Wang Ping (Three Kingdoms)

Wang Ping was from Dangqu County, Baxi Commandery, which is around present-day Qu County, Sichuan. Both him and another Shu Han general, Ju Fu were natives from the same prefecture of Hanchang. He was raised by his maternal family, whose family name was He (何), so he was also known as He Ping. He presumably changed his family name back to Wang in his later years because historical records show no consistency in recording his name. It could also be possible that his name was changed to Wang Ping posthumously.[1]

Wang Ping had good relations with the local tribes of Baxi and started his career under their leaders Du Huo (杜濩) and Pu Hu (朴胡). In 215, after his defeat against Cao Cao. Zhang Lu fled to them for help and better surrending terms with Cao Cao. After Zhang Lu's surrender, Cao Cao had Du Huo and Pu Hu promoted to marquise with the mission of defending Badong (巴東) and Baxi (巴西) commanderies. However Du Huo and Pu Hu failed their mission and were defeated by Huang Quan and had to abandon Ba. After this, Wang Ping accompanied them to visit the Han imperial court, Luoyang where he was appointed as an acting colonel under Xiahou Yuan.[2]

In 217, when Cao Cao's rival Liu Bei launched a campaign to seize control of the strategic Hanzhong Commandery, Wang Ping fought with Cao Cao's forces as a subordinate of Du Huo to counter Liu Bei's invasion. Around 218, when the situation became highly unfavourable for Cao Cao's side because they were running short of supplies, many of Cao Cao's soldiers started defecting to Liu Bei's side, which could provide food and shelter to them. Wang Ping was one of them.

Liu Bei welcomed Wang Ping and appointed him as a Major-General. During his 10 years of service under Liu Bei and later under Liu Bei's son and successor Liu Shan, Wang Ping did not make any significant achievements.

In 228, when Zhuge Liang, the Imperial Chancellor of Shu, launched the first of a series of military campaigns against Shu's rival state Cao Wei (founded by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi), Wang Ping served as a subordinate of the Shu general Ma Su, who led the vanguard force to attack the enemy at the Battle of Jieting. As Ma Su's subordinate, Wang Ping advised his superior against camping on top of a hill away from water sources. Although Ma Su rejected Wang Ping's idea, he still put Wang Ping in command of a detachment of troops and let him set up a camp below the hill. As Wang Ping foresaw, the Wei general Zhang He led his troops to cut off the Shu army's access to water sources and surround them on the hill. Upon receiving news of Ma Su's dire situation, Wang Ping led his 1,000 troops to the hill and ordered them to beat their drums loudly to create the impression that reinforcements had arrived. Zhang He probably mistook the drum sounds as a signal for ambush units, so he did not attack in Wang Ping's direction and pulled back. Wang Ping was thus able to regroup Ma Su's remaining troops and gather the Shu army's scattered supplies. In the aftermath of the loss of Jieting, Zhuge Liang had Ma Su executed for his blunder but Wang Ping actions were met with honor and praise. Zhuge Liang appointed Wang Ping to Army Advisor with the mission to manage the five divisions and also the camp affairs. Hence, Wang Ping for his courage was promoted to the rank of Suppressing Bandits General with fief as a Village Marquis.[3]

In 231, when Zhuge Liang launched the fourth campaign against Wei, he tasked Wang Ping with greater responsibilities by ordering him to guard a hill located south of a Shu fortress at Lucheng (鹵城). When the fortress came under attack, the Wei general Zhang He led his men to attack Wang Ping, but Wang Ping firmly defended his position and managed to hold off the attack then drive back Zhang He.[4]

After Zhuge Liang's death in 234, Wang Ping received credit for his effort in quelling Wei Yan's alleged mutiny and was appointed as the Administrator of Hanzhong Commandery under the supervision of a senior Shu general, Wu Yi.[5]

Following Wu Yi's death in 237, Wang Ping replaced him as the overall-in-charge of military affairs in Hanzhong Commandery and put him in charge of the most important defensive location of Shu against the rival state of Wei. The Shu emperor Liu Shan also enfeoffed Wang Ping as the Marquis of Anhan.[6]

The next year, the General in Chief Jiang Wan wanted to start an invasion of Wei via an alternative route and he named Wang Ping as the Vanguard Protector of the Army (前護軍). Wang Ping was also given Wang Ping responsibility to manage his office affairs and staff.[7]

In 243, however due to his poor health, Jiang Wan had to abandon his plan for a large campaign against Wei and recolate his base to Fu County (涪縣; present-day Mianyang, Sichuan) yet he did promote Wang Ping to Vanguard Supervisor of the Army (前監軍) and Senior General Who Guards the North (鎮北大將軍).[8]

The next year, 244 saw Wang Ping's greatest victory. the Wei regent Cao Shuang led some 60,000–70,000 troops to attack Hanzhong Commandery. Hanzhong were no more than 30 000 and Wang Ping's subordinates, feeling intimidated by the sheer size of the enemy force in comparaison to them, urged their general to vacate the area for a more concentrated defence in the rear.[9]

An officer in Wang Ping's staff said:

"For the moment, our strength is not sufficient to face such a strong enemy hence we should firmly retreat and defend the two cities of Han and Yue with the help of the reinforcement of Chengdu. When the enemy come let them go through the passes and then when we are strong enough, the Fú army will be enough to defeat them and rescue the passe.”[10]

Howerver Wang Ping answered:

"I don't think so. From Hanzhong to Fu, there is a thousand lǐ. It would permit the enemy to take the pass and could easily defend it. Then, they could use it as a base for their next invasions and here it will be a disaster. But now it is proper to first send the Army Protector Liu Min and the Army Advisor Du to occupy Xingshì, while I will serve as the rear guard. If the enemy sends a division toward Huangjīn then I will lead a thousand men down there to defeat them and will defend this position untill the Fu army arrive. This is the best plan against the ennemy.”[11]

Among Wang Ping's officers, Liu Min the Army Protector insisted on following the defence arrangements previously set up by Wei Yan (when he was in charge of Hanzhong Commandery) to resist Wei invasions. Wang Ping agreed with Liu Min and ordered the troops to advance to Xingshi and occupy a mountain. Although he had only 30,000 troops at the time, the enemy did not know the strength of his army. Liu Min also ordered the Shu troops to erect a flow of flags and streamers across the mountain to create the impression of a large army. As both sides were unsure of the real strength of each other's army, they hesitated to engage in battle. While Cao Shuang was stuck in a dilemma between retreating and attacking, Shu reinforcements led by Fei Yi showed up at Xingshi. Cao Shuang had no choice but to order a retreat.[12]

As Wang Ping came from a humble background and had spent most of his life in the military, he received very little education. He could not write a single word and could read only a mere 10 words or so. Whenever he needed to write reports, he would let his clerk do so for him. As he feared that others would ridicule him for his poor language skills, he often gave the excuse that he was there to fight and not write. However, he enjoyed listening to stories and was an excellent oral narrator.[13]

Wang Ping was known for his self-discipline and strictness; he never cracked jokes. Apart from narrating stories, he hardly spoke and might simply sit in his command tent from morning until dusk and then fall asleep.[14] Trifles of Wang Ping (the northern commander) was comparable to that of Deng Zhi of the east and Ma Zhong of the south.[15]

Wang Ping died in 248. His son, Wang Xun (王訓), inherited his marquis title and marquisate.[16]

Statue of Wang Ping in the Zhuge Liang Memorial Temple in the Wuzhang Plains, Shaanxi

In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wang Ping was given a fictionalised and more prominent role in the Hanzhong Campaign, opposing Xu Huang's tactics and defecting. Xu Huang wanted his army to cross the Han River and battle Liu Bei's forces on the other side. Wang Ping warned that it would be impossible to retreat once they crossed the river, as the river would significantly slow down the retreat and they would be vulnerable to enemy fire. Xu Huang claimed that the soldiers would fight to the death and have no need to retreat if they were in a dire situation (in conjunction with the tactic by legendary Western Han dynasty general Han Xin, where he purposely placed his army near a river in order to unleash their full potential). Wang Ping then claimed that Han Xin only used that tactic because the opposition had no strategist to see through it, but Liu Bei's army had the support of Zhuge Liang, who would be able to easily see through this tactic. Xu Huang refused to listen and, as expected, suffered great defeat. He asked why Wang Ping did not come to his rescue, and Wang Ping replied, "If I came to rescue you with my portion of the army, then our main camp would have had no protection; I warned you multiple times against crossing the river, but you did not listen, which resulted in this defeat." Xu Huang was greatly angered by this and planned to kill Wang Ping that night, however the plan was leaked out and Wang Ping set the camp on fire and defected to Liu Bei's side.

Right before Zhuge Liang died, he named Wang Ping, along with Liao Hua, Ma Dai, Zhang Ni and Zhang Yi, as the loyal generals of Shu who should be given greater responsibilities.

• Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms

• Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
• Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi).
• Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).