Speaking of Three Kingdoms , we have to mention Jingzhou .
Cao Cao went south to Chibi in the battle to completely occupy Jingzhou; Sun Quan married his younger sister to Liu Bei, in order to get back to Jingzhou from Liu Bei; Lu Meng crossed the river in white clothes, and Guan Yu lost Maicheng because both sides wanted to grab Jingzhou; and in the end Liu Bei aggressively attacked Soochow and defeated Yiling in order to avenge the loss of Jingzhou...
It can be said that the entire latter half of the Three Kingdoms basically surrounds Jingzhou The competition unfolded. Jingzhou has become the most important main line of the Three Kingdoms.
In the Three Kingdoms, why is Jingzhou so important? Where does Jingzhou mean today?
1. The geographical location of Jingzhou
Speaking of Jingzhou, in fact, it still has this place name today, which is in Hubei Province and Jingzhou . Therefore, many people think that Jingzhou in the Three Kingdoms period is the place now Jingzhou.
This is actually wrong.
In fact, Jingzhou in the Three Kingdoms is a large geographic area, not just a city.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was divided into 13 states (similar to 13 provinces), and Jingzhou was one of them. It can be seen from the map that its scope basically covers the entire territory of Hubei and Hunan Provinces today, as well as a large area in southern Henan Province.
The geographical location of the 13 prefectures of Eastern Han Dynasty—Jingzhou
At that time, Jingzhou had a total of 7 counties (similar to today’s prefecture-level cities), namely 1span Nanyang _span , South County, Jiangxia County, Wuling County, Changsha County, Lingling County and Guiyang County.
Among them, during the period of Liu Biao's administration, Jingzhou's office (similar to the provincial capital) was located in today's Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, not in today's Jingzhou City. The current Jingzhou city was named Jiangling at that time. Therefore, due to the evolution of ancient and modern place names, the Jingzhou we understand today is very different from the Jingzhou in the Three Kingdoms.
Jingzhou seven counties and their main cities
2. Jingzhou's regime change
Jingzhou was not fixed as a family during the Three Kingdoms period. It was like a hot cake that was kept by the heroes. Division and contention can be regarded as the territory that has changed hands the most among the three countries.
Next, let’s talk about Jingzhou’s complex and changeable regime change process based on the map:
1. Liu Biao's reign (190-199):
In 190 AD, Liu Biao served as Jingzhou Shepherd, and put down the rebellion in various places, and then occupied the six counties of Jingzhou. The northernmost Nanyang County was initially occupied by Yuan Shu . Later, Yuan Shu was defeated and died. Liu Biao also took advantage of the trend to take Nanyang County into his pocket. So far, the seven counties of Jingzhou are basically in the hands of Liu Biao.
2. Sun Quan attacked Jiangxia , Cao Cao occupied Nanyang (199-208):
surrendered to Cao Zhang from Wancheng in 199, and he surrendered to the village in 199 AD Nanyang County gradually fell into the control of Cao Cao. Nanyang County changed hands several times between Cao Cao and Liu Biao, starting a see-saw.
In 208, in order to avenge the murder of his father, Sun Quan aggressively attacked Zhang Zu in Jiangxia and seized the area south of the Yangtze River in Jiangxia County. At this stage, among the seven counties of Jingzhou, Nanyang County was occupied by Cao Cao, and the southern part of Jiangxia County was controlled by Sun Quan.Liu Biao owns the remaining five counties.
3. Cao Cao sent his army south, Liu Cong surrendered (208 years):
In July 208, Cao Cao led his army south to attack Jingzhou. Liu Biao died of illness, his second son Liu Cong led the five counties of Jingzhou to surrender Cao Cao. Liu Bei defeated Xinye and had to retreat to Xiakou (now Wuhan City). At this time, all the seven counties of Jingzhou except Jiangxia County were under the control of Cao Cao.
4. The Battle of Chibi (208-209):
In December 208, Cao Cao The Battle of Chibi was defeated and retreated to Nanyang County. Zhou Yu led his army to capture the southern county, while Liu Bei seized the four southern counties of Jingzhou.
5. Liu Bei borrowed from Jingzhou:
At this time, Liu Bei's police stationed in the army was not conducive to development, so he asked Sun Quan for the southern county of Jingzhou. Lu Su persuaded Sun Quan to “lend” south county to Liu Bei in order to protect the entire Sun Liu alliance, so Liu Bei owned the five counties of Jingzhou.
6. Liu Bei entered Sichuan, and Sun Liu set up Xiangshui as the boundary (215 years):
In 215, after Liu Bei captured Yizhou, Sun Quan asked Liu Bei for Jingzhou. In order to take care of the overall situation, Liu Bei returned Changsha County and Guiyang County to Sun Quan, and the two sides divided Jingzhou equally by dividing the Xiangshui River. At this time, Liu Bei and Sun Quan each occupied 3 counties, and Nanyang County still belonged to Cao Cao.
7. Guan Yu lost his mind to Jingzhou (219 years):
219 years, Lv Meng attacked Gangneung and captured Nanjun. Jingzhou Wuling County and Lingling County also surrendered Soochow . As a result, Guan Gong lost his way to Maicheng and was captured and died. At this time, the seven counties of Jingzhou, except for Nanyang, were still occupied by Cao Cao, and the remaining six counties were all occupied by Sun Quan, and Liu Bei completely lost Jingzhou.
By this time, the three-part world has been fully formed.
It can be seen that Jingzhou is indeed the most sought-after land in the Three Kingdoms period. After you sing, I will appear on the stage and become the focus of the competition. So, why is Jingzhou so important?
Third, the importance of Jingzhou
editor believes that the importance of Jingzhou is mainly reflected in the following three aspects:
First, the area and population.
It is not difficult to find from the map that among the 13 states in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Jingzhou has a relatively large area. Compared with Yanzhou and Xuzhou in the north, Jingzhou has a vast land and a splendid Jianghan Plain , Is an excellent foundation for the warlords to segregate one side.
At the same time, Jingzhou's population is also among the best in all states. According to historical records, Jingzhou had a population of approximately 6.2 million at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, while Jizhou once ruled by Yuan Shao had a population of only 5.9 million, and Xuzhou where Taoqian had a population of 2.8 million.
The population of each state in the Eastern Han Dynasty
Therefore, Jingzhou occupies the double advantage of land area and population. In the troubled times of the Three Kingdoms, it can provide the princes with stable food and military resources. At the same time, there have been many celebrities in the land of Jingxiang since ancient times, and it has also provided talent guarantee for the lord of the separatist side. It's no wonder that Liu Biao would sit on Jingzhou, instead of making progress in order to map the world.
Second,Jingzhou occupies the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
We know that there have been many southern separatist regimes in Chinese history, such as Sun Wu , Eastern Jin Dynasty, Southern Dynasty Song Qiliang Chen, etc., all relying on the Yangtze River for defense. Rolling across the Yangtze River and stalking tigers and dragons, it was indeed an excellent natural barrier in the era of cold weapons.
However, this barrier is not without weaknesses. If someone can occupy Jingzhou on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, they can easily invade the hinterland of the Jiangnan regime by riding down the river.
Jingzhou occupies the upper reaches of the Yangtze River
Therefore, Jingzhou will inevitably become the key to the confrontation between the Jiangnan regime and the northern regime. When the northern regime seized Jingzhou, it was able to attack the south of the Yangtze River down the water; the southern regime seized Jingzhou, it could firmly erect the Yangtze River barrier and rely on natural dangers for defense. It is precisely because Jingzhou occupies the upper reaches of the Yangtze River that it becomes so important.
So we can understand why Sun Quan has to take back Jingzhou from Liu Bei at all costs. It is not that he wants to destroy the alliance, but that Jingzhou controls the gate of Jiangnan's defense. If his Dongwu wants to last, he must possess it. Jingzhou.
Third, Jingzhou guards the and Xiangyang channel, which is a battleground for military strategists.
There is another important thing about Jingzhou, that is, it occupies an important path from the Central Plains to the south- Xiangyang Channel .
We know that the reason why China can be divided into north and south is because there is a natural dividing line in the middle: Qinling Mountains -Dabie Mountains-Huai River. Since this dividing line is composed of dangerous mountains and rivers, it is a natural defense barrier for military warfare in the cold weapon era.
And on this dividing line, there is only one opening, and that is Xiangyang.
Xiangyang Passage
It can be seen from the topographical map that Xiangyang is to the west of the Qinling Mountains, and to the east is the Dabie Mountains. The two large mountain statues open a gate here, connecting the north and south, connecting the Nanyang Basin and Jianghan Plain, its strategic significance is self-evident.
Since ancient times, when the northern regime wanted to go south, Xiangyang was the only place to go through and could not be bypassed. For example, when Mongolia attacked the Southern Song Dynasty, it was the first to attack Xiangyang; and the Sui Dynasty attacked Chen in the south, which also occupied Xiangyang first, followed the river flow, and unified the south.
It can be seen that Xiangyang is a battleground for military strategists, and Jingzhou, which sits in Xiangyang, has naturally become the first strategic place to bear the brunt.
Concluding remarks:
When reading "Three Kingdoms", many readers will feel sorry for the decline of the Shu Han regime, and feel heartbroken at the end of Zhuge Liang's defeat. In fact, the root cause of all this originated in Jingzhou.
As early as when Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage, Zhuge Liang once said in "Span1span Longzhong to ":
When the world changes, he ordered a general to command the army of Jingzhou to Xiangwan, Luo, and his generals. The people of the state came from Qinchuan...The dominance can be achieved, and the Han Dynasty can be prosperous.
According to Zhuge Liang's early vision, if Liu Bei wants to unify the world, he must attack and Cao Wei in two ways. Send troops from Hanzhong all the way to attack Chang'an, and send troops from Jingzhou to attack Luoyang on the other. Strong3strong exerted both forces at the same time, both of which made it impossible for Cao and Wei to take care of both ends, so that he could win with one blow and achieve hegemony.
Zhuge Liang’s "two-pronged" strategic planning
However,This beautiful plan was all turned into a bubble because of the loss of Jingzhou.
From then on, Zhuge Liang could only defend a small Yizhou and struggle with two other powerful regimes. No matter how great he is, he will not be able to achieve "rejuvenate the Han Dynasty and overcome the Central Plains." ’s dream can only leave ’s sigh of eternal sigh of “death before he leaves the teacher, so that the hero will burst into tears”.
Jingzhou, thus dominating the trend of the Three Kingdoms, became the most critical piece of that era.
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