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LiYan(ThreeKingdoms)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

LiYan(ThreeKingdoms)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

LiYan(died234),courtesynameZhengfang,also
knownasLiPing,wasamilitarygeneralofthestateof
ShuHanduringtheThreeKingdomsperiod.Heclimbed
tothezenithofhiscareerwhenhewasaskedbytheShu
emperorLiuBeitobethemilitaryparamountcyandco
regentalongwiththechancellorZhugeLiangforhisson
andsuccessor,LiuShan.However,duringZhugeLiang's
NorthernExpeditions,LiYanwasassignedtohandle
logistics,andhewasunabletofollowZhugeLiang's
instructiontodeliversuppliesinatimelymanner.After
hisattempttofraudulentlycoverhisinabilitytofollow
commands,LiYanwasstrippedfrompositionsand
power.

LiYan
GeneralofShuHan
Born

(Unknown)

Died

234

Names
Traditional
Chinese
Simplified
Chinese

Pinyin

LYn

WadeGiles LiYen

Contents
1Earlylifeandcareer
2ServiceunderLiuBei

Courtesy
name

Zhengfang (Chinese:pinyin:

Other
names

LiPing (Chinese:pinyin:LPng

ZhngfngWadeGiles:Chengfang)

WadeGiles:LiPing)

3ServiceunderShuHan
3.1Asacoregent
3.2Asalogisticofficer
4Appointmentsandtitlesheld
5Seealso
6References

Earlylifeandcareer
Duringhisyouth,LiYanworkedasacivilclerkinJingProvince(coveringpresentdayHubeiandHunan)
undertheprovincialgovernorLiuBiao,andhadearnedhimselfareputationofbeingcompetent.Whenthe
northernwarlordCaoCaolaunchedacampaignin208toseizecontrolofJingProvince,LiYanbecame
oneoftherefugeeswhoescapedtheprovince,andenteredYiProvince(coveringpresentdaySichuanand
Chongqing),whichwasundercontrolofLiuZhang.[1]
LiuZhangappointedLiYanasthePrefectofChengdu,andonceagain,Lidistinguishedhimselfonhis
newpost.Later,whenthewarlordLiuBeiinvadedYiProvince,LiYanwasassignedasanarmycontroller
afterinitialresistanceprovedfutile.LiwassupposedtorepeltheinvadingarmyatMianzhu,astrategic

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strongholdthatlaidbeforeYiProvince'scapitalChengduhowever,Liledhissubordinatestosurrenderto
LiuBeiwhenthelatterarrived.Forhistimelydefection,LiYanwasgrantedthepositionof"Assistant
General".

ServiceunderLiuBei
AfterLiuBeiconqueredYiProvince,LiYanwasappointedasthe"AdministratorofJianwei"()
andas"GeneralofInitiatingCareer"(),asafollowupsolidificationofthenewregime.Even
beinganewcomer,LiYanwasinvitedtoconstitutethe"ShuKe"(,thelawcodeforShuregion)with
ZhugeLiang,FaZheng,YiJi,andLiuBa.(ShuKewouldbethemostimportantguidanceonthelegal
systemoffutureKingdomofShuHan).Licontinuedtoprovehistalentasalocaladministratorseveral
majorcivilprojectswereinitiatedandconductedunderhisleadership:atunnelwasdugthroughmount
Tianshe,roadsalongriverswererepaired,infrastructureswithinhisjurisdictionweredecoratedandrebuilt.
ResidentsunderLiYan'srulewerepleased.However,hestartedtorevealhisweakintrabureaucratic
relationshipwithhispeer.YangHong,LiYan'sofficialchiefassistant,opposedoneofLi'sreconstruction
projectstherelocationoftheAdministrator'sresidency.LiwouldnotlistentoYang'ssuggestion,and
YangresignedafterrepetitiveoppositiontoLi'splan.WangChong,GeneralofStandardunderLiYan,was
recordedtofleetoWeibecausehehadamajorfalloutwithhissupervisor.
In218,whileLiuBeiwaswrestlingcontrolwithCaoCaoovertheHanzhongregion,thebanditleadersMa
Qin()andGaoSheng()rebelled.TherebelscontrolledZizhongCountyandgatheredseveraltens
ofthousandspeopletojointheircause.Sincethemajorityofthemobileforcesweredeadlockedinthe
Hanzhongfrontline,LiYancouldonlymuster5,000stronglocaldefensiveforcesinJianwei,wherehe
successfullysuppressedtherevolt.TheleaderoftheSou()tribe,GaoDing,[2]alsotookthisopportunity
toattackShengdaoCounty(),butLiYandeftlyledhisunittorelievethecountyandrepelledGao's
aggression.Forhiseffort,LiYanwaspromotedto"GeneralWhoAssistsHan"().
In222,LiuBeisufferedadevastatingdefeattotheeasternwarlord,SunQuan,attheBattleofXiaoting,
anddiedunwillinglyatBaidicheng.Onhisdeathbed,LiuBeispecificallyaskedLiYantobeacoregent
withZhugeLiangtotakecareofhisson,LiuShan,andappointedLitobethe"CentralCommandant"(
)tohandleallmilitarymattersbothimperialguardsandstandardarmiesweresupposedtobeunder
hiscommand.[3]AccordingtoLiuBei'sdyingwish,LiYanshouldbethemilitaryparamountcywithinthe
Shuregime,butlatterpoliticaldevelopmentwouldstriphimofffromsuchaposition.

ServiceunderShuHan
Asacoregent
WhenalocalleaderofNanzhong,YongKai,roseupandclaimedindependencefromShuHanregime,Li
Yantriedtoutilizehispersonalinfluencetodissuadetheformerfromdoingso,andatotalofsixletters
weresent,however,withnopositiveresult.GaoDingandMengHuoalsofannedtheuprisingandthe
campaignbecameamajorrevolution,whichpromptedZhugeLiangtoretaliatemilitarily.
AfterhissuccessfulsouthernsubjugationandrepairoftheWuShualliance,ZhugeLiang,utilisinghishuge
bureaucraticpowerandinfluence,carriedoutaseriesofhumanresourcerearrangement.Afterprescribing
severalofficersaspalaceattendantsfortheyoungemperor,Zhugecontinuedtospendconsiderableeffortin
strengtheningthetiewithSunQuan,thepowerfuleasternwarlord.ChenZhen,acloseassociateofZhuge
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Liang,waschosenbythelatterastheambassadortocongratulateSunQuan'senthronement.Beforehis
departure,ChentoldZhugethat"LiYanhasscalesinhisstomach"[4]butZhugerepliedthathewould
ratherpraiseLiYanthantoattackhimbecausethesituationhadnotbeensettled.Around216,ZhugeLiang
attemptedtoreplaceWeiYan,theareacommanderofHanzhongassignedbyLiuBei,withLiYan.Liwas
theactingareacommanderoftheeasternfrontatthetime,sosuchamovetransferredhimformtheeastto
thenorthwithouttechnicallychanginghisrankhowever,LiYanwouldnotperceivethus.Ontheother
hand,LiYansuggestedZhugeLiangtocreateanewprovincewithfivecommandariesofBaregion,and
recommendedhimselftobetheInspectoroftheprovince.ZhugeLiangdidnotlistentoLiYan'sadvice
neither.Inthefollowingyears,LiYanandZhugeLiangsharedacompetitive,yetcooperativerelationship.
LiYanoncesentalettertoZhugeLiang,statingthelattershouldreceivetheninebestowments,and
suggestedZhugetoascendkingshipZhugeLiangrepliedthathewoulddosoafterShu'srivalstateCao
Weiwasdestroyed.[5]
InAugust230,theWeigeneralCaoZhenlaunchedapunitivecampaignagainstShuinretaliationtoZhuge
Liang'spreviousattacks.LiYanwasurgedbyZhugeLiangtolead20,000soldierstoHanzhongforthe
defense.However,LiYandidnotwanttoleavehishomebaseandworkunderZhugeLiang,sohetoldthe
latterthatheshouldhavetherighttoopenanoffice(justlikeZhuge)asacoregent.ZhugeLiangdeniedLi
Yan'srequest,butappeasedhimthathisson,LiFeng,wouldreplacehimastheeasterncommandershould
hegotothenorth.[6]LiYanfinallywenttoHanzhongunderpersuasionandpressurefromZhugeLiang.

Asalogisticofficer
Weiaggressioncametoacessationaftercontinuousrainfallhadencumbereditsadvance.However,LiYan
wasnotacquittedtogobacktotheeastinstead,ZhugeLiangincludedLiYanasamemberofhiscabinet,
grantingthelatteraccesstothechancellorofficetohelpprepareforfutureexpeditionsagainstWei.Thus,
LiYanchangedhisnameto"LiPing",compromisedonZhugeLiang'swarplan,andacceptedtheroleofa
logisticofficerforZhuge'sfourthnorthernexpedition.
Asthefourthexpeditiondraggedonformonths,ZhugeLiangandtheWeigeneralSimaYihadbeen
havingaseriesofbattlesaroundMountQi,andbothsidesneededbackupsupplies.However,thegreat
showeraroundthearearenderedthetransportationlineimpassable,andLiYanfailedtoprovidesuppliesto
ZhugeLiang'scamp.InsteadofinformingLiuShanofthesituation,LiYanattemptedtocoveruphis
failure.LiYansentalettertoZhugeLiang,informingthecommanderofthelogisticproblem,andasked
thelattertoreturn.WhenZhugeLianggotbacktoHanzhong,LiYanpurposefullytoldZhugethatthefood
supplywasreadyandquestionedwhyZhugeLianghadretreated.Atthemeantime,LiYansentLiuShana
memowhichsays"thearmyfeignedretreatinordertoluretheenemytodobattle"inhopethatZhuge
Liangwouldresumethewarsohisfailuretotransportrationwouldgounnoticed.
However,ZhugeLiangabsolvedhimselffromthecampaign,andreturnedtoChengdutodealwithLiYan.
OnthewaybacktoChengdufromHanzhong,ZhugeLiangdidnotreprimandLiYan,buttheformer
secretlypreservedthelatter'sletter.Whenthereturningofficersgreetedtheemperorattheimperialpalace,
ZhugeLiangshowedLiuShanthehandwrittenletterofLiYan,sothedefendantcouldnotdenyhisfault.
Then,ZhugeLiangaskedLiuShantostripLiYanoffallofhisprestigetitlesandofficialpostsandexileLi
toZitongcommandery.There,LiYanlivedtherestofhislifeasacivilianuntilheheardthenewsofZhuge
Liang'sdeathat234,whereinhefellillanddied.

Appointmentsandtitlesheld
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ThefollowingappointmentsandtitleswereheldbyLiYanwhenheservedLiuZhang
PrefectofChengdu()
ProtectoroftheArmy()
ThefollowingappointmentsandtitleswereheldbyLiYanwhenheservedLiuBeiandthestateof
Shu
MajorGeneral()
AdministratorofJianwei()
GeneralWhoRevivestheEmpire()
GeneralWhoAssistsHan()
ChiefImperialSecretary()
ProtectorofCentralCapital()
MarquisofaChiefDistrict()
MinisteroftheHousehold()
GeneraloftheVanguard()
GeneralofAgileCavalry()

Seealso
ListofpeopleoftheThreeKingdoms

References
1. ^()Sanguozhivol.40.
2. ^(2011)StudyonNanzhao'sOrigin(),201111.
3. ^(
)Sanguozhivol.40.
4. ^ChenZhen'soriginalphraseis"()",whichZhugeLianginterpretedas"LiYaniseasily
irritated"().
5. ^ZhugeLiang'sreplycanbefoundinCollectedworksofZhugeLiang()

6. ^(
)Sanguozhivol.40.

ChenShou.RecordsoftheThreeKingdoms(Sanguozhi).
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