Wei Yan () (died October 234Zhuge Liang's biography in Records of the Three Kingdoms mentioned that he died in the 8th month of the 12th year of the Jianxing era (223–237) in Liu Shan's reign. This month corresponds to 11 September to 10 October 234 in the Julian calendar. () Since Wei Yan died soon after Zhuge Liang, his death date should be in October 234.), courtesy name Wenchang, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a subordinate of the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty, Wei Yan rose through the ranks and became a general after Liu Bei seized control of Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) in 214. His performance in battle helped him to become a prominent figure in the Shu military in a short period of time. He was later appointed as the Administrator of Hanzhong Commandery and as an Area Commander in 219. Between 228 and 234, he participated actively in the Northern Expeditions led by the Shu regent Zhuge Liang against Shu's rival state, Cao Wei. After Zhuge Liang's death in September 234, Wei Yan was executed by another Shu general, Ma Dai, for alleged treason.
Early life Wei Yan was from Yiyang Commandery (), which covered parts of present-day Nanyang in southern Henan and parts of northern Hubei. He started his career as a foot soldier under the warlord Liu Bei, probably sometime between 209 and 211 when Liu Bei was in southern Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan). Around 212, he followed Liu Bei into Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) and served Liu Bei as a personal retainer in a war against Liu Zhang, the Governor of Yi Province (益州牧). Huang Zhong and Wei Yan scored many military exploits during the capture of Guanghan County. Thus, Wei Yan promoted to full general.
The campaign met early success with the quick death of Gao Pei and Yang Huai and the later occupation of the passes, followed by the defeat of Liu Zhang's reinforcements at Fu County. Pang Tong was killed during the siege of Luocheng and the siege became a prolonged one. One year later, Wei Yan and Liu Bei finally captured Luocheng, then surrounded and occupied Chengdu together with Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei along with others. Thus, around the summer of 214, Liu Bei seized control of Yi Province from Liu Zhang. As Wei Yan has made several contributions in the conquest of Yi Province, Liu Bei promoted him to the rank of General of the Ivory Gate ().
Administrator of Hanzhong In 217, Liu Bei started the Hanzhong Campaign against his rival Cao Cao. There is no direct mention of Wei Yan's participation. After Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, Liu Bei asked his subjects to nominate one of his generals to remain behind and guard Hanzhong. His subjects nominated Zhang Fei, who also strongly believed that he would most likely be chosen. However, much to everyone's surprise, Liu Bei chose Wei Yan instead and appointed him as General Who Guards Distant Lands () and acting Administrator of Hanzhong ().: "先主為漢中王，遷治成都，當得重將以鎮漢川，衆論以為必在張飛，飛亦以心自許。先主乃拔延為督漢中鎮遠將軍，領漢中太守，一軍盡驚。" When Liu Bei asked Wei Yan in front of everyone how would he perform his duty, the latter confidently replied:
Liu Bei was very pleased and everyone was impressed with Wei Yan's reply.
During his tenure, Wei Yan explained to Liu Bei that he used a strategy called the "double gates" (). The ancient text I Ching described this strategy as a particularly designed fortification which laid numerous military garrisons surrounding the outskirt and trail exits linking to Hanzhong.
Following the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and the start of the Three Kingdoms period in 220, Liu Bei declared himself emperor in 221 and established the state of Shu Han (or Shu) to challenge the legitimacy of the Cao Wei (or Wei) state established by Cao Cao's successor, Cao Pi, to replace the Eastern Han dynasty. Liu Bei further promoted Wei Yan to General Who Guards the North () after his coronation.
Northern Expeditions
After Liu Bei died in 223, his son Liu Shan succeeded him as the emperor of Shu. In the same year, Liu Shan enfeoffed Wei Yan as a Marquis of a Chief Village ().
In 227, Zhuge Liang, the Imperial Chancellor of Shu, mobilised the Shu military and gathered troops in Hanzhong Commandery in preparation for a large scale invasion of Shu's rival state, Cao Wei (or Wei), where he put Wei Yan in charge of the vanguard division and appointed him as acting Major under the Imperial Chancellor () and acting Inspector of Liang Province ().(五年，諸葛亮駐漢中，更以延為督前部，領丞相司馬、涼州刺史， ...) Sanguozhi vol. 40. During this campaign, Wei Yan always requested to lead a separate detachment of 10,000 troops, take a different route through the Ziwu Valley () and rendezvous with the Shu main army at Tong Pass (; in present-day Tongguan County, Shaanxi).
Wei Yan argued that the Ziwu Valley and its resources could support the Shu army's operations at least for a week. However, Zhuge Liang rejected the plan because he thought that it was too risky, prompting Wei Yan to call Zhuge Liang a coward and complain that his talent was not put to good use. When Chen Shou compiled the unofficial works on the history of Shu to write the Sanguozhi, he only mentioned that Wei Yan suggested to Zhuge Liang to split the Shu army into two, and the two forces would take two different routes and rendezvous at Tong Pass.
Later in 230, during the Ziwu Campaign, Wei Yan led some troops towards Yangxi (; southwest of present-day Wushan County, Gansu) and engaged the Wei forces led by and Guo Huai and Fei Yao, where Wei Yan managed to inflict a heavy defeat on them. During the same year, he also assisted another Shu general Wu Yi in attacking Nan'an Commandery (; southeast of present-day Longxi County, Gansu) where they scored another victory against a Wei army led by Fei Yao.
During the fourth campaign in 231, Wei Yan was also involved in the Battle of Mount Qi when he, together with the Shu generals Gao Xiang and Wu Ban, scored a major victory against the Wei army led by Sima Yi, during which they killed 3,000 Wei soldiers and seized 5,000 sets of armour and 3,100 crossbows. Sima Yi was forced to retreat back to his camp. Zhang He, a veteran Wei general, was also killed in battle during this conflict. As a reward for his contributions, the Shu government promoted Wei Yan to Vanguard Military Adviser () and Senior General Who Attacks the West (), and elevated him from a village marquis to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Nanzheng" ().
Battle of Wuzhang Plains
In 234, Zhuge Liang launched the fifth Shu invasion of Wei, with Wei Yan leading the Shu vanguard force as one of the commanding officers. Wei Yan reportedly had a dream that a horn grew on top of his head. He asked the dream diviner Zhao Zhi () the meaning of this. Zhao Zhi lied to him and said:
After Wei Yan left, Zhao Zhi revealed to someone that the Chinese character for "horn" () is composed of a "knife" () with "use" () below it, which meant that dreaming of "using a knife" atop one's head was an extremely ominous omen.(退而告人曰：「角之為字，刀下用也；頭上用刀，其凶甚矣。」) Sanguozhi vol. 40. Later in the encampment, Wei Yan had a quarrel with Yang Yi, Zhuge Liang's chief clerk, whom Wei Yan was extremely resentful of. Whenever they got into heated quarrels, Wei Yan often drew his sword and brandished it in front of Yang Yi, who sobbed as tears rolled down his cheeks. This prompted Fei Yi to step in to stop them from fighting and keep them under control until Zhuge Liang's death. Zhuge Liang was upset by the lack of harmony between Wei Yan and Yang Yi, but was unwilling to side with either of them because he appreciated the talents of both men.
When Zhuge Liang became critically ill during the invasion, he gave secret orders to Yang Yi, Fei Yi and Jiang Wei to lead the army back to Shu after his death, with Wei Yan in charge of the rearguard and Jiang Wei to follow behind. If Wei Yan refused to follow the order, they were to retreat without him. When Zhuge Liang died, news of his death was kept secret. Yang Yi sent Fei Yi to meet Wei Yan and assess his intentions. Wei Yan told Fei Yi:
Wei Yan then asked Fei Yi to assist him in making arrangements for part of the Shu army to remain behind and continue with the campaign, while the rest would retreat back to Shu. Fei Yi pretended to write a letter, signed by both of them, and told Wei Yan that he would read out the letter to all the officers about the new arrangements. It turned out that he had lied by telling Wei Yan that he would go back and explain Wei Yan's answer to Yang Yi.
Death Wei Yan then let Fei Yi leave, but he immediately regretted his decision and went after Fei Yi, but could not catch up with Fei Yi in time. He then sent his subordinate to meet Yang Yi and the others, but was shocked to discover that all units were preparing to retreat in accordance with Zhuge Liang's final orders. Wei Yan wanted to continue the battle even though Zhuge Liang had died, so he became furious when he heard of the retreat. He intended to block the Shu forces from retreating, so he led his force towards the south – ahead of the main army under Yang Yi's command – and sealed the return route by destroying the gallery roads leading back to Shu.
Wei Yan and Yang Yi separately wrote memorials to the Shu imperial court to accuse each other of treason; both memorials arrived in Chengdu on the same day. The Shu emperor Liu Shan asked the ministers Dong Yun and Jiang Wan for their opinions. Both of them sided with Yang Yi and felt that Wei Yan's actions were suspicious. In the meantime, Yang Yi ordered his men to cut down trees to rebuild the gallery roads, and his troops marched day and night to catch up with Wei Yan. Wei Yan arrived at the southern valley first and ordered his soldiers to attack Yang Yi. Yang Yi sent Wang Ping to resist Wei Yan. Wang Ping shouted at Wei Yan:
Wei Yan's men knew that their commander was in the wrong so they deserted.
Wei Yan was left with only his son(s) and a few followers, and they fled towards Hanzhong Commandery. Yang Yi ordered Ma Dai to give chase. Ma Dai executed Wei Yan, brought his head back, and threw it in front of Yang Yi. Yang Yi trampled on Wei Yan's head and said:
Wei Yan's family members and close relatives were also executed. Before Wei Yan's death, Jiang Wan had led the imperial guards from Chengdu to deal with what appeared to be a mutiny by Wei Yan. They had travelled for about 10 li (about three miles) when they received news of Wei Yan's death; they then turned back and returned to Chengdu.
Character analysis
Wei Yan was known for treating his soldiers well and for his bravery with valour that surpassed others. However, he was also boastful of his talents, hence his peers tended to shun him. Sun Quan had also once remarked that once Zhuge Liang died, Wei Yan would prove to be an unreliable person.
Zhang Dan, a contemporary figure of Wei Yan and Eastern Han dynasty military officer who was active around 140 AD on the border of the empire defending against the repeated incursions by the Wuhuan and the southern Xiongnu tribes, had given his own assessment about Wei Yan, as he compared Wei Yan with some famous figures like Han Xin, Sima Rangju, Lü Meng as examples on how talented individual could hail from humble origin, and warned against bureucratic promotion based on established connection.
Chen Shou, who wrote Wei Yan's biography in the Sanguozhi, analysed Wei Yan's death as such: Chen Shou also remarked that Zhuge Liang valued Wei Yan's bravery and was caught in a dilemma when the latter got into conflict with Yang Yi, whose talent Zhuge Liang also appreciated.