Volta
ConflictSpring 228

Battle of Jieting

Also called: Jieting

On Zhuge Liang’s first northern expedition his vanguard commander Ma Su disobeyed orders and camped on a hilltop; Wei’s Zhang He cut off his water and routed him. Zhuge Liang withdrew and had Ma Su executed.

In the spring of 228 Zhuge Liang advanced to Mount Qi, and Wei’s commanderies of Nan’an, Tianshui and Anding went over to Shu. He sent Ma Su ahead to hold the key pass of Jieting, but Ma Su disobeyed his instructions, left the water and camped on the hill. Wei’s Zhang He cut the path to the water and attacked; Ma Su’s army collapsed, and Zhuge Liang, his position lost, fell back to Hanzhong. He executed Ma Su to atone to the army and asked to be demoted three grades. The idiom "weeping, he beheaded Ma Su" comes from this episode.

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The map in AD 228

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States and rulers at the time
Shu Han · invader
Cao Wei · invaded — Emperor Ming (Cao Rui)
Places
Jieting

People

  • Zhuge LiangAD 181 – AD 234

    commander · Chancellor of Shu Han, who proposed the plan to divide the realm in three to Liu Bei in 207 and died of illness on the Wuzhang Plains in 234 during his northern campaigns

  • Ma SuAD 190 – AD 228

    commander · Shu Han officer who lost Jieting to Zhang He on Zhuge Liang’s first northern expedition in 228 and was executed for it

Before and after

Later
AD 234 Battle of Wuzhang Plains

Themes that include this event

  • The Three KingdomsAD 184 – AD 280

    From the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the Jin reunification — a century of Wei, Shu and Wu, the age of Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan