| Jiang Wei | |
 | |
| Character information | |
|---|---|
| Force(s): | Cobalt Tigerz |
| Weapon Type: | Trident (2, 4~5)
Spear (3, 7) Double-edged trident (Multi Raid 2, 8) |
| 4th Weapon: | Blink |
| 5th Weapon: | Prodigal |
| Significant Battle(s): | Battle of Tian Shui
Battle of Jie Ting Battle of Wu Zhang Plains Battle of Duan Gu Capture of Cheng Du Zhong Hui's Rebellion Battle for Ji Province |
| First appearance: | Rise of the Machines |
| Historical information | |
| Real name: | Jiāng Wéi |
| Chinese name: | 姜維 - 姜维 |
| Style name: | Bóyuē |
| Chinese name: | 伯約 |
| Born: | 202 |
| Died: | 264 |
Jiang Wei (rōmaji: Kyō I) is a general of the Three Kingdoms era who first served Ma Zun. He surrendered to Shu when his station was attacked and was praised by Zhuge Liang. Jiang Wei took it upon himself after the Prime Minister's death to keep waging war with Wei in the north. Even with Liu Shan's surrender to Deng Ai, Jiang Wei would oppose Wei until his death. He is Zhuge Liang's lone and trusted successor in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and one of the novel's tragic figures.
In the Dynasty Warriors series his character is 19 years old and his height is 180 cm (approximately 5'11"). He is eleventh place in Gamecity's Dynasty Warriors 7 character popularity poll.
Role in Games[]
Dynasty Warriors[]
Jiang Wei is the son of a reputed general who excels in martial arts and scholarly studies. Originally an officer of Wei, his talents are noticed by Zhuge Liang and, impressed by the strategist's abilities, he joins Shu. He contributes greatly to Shu's later campaigns against Wei and Wu. In the newest title, Jiang Wei continues to stand by Shu after the Battle of Wu Zhang Plains and loyally fights for his kingdom until his last.
His Legend Mode in Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends is the Defense of Jian Ge, in which he needs to defend the cowardly Liu Chan from Wei's army. Fearsome generals such as Cao Ren, Xu Huang and Xu Chu attack the Shu army. Liu Chan, who cannot stand the bloodshed and warfare any longer, flees from his home to surrender. Jiang Wei, wanting to uphold his promise to his mentor, does everything in his power to prevent this from happening by closing gates along the way. When he reaches Zhong Hui, the Wei general implores him to not throw his life away and return to Wei. Jiang Wei responds by reaffirming his loyalty for Shu and drives the opposition back.
In Dynasty Warriors 5, Jiang Wei starts his story as an officer in Wei. Since his father passed away when he was young, he spent his childhood being raised by his mother. For her sake, he joins the military but soon sees his talents unappreciated by his commanding officers. Though disappointed by Ma Zun's leadership, Jiang Wei takes part in the offensive against Zhuge Liang's army. During the battle, an impostor of Jiang Wei attacks the defending army, making Ma Zun doubt Jiang Wei's integrity and further forcing the youth to prove himself. Upon defeating the strategist, however, he grows to respect Zhuge Liang's faith in him and joins Shu. As his protege, he tries to prove his worth against Sima Yi's tactics. While Zhuge Liang is busy with preparing for the final battle of the Northern Campaign, Jiang Wei leads a decisive victory against Wu at Bai Di Castle. He continues to lead the Shu army after his mentor's passing, successfully unifying the land under Shu. He acts as Liu Chan's advisory after the battle, wielding Zhuge Liang's fan as a keepsake.
He shares his Legend Mode in Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends with Zhuge Liang and Wei Yan at the Battle of Mt. Qi. During Shu's Northern Campaign, Zhuge Liang surprisingly orders a retreat from the mountain. In Jiang Wei's version of the stage, he assists the Prime Minister's strategy by luring the three advance troops towards the mountain. Once three Wei generals hold their positions, Shu's army feigns a retreat but Jiang Wei remains on the field. If he successfully hides his presence from Wei's scouts, the Shu army reappears on the field and launches an ambush from three points on the map. They can easily entice Zhang He forward and cause the general's demise. Should Jiang Wei be spotted, Sima Yi catches onto the ruse and the Shu army will need to issue a real retreat due to lack of supplies. Jiang Wei will then fight the entire Wei army by himself.
Jiang Wei begins as a Wei soldier in Dynasty Warriors 7 and is described by many as a genius. His tactics against Zhuge Liang at Tian Shui impresses the strategist enough to later challenge him to a duel. A suspicious Ma Zun betrays Jiang Wei by setting their castle surroundings on fire, leaving both sides to die in the flames. With Zhuge Liang the victor of their meeting, the abandoned Wei army is taken in by Shu thanks to Liu Shan's acceptance. Jiang Wei then becomes Zhuge Liang's apprentice. Over the next few years, the armies of Shu find themselves in numerous battles with Wei. Prior to the Battle of Wu Zhang Plains, Zhuge Liang gives command of the forces to Jiang Wei, but the young apprentice is fearful of being unprepared for his new rank. Believing in his master's encouragement and the skills that he has learned, however, he leads the Shu army to victory. Sima Yi manages to escape with help from his sons, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao. When his master dies shortly after, Jiang Wei is determined to make Liu Bei's land of benevolence a reality.
During Jin's storyline, Jiang Wei continues to fight against the Sima family and antagonizes Wei on various occasions. He gains Xiahou Ba as a trustworthy ally for Shu and attacks the western lands of Wei twice. During the second confrontation, he orders three archers to rescue the young defector from Guo Huai, killing the Wei general. While Jiang Wei's plots are enough to belittle Cao Shuang, his plans are foiled by Deng Ai and the Sima family's efforts each time. He swears in aggravation to someday prevail, but his proclamations are ultimately in vain. Like the other defenders for Shu, Jiang Wei dies during their final stand at Cheng Du.
Jiang Wei's first stage of Legendary Mode is a retelling of the Battle of Tian Shui from his point of view as he faces of against Zhuge Liang and the forces of Shu. In his second stage, Jiang Wei leads the Northern Campaigns after Zhuge Liang's death, but finds himself in Guo Huai's trap and must counterattack in order to stay alive and save his allies. In his third stage, after several successful campaigns, Jiang Wei fights Sima Shi to end the conflict once and for all.
Character Information[]
Personality[]
Steadfast and a bit hot-blooded, Jiang Wei is a formal perfectionist who strives to always act his best. Lionizing Zhuge Liang as "Prime Minister", he hopes to someday make his mentor proud. Though competent in war and strategies, he suffers from a slight inferiority complex when he experiences failure and is known for profusely apologizing to Zhuge Liang when this occurs. However, these setbacks do not completely dwarf his spirit and he is always eager to learn from his mistakes. He is depicted as a bud of fresh talent; depending on the scenario, he is either too green to overstep his idol's shadow or is more than capable of leading Shu after Zhuge Liang's death. A faithful student to his mentor, he sometimes forgets his composure and zealously shouts his defense for Zhuge Liang if someone berates him. Zhuge Liang, though appreciating his enthusiasm, may chide him to restrain himself. Aside from the Prime Minister, Jiang Wei is respectful towards his other allies in Shu, addressing them with the terms "master" or "lady". His politeness carries into the Warriors Orochi series, wherein he additionally praises Nagamasa, Ranmaru, and Mitsunari. Since he takes his mentor's place in the later battles of the era, he is often a rival to Sima Yi as they clash wits at Wu Zhang Plains. Dynasty Warriors 5 and its spin-offs imply a minor rivalry between him and Lu Xun, the former mainly denouncing the latter's "mistaken" reputation. Within the Warriors Orochi series, he treats Sakon, Ieyasu, and Taigong Wang as his cross universe rivals. He befriends Nagamasa and Hanbei in the newest installment.
Character Symbolism[]
In the Japanese version of Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires, Jiang Wei is given the nickname of "Gallant Unicorn" while the English version changes it to "The Heir to a New Era". As a dominant ruler in Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires, he along with Cao Cao and Dong Zhuo call their five greatest warriors the "Five Great Generals".
Jiang Wei's weapon of choice for his older appearances is the same weapon for a character who appears within Journey to the West and Fengshen Yanyi, Erlang Shen (known as Yang Jian in the latter source). It is a type of heavy spear also called the Three Point Double Edge Blade or the literal alternative, the Second Son Saber.
The original name for his Level 11 weapon is either a reference to the Four Divine Beast of the Constellations or the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism. In the latter case, the truths is a type of philosophy for meeting, identifying, confronting, and eliminating suffering in life. These four truths are sometimes categorized with aging, life, illness, and death. To live is to suffer; to experience and accept suffering is a part of life. The second part of his weapon's name implies that the victim of his swings will feel the sensations of all four entities/events within an instant.
His third and fourth weapons possibly alludes to one of Zhuge Liang's famous nicknames. Within Chinese legends, a dragon was said to hide a treasured gem within its mouth. If his mentor is the "Sleeping Dragon", then Jiang Wei is its treasure -or in this case, jaw.
As an homage to his time in Wei, Jiang Wei's original Dynasty Warriors 7 outfit includes a blue "Fenghuang University" patch on his arm. The characters in Wei feature the same school name on their uniforms.
eriod. He originally served Shu's rival state, Cao Wei, as a middle-level military officer, but defected to the Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang,[1] leaving his mother in Wei. After that, Jiang Wei took part in military campaigns against his native state. He joined Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition against Wei in 228, and was made an army commander. Zhuge Liang had always considered Jiang Wei a resourceful and capable general, and Jiang received light-speed promotions during the regency of Zhuge Liang and of Zhuge Liang's successors Jiang Wan and Fei Yi to eventually become Fei Yi's chief assistant. He succeeded Fei Yi after the latter's death in 253, but did not wield full power as his predecessor did, as he was only in charge of military affairs — and was therefore arguably a regent.
Jiang Wei revived Zhuge Liang's campaigns against Wei (which Jiang Wan and Fei Yi had largely abandoned) and made a number of incursions against Wei — one in coordination with Eastern Wu's regent Zhuge Ke - but each had to be abandoned due to inadequate food supplies or due to battlefield losses, and these campaigns greatly drained Shu's resources. In 263, a Wei army, led by Deng Ai and Zhong Hui, conquered Shu. Jiang Wei tried to restore Shu by persuading Zhong Hui to rebel against the Wei regent Sima Zhao, and Zhong agreed. However, the revolt failed because Zhong Hui's own soldiers turned against him and both Zhong and Jiang Wei were killed in action.
Contents[] |
Early life in Wei[]
Jiang Wei was born in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and was from Tianshui commandery around present-day Gansu. In his early life, his father Jiang Jiong (姜冏), who was a military officer, was killed in battle during a rebellion by the Qiang people in northwestern China. Because of what happened to his father, Jiang Wei decided to serve in the military as well, and he became a subject of the state of Cao Wei after the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
As a general of Shu[]
When the Shu Han regent Zhuge Liang launched his first Northern Expedition in 228, Jiang Wei's commanding officer suspected him of secretly wishing to join Zhuge Liang, and once, when Jiang Wei was outside the city walls with his troops, they closed the city gates and would not allow Jiang Wei to re-enter. Jiang Wei was forced to defect to Shu, leaving behind his mother in Wei territory. Even though Jiang Wei had not shown his military skills on the battlefield, he had already been praised by Zhuge Liang as a capable person, and was quickly made Zhuge's leading officer at the age of 27, probably out of political consideration. Jiang Wan, who succeeded Zhuge Liang as regent after the latter's death in 234, continued to value Jiang Wei's understanding of, and connections in Liang Province (涼州; covering roughly present-day Gansu), and he commissioned Jiang Wei with the title of the governor of Liang Province, which Shu did not control, but effectively giving Jiang Wei the authority over the northwestern border. When Jiang Wan died in 245, he was succeeded by Fei Yi, who made Jiang Wei his chief assistant. Jiang Wei had constantly desired to revive Zhuge Liang's aggressive foreign policy towards Wei, but Fei Yi disagreed, because the resources put into large-scale wars had already been too much. Instead, Fei Yi kept Jiang Wei on a short leash, and authorised the latter to lead a detachment of 10,000 troops to harass Wei's border. Jiang Wei appeared to be fairly effective under Fei Yi's command, and was successful in persuading a number of non-Han Chinese tribes to resist Wei.
Paramountcy over the Shu military[]
Jiang Wei took over Fei Yi's position in 253 after the latter was assassinated, and became the de facto commander-in-chief of the Shu military — but unlike his deceased supervisor, his influence on civil affairs was limited, as those matters appeared to be dominated by the eunuch Huang Hao and Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan. Jiang Wei, however, was the supreme authority in military affairs. Jiang Wei attempted to weaken Wei, however, there was dissension within the highest-ranked officials, because both Zhuge Zhan and Huang Hao feared Jiang Wei would use the military campaigns as a mean to increase his personal influence. Besides the political hinder, several generals also pointed out the strategic shortcomings of waging wars against a stronger state. Jiang Wei's decision to revive the aggressive foreign policy against Wei faced much opposition in the Shu imperial court.
Campaigns against Wei[]
A statue of Jiang Wei in Zhuge Liang's temple in Chengdu. It was made in 1672.Main article: Jiang Wei's Northern ExpeditionsJiang Wei ignored the dissenting voices and proceeded to restore Shu's aggressive foreign policy against Wei after he gained full control of the military. In 253, he set up a coordinated effort with the Eastern Wu regent Zhuge Ke to attack Wei on two fronts — Shu on the west and Wu on the east. Jiang Wei attacked the border city of Didao (狄道; in present-day Dingxi, Gansu) as Zhuge Ke launched a massive attack on Hefei. Wei's regent Sima Shi correctly judged the Wu force to be the more serious threat and personally led the main Wei force to the eastern front while sending a smaller detachment to relieve Didao. While besieging Didao, Jiang Wei's army ran out of food supplies and was forced to withdraw. On the eastern front, the Wu army suffered a great loss due to an unsuccessful long-term siege and plagues, leading to Zhuge Ke's downfall later that year.
In 254, after Li Jian (李簡), the county magistrate of Didao, secretly declared that he would defect, Jiang Wei again advanced on Didao and took the city, but was hindered from a local resistance force led by Xu Zhi. Jiang Wei kidnapped some local residents and returned to a stronghold in Longxi before the Wei general Guo Huai arrived the battlefield.
In the summer of 255, despite opposition from Zhang Yi (under the rationale that Shu could not sustain continuous campaigns against Wei), Jiang Wei attacked Didao again, and was highly successful in his initial battles against Wang Jing, the Wei governor of Yong Province (雍州; roughly present-day Shaanxi), nearly annihilating Wang's troops. Zhang Yi again tried to persuade Jiang Wei to stop his campaign at this point, but Jiang refused. Instead, he besieged Didao again and eventually was forced to lift the siege when Wei reinforcements commanded by Chen Tai arrived. Jiang Wei and Chen Tai's forces remained in a stalemate throughout the entire winter. In the summer of 256, as Jiang Wei shifted his strategy to advance instead on Shanggui (上邽; in present-day Tianshui, Gansu), his move was anticipated by the Wei general Deng Ai, who intercepted him and dealt him a major loss — a loss that would cause the people of Shu to begin to resent Jiang Wei.
In 257, when Wei was dealing with a rebellion by Zhuge Dan, Jiang Wei launched another attack on Wei, this time advancing all the way to Mangshui (芒水; in present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi), but could not induce Wei's forces, commanded by Deng Ai and Sima Wang, to engage him in battle. Jiang Wei withdrew his forces after Zhuge Dan's revolt was suppressed in 258.
In 262, despite opposition from Liao Hua, Jiang Wei attacked Wei again, targeting Taoyang (洮陽; in present-day Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Hezuo), Gansu), but was defeated by Deng Ai. He withdrew to Tazhong (沓中; also in present-day Gannan) and did not return to the Shu capital Chengdu because he feared that Huang Hao might use his defeat at Taoyang to make a political attack on him in the Shu court. He remained at Tazhong, perhaps to carry out one strategy that Zhuge Liang considered late in his campaigns — have soldiers grow wheat to use as the following year's food supply. Jiang Wei was apprehensive of Huang Hao at that point because he had unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the Shu emperor Liu Shan to execute Huang earlier that year, and Huang was trying to find an opportunity to replace Jiang with his friend Yan Yu (閻宇).
Fall of Shu[]
Main article: Conquest of Shu by WeiIn 258, Jiang Wei suggested the following plan be drawn up in the case of a major Wei attack — that the border cities do not try to resist, but instead have the main forces to withdraw to the mountain passes to wait for Wei forces to be worn out, and then close up their path of withdrawal. Liu Shan approved the strategy and made it the official plan to follow if Wei attacked.
Late in 262, the Wei regent Sima Zhao had grown tired of Jiang Wei's continuous attacks on Wei so he contemplated hiring assassins to kill Jiang. However, on the advice of his strategists, Sima Zhao decided to attempt to eliminate Shu once and for all, so he commissioned the generals Deng Ai and Zhong Hui to lead Wei forces to invade Shu. Jiang Wei quickly realised that Wei was about to attack and he petitioned Liu Shan to send troops to defend the key passes, but Huang Hao disagreed and persuaded Liu Shan to ignore Jiang Wei's petition.
In 263, while Jiang Wei was still at Tazhong, the Wei attack was launched. Liu Shan ordered that Jiang Wei's plan from 258 be carried out — but much to Liu Shan's surprise, the Wei forces took no heed of Shu border cities at all and headed directly for the key passes. Jiang Wei quickly withdrew his forces to try to defend against the attack, and after some initial failures, was finally able to block off Zhong Hui's forces at Jiange (劍閣; in present-day Guangyuan, Sichuan). Zhong Hui considered retreating, but Deng Ai led a smaller detachment through a treacherous mountain pass descending on Jiangyou (江油; in present-day Mianyang, Sichuan), defeating Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan and heading directly for the Shu capital Chengdu. Surprised and believing that Chengdu was defenceless, Liu Shan surrendered and ordered Jiang Wei to surrender to Zhong Hui, even though Chengdu was still manned by hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Zhong Hui treated Jiang Wei with respect and quickly made him a key advisor.
Efforts to reestablish Shu and death[]
Further information: Zhong Hui's Rebellion Jiang Wei quickly saw that Zhong Hui had other ideas — Zhong considered his abilities superior to all Wei generals, even Sima Zhao, and wanted to overthrow Sima. Jiang Wei encouraged Zhong Hui to rebel against Sima Zhao, and Zhong agreed. Zhong Hui first falsely reported to Sima Zhao that Deng Ai was plotting a rebellion, and forged letters to and from Deng to increase the tension between Sima Zhao and Deng Ai. In early 264, Sima Zhao ordered Zhong Hui to arrest Deng Ai and take over command of Deng's troops — but at the same time led a force personally, heading toward Chengdu from the Wei capital Luoyang. Zhong Hui later realised that Sima Zhao had seen through his intentions so he staged a rebellion.
Jiang Wei had other plans, however. He tried to persuade Zhong Hui to kill all the high level Wei officers, with his own plan that after Zhong did so, he would kill Zhong and then restore Shu. He wrote letters to Liu Shan explaining his actions. Zhong Hui tentatively agreed with Jiang Wei's suggestion to kill all the key officers, but hesitated in executing the plan. The plot was leaked out and Zhong Hui's soldiers turned against him. Jiang Wei led Zhong Hui's personal guards to fight the mutinying soldiers, but he and Zhong were eventually killed in action.
Appraisal[]
Jiang Wei is one of the most controversial figures in Chinese history. In Bo Yang's Modern Chinese Edition of Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian, for example, Bo cited seven different and discordant views of Jiang's career — ranging from ringing endorsements of his recklessness and loyalty for the sake of Shu (Pei Songzhi, who annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms) to criticism of his constant draining campaigns (Chen Shou, the author of Records of the Three Kingdoms) to outright condemnation (Sun Sheng, author of the Spring and Autumn Annals of Jin), each of which could be considered a potentially valid view of his complicated character. (Bo himself declined comment, but later in an open letter to a reader suggested that all of the views were, indeed, correct — that Jiang Wei's fatal errors were to drain the energy of his people, but that he was indeed a loyal man, willing to lay down his life in a futile attempt to reestablish Shu.) Xi Zheng, who served Shu along with Jiang Wei, confirms that Jiang Wei was a humble, and a capable man, who is not seeking his personal glory.
Appointments and titles held[]
- The following appointments were held by Jiang Wei when he served the state of Wei in Tianshui Commandery:
- Household Officer (中郎)
- Army Adviser (參軍事)
- The following appointments and titles were held by Jiang Wei when he served the state of Shu:
- Assistant Logistics Officer (倉曹掾)
- Central Army Inspector (中監軍)
- General Who Attacks the West (征西將軍)
- Right Inspector of the Army (右監軍)
- General Who Assists Han (輔漢將軍)
- Marquis of Pingxiang (平襄侯)
- Senior General Who Guards the West (鎮西大將軍)
- General of the Guards (衛將軍)
- Imperial Secretary (錄尚書事)
- General-in-Chief (大將軍)