Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties · General

Wei Yan 魏延

Attested AD 227 - AD 234

Passages: 3
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Wei Yan was a general.

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 228 建興六年
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Three Kingdoms 39, passage 129
AD 227 to AD 234 若一朝無諸葛亮
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Three Kingdoms 39, passages 199-200, 203

Career and standing

veteran general 宿將
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 39, passage 129

Places and affiliations

Polity Shu Han 蜀漢 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 39, passages 129, 199

Events and relationships

Passed over
AD 228 建興六年 · Military · Proposed vanguard
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 39, passage 129
Relation Rival of · Person Yang Yi (楊儀)
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 39, passage 203

Assessments and attributes

Assessment herdboy petty man; useful like a watchdog but dangerous without Zhuge Liang · Mode quotation Speaker Sun Quan (孫權)
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 39, passages 199-200

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 39, passage 199

References in the histories

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 39Volume 39: Book of Shu 9: Biographies of Dong, Liu, Ma, Chen, Dong, and Lü · 3 passages

建興六年，亮出軍向祁山，時有宿將魏延、吳壹等，論者皆言以為宜令為先鋒，而亮違眾拔謖，統大眾在前，與魏將張郃戰於街亭，為郃所破，士卒離散。 In 228 Zhuge Liang struck toward Qishan. Everyone expected veterans such as Wei Yan or Wu Yi to lead the van, but he chose Ma Su instead. Ma Su took the main force forward, met Zhang He at Jieting, was shattered, and his men fled in disorder.

孫權嘗大醉問禕曰：「楊儀、魏延，牧豎小人也。 Sun Quan once asked Fei Yi while drunk: “Yang Yi and Wei Yan are barely better than herd boys.

恢目禕曰：「可速言儀、延之不協起於私忿耳，而無黥、韓難御之心也。 Dong Hui caught Fei Yi’s eye and whispered: "Say plainly that Yang Yi and Wei Yan feud out of private spite—not out of some Ying Bu or Han Xin treachery.