Archive

AD 181	Birth of a great military genius in Yang Du. As the sky was extremely clear and bright with sunlight at the time of birth, Zhuge Liang's father, Zhuge Gui, decided to name the new-born baby 'Liang'
AD 190	Death of Zhuge Liang's mother Zhang Shi. Zhuge Liang was only nine years old.
AD 192	Death of Zhuge Gui. Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin(elder brother) and Zhuge Jun(younger brother) went to follow their uncle Zhuge Xuan.
AD 194	Zhuge Liang followed Zhuge Xuan to Jing Zhou and joined the Governor, Liu Biao.
AD 197	Death of Zhuge Xuan. Zhuge Liang decided to move to Long Zhong(Wo Long Gang) to become a farmer. He befriended Xu Shu and Pang Tong. Zhuge Liang also married the daughter of Huang Cheng Yan.
AD 207	Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang three times (San Gu Mao Lu). Zhuge Liang was deeply touched by Liu Bei's sincerity and joined Liu Bei at Xin Ye City. Zhuge Liang's first battle at Fu Wang Po was a major victory, with just 5000 troops to defeat Xiahou Dun's 10,000s using fire tactics. Zhuge Liang won the respects of Liu Bei's brothers and generals.
AD 208	Battle of Chang Ban Po ended with Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang retreating to Xia Kou. Zhuge Liang went with Lu Su of Wu as an emissary. Zhuge Liang engaged and won a major debate with Sun Quan's advisers. Zhuge Liang engaged in several intellectual battles with Sun Quan's chief adviser, Zhou Yu, which included the famous "cao chuan jie jian" and "jie dong feng", to which Zhuge Liang finally persuaded Sun Quan to engage Cao Cao in the famous sea battle known as 'Chi Bi'.
AD 210	Zhou Yu suffered an arrow wound but continued to try to win Zhuge Liang in strategies. Zhuge Liang humiliated Zhou Yu with the marriage of Sun Quan's sister to Liu Bei - the famous quote "pei le fu ren you zhe bing" came from here. Zhuge Liang also captured southern Jing Zhou before Zhou Yu did. Zhou Yu finally vomited blood and died. Zhuge Liang went to Wu alone to attend Zhou Yu's funeral. Wu's generals all wanted to kill Zhuge Liang to revenge Zhou Yu but Zhuge Liang's tears and words managed to convince them that Zhou Yu's death was not his fault.
AD 214	Death of Pang Tong in the battle against Ba Shu. Zhuge Liang returned from Jing Zhou and assisted Liu Bei to gain control of the whole of Yi Zhou.
AD 221	Zhuge Liang was appointed by the new emperor of Shu, Liu Bei, as the prime minister
AD 223	*Death of Liu Bei. The new emperor Liu Shan appointed Zhuge Liang as prime minister and Wu Xiang Hou.*
AD 225	*Zhuge Liang led a southern expedition against Meng Huo of Nanman. Zhuge Liang quelled the rebellion in the famous 'qi qin meng huo'.*
AD 227	*Zhuge Liang submitted "Chu Shi Biao" to prepare for the northern expeditions against Wei. Birth of Zhuge Liang's son, Zhuge Zhan.*
AD 228	Zhuge Liang lauched the first northern expedition against Wei and recruited his future successor Jiang Wei. But the expedition was lost after Ma Shu lost to Sima Yi at Jie Ting. Zhuge Liang employed the famous "kong cheng ji" (empty city tactic) and scared off the pursuing Sima Yi. Zhuge Liang executed Ma Shu and demoted himself by three grades. Zhuge Liang launched the second expedition in winter that year but was forced to retreat due to lack of food supplies.
AD 229	Zhuge Liang launched the third northern expedition. However, with the death of the great general Zhao Yun and strong defences by Sima Yi, the battles came to a stalemate.
AD 231	Zhuge Liang launched the fourth expedition. Zhuge Liang invented the "mu niu liu ma" and won a major victory against Wei. However, Sima Yi adopted a full defence strategy and Zhuge Liang was again forced to retreat due to lack of food supplies.
AD 234	Zhuge Liang launched another northern expedition against Wei and stationed his army at Wu Zhang Yuan. Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi engaged in many strategic battles but neither side won any major victories.
AD 234	Zhuge Liang died of fatigue at Wu Zhang Yuan in late 234. The Shu army used a wooden model of Zhuge Liang to scare off the Wei army after they tried to pursue the Shu soldiers upon knowing Zhuge Liang's death.