Battle of Changban
The
Battle of Changban () took place at Changban (near the modern-day city of
Yichang in
Hubei Province),
China during the
Three Kingdoms period in the year
208. It was fought between
Liu Bei, who later founded the
Kingdom of Shu and
Cao Cao, the
de facto ruler of northern China.
In the novel
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the battle was romanticized into a showcase for the power and bravery of
Zhang Fei and
Zhao Yun.
Liu Bei lost the battle and was pursued by Cao Cao. Liu Bei had been leading around the civilians who journeyed with him, and many of them were lost in this battle. Also, Liu Bei's wife was caught up in enemy lines, with his infant son
Liu Shan. Being recognized only by Liu Bei and his brothers,
Zhao Yun greatly frightened the whole army of Cao Cao by attempting to retrieve Liu Bei's wife and son. He managed to get to Liu's wife, who placed the young Liu into his breast armor so as to keep the baby from harm, then killed herself. Zhao Yun then raced back to Liu Bei's side, still fighting, with a child in his bosom. Cao Cao, seeing Zhao's bravery, wanted him captured with the hopes of turning him to his side, and so ordered pursuit. They followed him all the way to Changban Bridge, where Cao Cao's troops were halted when
Zhang Fei stood alone at the bridge of Chang Ban and made his famous yell "I am Zhang Fei. Who wants to fight me to death?!" Supposedly, Cao Cao ordered his troops to take a detour, remembering
Guan Yu's comments on the fearsome Zhang. Zhang later destroyed the bridge to regroup with Liu Bei. It is rumored that at the sight of Zhao Yun and his son, Liu Bei took his son and threw him to the ground because he had endangered Zhao Yun. This lead to speculation that because Liu Shan hit his head on the ground, he grew up to be an incompetent leader. Liu Bei was able to escape to
Xiakou (夏口).
Many legends have been added to the story of the battle. According to some, Zhang's yell broke the bridge, according to others, his yell frightened Cao Cao's general to death.
After the battle, Liu Bei formed an alliance with
Sun Quan, ruler of Wu. This led to the
Battle of Red Cliffs shortly after in the same year.
