Why did Emperor Xian's flight from Chang'an take one year?
score:3
Their itinary as per the Zizhi Tongjian 61 and 62:
July 195: The emperor departed Chang'an via the Xuanping Gate. After being briefly stopped by Guo Si's men (who retired when the emperor told them off), they arrived at Baling that night. Later, Guo Si wanted everyone to go to Gaoling, but the ministers and Zhang Ji thought Hongnong was more appropriate.
August 195: Travelled to Xinfeng. Guo Si repeatedly told the emperor he wanted him to return to Chang'an, but failing, he went with his troops to the southern mountains.
October 195: Guo Si's adherents Xia Yu and Gao Shuo tried to force the Emperor west. Yang Ding and Dong Cheng escorted the Emperor to Yang Feng's camp. Yang Ding and Yang Feng defeated Xia Yu and friends, and the emperor was able to move to Huayin.
November–December 195: The emperor reached Hongnong. Li Jue, Guo Si and Zhang Ji went in pursuit. There was a battle at Dongjian where the emperor's generals Dong Cheng and Yang Feng suffered a defeat, with many officials and soldiers killed. Dong Cheng and Yang Feng sent for assistance from the White Wave leaders Li Le, Han Xian and Hu Cai, as well as the Xiongnu "prince of the right" Qubei. Together, they defeated Li Jue and the others, killing thousands.
They resumed the journey east, with Dong Cheng and Li Yue accompanying the emperor while the rest served as a rearguard. Li Jue pursued and inflicted a defeat similar in scale to that at Dongjian. Amongst those killed or captured and executed were Minister of the Masses Zhao Wen and six of the Nine Ministers. The Huben ("Energetic Tiger") and Yulin ("Feathered Forest") imperial guards numbered fewer than 100 men after the defeat. The emperor crossed the Yellow River, losing more followers along the way.
The emperor reached Dayang, where Li Le had his camp. He then proceeded to Anyi in an oxcart. The prefect of Henei Zhang Yang was one of those who provided assistance. Later, he came from Yewang and suggested that the Emperor go to Luoyang, but as the Emperor's generals would not agree, Zhang Yang returned to Yewang.
January 196: Dong Cheng and Zhang Yang wanted the emperor to return to Luoyang, while Yang Feng and Li Le opposed.
February 196: Han Xian attacked Dong Cheng, who went to Yewang. Han Xian was stationed at Wenxi, while Hu Cai and Yang Feng were at Wuxiang. Hu Cai wanted to attack Han Xian but the emperor ordered him not to.
February-April 196: Zhang Yang sent Dong Cheng ahead to rebuild the palace in Luoyang (Dong Zhuo had sacked it in 189).
May 196: The emperor went to the camp of Yang Feng, Li Le and Han Xian, asking them to take him to Luoyang.
June 196: The emperor reached Wenxi. Later, Yang Feng and Han Xian sent the emperor east, with Zhang Yang providing provisions.
July 196: The Emperor reached Luoyang.
Upvote:1
It is entirely possible.
- The emperor did not travel alone: he had to travel with his eunuchs, empress, concubines, etc. Lots of women made their trip extremely slow.
- All of China was infested by bandits, warlords, deserters and angry farmers. The emperor might need to hide for a while or even go back and forth in order to hide from danger. As you can read from your English translation above, the emperor was a target for a number of warlords. Warlords might have blocked the road or been fighting each other.
- Their food supply was cut. No one was offering them any food or water, and this would make their trip very difficult as they might need to buy (if they had any money), exchange, or even beg for supplies.
- They might have traveled to a totally different destination first, but changed their mind later.
- This story was recorded long time after it had happened, so time-wise, it might have been a bit inaccurate. The historian might want to highlight how much hardship the emperor had to go through so he decided this trip took one year. Chinese history has been recorded not only based on facts but very often on the historian's personal political standing and view.
More post
- 📝 How did the "Standard Model" physics theory get that name?
- 📝 How much more productive was Aegyptus in comparison to Africa Proconsularis in classical antiquity?
- 📝 What happened to the burial sites of Edward I's children?
- 📝 What prevented the USS Franklin (CV-13) from sinking in March 1945?
- 📝 Who governed while Alexander the Great was away conquering Asia?
- 📝 Is this a US Civil War uniform?
- 📝 What is the first horse name recorded in history?
- 📝 Did Soviet people know Stalin's birth name?
- 📝 Is there any estimate for expected life of 'ordinary' or 'poor' people in middle ages after surviving infancy?
- 📝 What turns a man into a tyrant?
- 📝 Does any of John Sutter's tin money survive?
- 📝 Did Greeks and Romans tolerate those who only worshipped some of their gods?
- 📝 What social problem would be solved by a GuoMinDang attack on Shanghai in 1927?
- 📝 What is the approximate date of this photo?
- 📝 Did the council of Tours abolish January 1st as the beginning of the year?
- 📝 Why did some people not get a UK Birth Certificate before 1982?
- 📝 Why did the Germans fall behind the Americans in the development of the atomic bomb after an initial lead?
- 📝 How did 15th century royals identify themselves in England/Spain?
- 📝 How did production of grain change with Hellenistic Egypt coming under Roman rule?
- 📝 Religious sectarianism as the primary cause of the Bosnian War
- 📝 Crown Matrimonial
- 📝 Did the date of 9/11 have significance, or was it chosen randomly?
- 📝 Did the USA win the counter insurgency war in the Vietnam war?
- 📝 Did Heisenberg undermine the German atomic bomb by deliberately hiding his expertise from the Nazis?
- 📝 When and where did just war theory originate?
- 📝 Is there any corroborating evidence for the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
- 📝 When did Walter Benjamin say "We collect books in the belief that we are preserving them when in fact it is the books that preserve their collector"?
- 📝 Has anyone (other than Churchill) indicated that the Germans might have won a negotiated peace in World War II?
- 📝 Why does US currency have a 25 cent piece and a 20 dollar bill instead of a 20 cent piece or 25 dollar bill?
- 📝 Why didn't the Moroccans try to explore and conquer the New World?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why did Emperor Xian's flight from Chang'an take one year?
- 📝 Why did the death rate increase in US cities in 1934, when it decreased in each year from 1929 to 1933
- 📝 Why did no one take Siberia over before the Russians, and how did they do it?
- 📝 Why did the US fleet not take defensive action against the U-Boats in 1941 despite intelligence from Britain's Enigma deciphering
- 📝 Why did Native Americans die from European diseases while Europeans didn't catch serious diseases from the New World?
- 📝 Why did Columbus cross the mid-Atlantic instead of exploring from Greenland?
- 📝 Why did it take so long to abandon sail after steamships were demonstrated?
- 📝 Why did Meiji government consider switching from Japanese to English?
- 📝 Why did the USA invade Okinawa instead of one of the many other islands in southern Japan
- 📝 Why did it take so long for Europeans to adopt the moldboard plow?
- 📝 Why did Jodrell Bank assist the Soviet Union to collect data from their spacecraft in the mid 1960's?
- 📝 Why did it take over 100 years for Britain to begin seriously colonising America?
- 📝 Why did the southern states secede from the U.S.?
- 📝 Why did the Japanese withdraw from Siberia in 1922?
- 📝 Why did Canada, Australia and New Zealand separate from the UK?
- 📝 How long did it take to get news of the sighting of the Spanish Armada from Land’s End to London?
- 📝 How and why did e.g. Chechnya differ in status from entities like Armenia?
- 📝 Why did it take so long for the Germans to develop the first tank model in World War I?
- 📝 Why did civilisation/city states never take root in Australia and North America?
- 📝 Did the Germans have a team equivalent to the one from Bletchey Park in the UK during WWII?
- 📝 Why did few French and no Dutch pilots (but many Poles and Czechs) take part in the Battle of Britain?
- 📝 Italian History from 1870-1913: Why did Italy have such a hard time becoming a "Great Power" like Germany?
- 📝 Why did the Spanish take the island of Annobon in the Treaty of El Pardo in 1778?
- 📝 In WWII, why did people not run away from executions?
- 📝 Why did Taft write a one cent check on his first day as Chief Justice?
- 📝 Why did this anti-communist pamphlet, from the USA in the 1950s, include UNESCO among its targets?
- 📝 How and why did Polish rule over the Ukraine "downwardly deviate" from Lithuanian rule?
- 📝 When did people stop translating their names when moving from one country to another?
- 📝 Why did Japan not withdraw from China as its pacific front was crumbling and the threat of US invasion imminent?
- 📝 Why did Germany take so long to consolidate into a single nation?
