Chapter 18 Section 1 Chibi and the Separation of the Three Kingdoms

In 220 AD, Cao Pi, Cao Cao's son, abolished Emperor Han and established the Wei Dynasty.In the second year, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor in Chengdu, which was called Shuhan in history.In the next year, Sun Quan also established the Wu Dynasty in Jiangdong, and proclaimed himself emperor in 229 AD. In fact, as early as the first year of Han Xiandi Chuping (190 AD), the Eastern Han Dynasty fell apart, and the Han regime had long existed in name only during the warlord separatism and melee.The warlords brutally suppressed the Yellow Turban uprisings in various places and gained military and political power, and the emperor became their puppet.Later, Cao Cao moved to Han Xiandi to live in Xu (now Xuchang City, Henan Province) and gradually unified the north.When managing the north, Cao Cao once built a large building in Ye (now south of Ci County, Hebei), including Tingzheng Hall, Wenchang Hall, and the famous Tongjue (also known as Tongque), Jinhu, and Bingjing.After Cao Pi became emperor, Xuchang, Ye, Qiao (Bo County, Anhui, where Cao Cao was originally from), Luoyang and Chang'an were the five capitals.

Sun Quan's father and brother, Sun Jian and Sun Ce, also fought in the north and south. Sun Quan inherited them, and later used his hometown as a base to expand his power on both sides of the Yangtze River.Liu Bei of the imperial clan of the Han Dynasty was from a relatively poor family. He also served as the governor of Yuzhou during the melee, and later led his troops to Jingzhou to attach himself to Liu Biao. In the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208 A.D.), Cao Cao led his army to the south, hoping to wipe out the south in one fell swoop.At this time, Liu Biao was dead, and his son Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao. Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang to unite with Sun Quan to fight against Cao Jun. As a result, a large number of warships in Cao Ying were burned and Cao Cao was forced to retreat north. This is the famous "Battle of Chibi" in history. Everyone in the world believes that this is an important battle to decide the third round.

Where is Chibi used to be a topic of debate.On the south bank of the Yangtze River, 36 kilometers northwest of Puqi (qiqi), Hubei today, there are three mountains, Chibi, Nanping, and Jinluan. On the southwest side of the mountain, the waves are flying and the momentum is majestic. It is a good place for climbing and chanting.On the stone wall of Jitou, Chibi, there are many characters, imprints, poems and portraits engraved, and there are many engravings of the word Chibi alone. According to "Wen Xuan Zhu" quoted from the "Jingzhou Ji" written by Sheng Hong (one author Sheng Hong) of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty: "Puqi County is named Chibi on the south bank of a hundred miles along the river. Chibi is one hundred and sixty miles from east to west." (Quoted from Wang Mo's "Han and Tang Geography Book Notes") "Yuanhe County Maps" compiled by Tang people said: "Chibi Mountain is 100 miles west of (Puqi) County. Twenty miles away, it faces the great river in the north, and its north bank is Wulin." The "Taiping Huanyu Ji" compiled by Song people said: "Chibi is 150 miles northwest of (Puqi) County, and the north of the river bank is Cao Cao, which was defeated by Zhou Yu. It is roughly the same as today's Chibi, but the mileage is slightly different, and the distance between Chibi and Wulin is quite different.This may be related to the change of the Yangtze River waterway in history.In addition, there is also a Red Cliff on the riverside in the northwest of Huanggang County, Hubei today.Because the shape of the mountain hangs like a wall and is red, it is named Chibiji.When Su Shi visited here in the Northern Song Dynasty, he mistakenly made it the battle site of Chibi, and wrote the poems "Fu on the Wall" and "Niannujiao Chibi Nostalgia" by Qian Chi and Hou Chi, which made this place famous.Later generations made mistakes again, and built Liangfu Hall, Fengjiang Pavilion, Wenhe Pavilion and other buildings here, forming another "Red Cliff".According to the historical changes of the Yangtze River, some scholars in the field of geography now believe that Chibi was far away from the river during the Three Kingdoms period, so they think that Chibi should be Chiji Mountain in the southwest of Wuchang County (Zhifang) at that time, and Wulin was located in Chibi today. On the other side, this is another new solution to the location of Chibi.