loyalty". In any case, Zhou Fang knew the terrain well, so he started to lead Cao Xiu into a clearing, where Cao Xiu could set up camp. However, before they left, Jia Kui advised Cao Xiu not to trust Zhou Fang. Cao Xiu not only did not heed Jia Kui's words, but went ahead and fell for Zhou Fang's ruse. He also removed Jia Kui from command and moved on with his 70,000 troops. Jia Kui, who had come along with Cao Xiu, helped Cao Xiu retreat from the ambush. For this, Jia Kui received praise from the Wei emperor Cao Rui.''Sanguozhi'', vol.15 Cao Xiu died shortly after the battle from skin infections on his back resulting from the wounds he sustained during the battle; Jia Kui also died from illness shortly after the battle.

Notes

References

{{Reflist * Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). Shiting Shiting 228 228