Sui and Tang · Sui General and Administrator

Liu Fang 劉方

First attested AD 602; died AD 605

Passages
12
Chapters
3
Histories
1

Overview

Liu Fang was a Sui General and Administrator.

IdentityHistorical · Male
Found inBook of Sui

Life and dates

Death

Attested activity

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Key source chapters

  1. Book of Sui, Chapter 53 Volume 53 Biographies 18: Daxi Zhangru, Helou Zigan, Shi Wansui, Liu Fang 4 passages
  2. Book of Sui, Chapter 82 Volume 82 Biographies 47: The Nanman 7 passages
  3. Book of Sui, Chapter 56 Volume 56 Biographies 21: Lu Kai, Ling Huxi, Xue Zhou, Yu Wenbi, Zhang Heng, Yang Wang 1 passage

Career and standing

Show 2 more source-backed claims
  • Offices Senior Attendant of the Imperial Carriage, Director with Equal Standing of the First Rank, Governor of Ganzhou, Governor of Guazhou
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 30
  • Titles Marquis of Heyin County, Duke, posthumous Duke of Lu
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passages 30, 32

Places and affiliations

Works and attributed material

Events and relationships

Show 6 more source-backed claims

Assessments and attributes

  • Contemporaries regarded him as a fine general for combining authority and kindness.
    Mode historian-narrative
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 31
  • The historiographer praised his impartial orders, strict command, and conquest of Linyi.
    Mode historiographer-judgment
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 37
  • Item eighteen ancestral spirit tablets cast in gold 廟主十八枚，皆鑄金為之 · Relation Seized
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 82, passage 49

References in the histories

12 passages

Book of Sui, Chapter 53Volume 53 Biographies 18: Daxi Zhangru, Helou Zigan, Shi Wansui, Liu Fang · 4 passages
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劉方，京兆長安人也．性剛決，有膽氣．仕周承御上士，尋以戰功，拜上儀同．高祖為丞相，方從韋孝寬破尉迥於相州，以功加開府，賜爵河陰縣侯，邑八百戶．高祖受禪，進爵為公．開皇三年，從衛王爽破突厥於白道，進位大將軍．其後歷甘、瓜二州刺史，尚未知名． Liu Fang came from Chang’an in Jingzhao. Firm and resolute by nature, he had real courage. Under Zhou he was senior attendant of the imperial carriage and soon, for battle merit, director with equal standing of the first rank. When Gaozu was chancellor, Fang followed Wei Xiaokuan in defeating Yuchi Jiong at Xiangzhou, was given the rank of director of the bureau, and enfeoffed as marquis of Heyin with eight hundred households. When Gaozu took the throne he was advanced to duke. In the third year of Kaihuang he followed Prince Shuang of Wei in defeating the Turks at Baidao and was promoted to grand general. He later served as governor of Gan and Gua but was not yet widely known.
仁壽中，會交州俚人李佛子作亂，據越王故城，遣其兄子大權據龍編城，其別帥李普鼎據烏延城．左僕射楊素言方有將帥之略，上於是詔方為交州道行軍總管，以度支侍郎敬德亮為長史，統二十七營而進．方法令嚴肅，軍容齊整，有犯禁者，造次斬之，然仁而愛士，有疾病者，親自撫養．長史敬德亮從軍至尹州，疾甚，不能進，留之州館．分別之際，方哀其危篤，流涕嗚咽，感動行路．其有威惠如此，論者稱為良將．至都隆嶺，遇賊二千餘人來犯官軍，方遣營主宋纂、何貴、嚴願等擊破之．進兵臨佛子，先令人諭以禍褔，佛子懼而降，送於京師．其有桀黠者，恐於後為亂，皆斬之． In the Renshou era the Li chieftain Li Fozi of Jiaozhou rebelled, seized the old city of the King of Yue, sent his nephew Daquan to hold Longbian, and his lieutenant Li Puding to hold Wuyan. The left vice director Yang Su said Fang had a commander’s gifts, and the emperor made him commander on the Jiaozhou route with Jing Deliang of the revenue office as chief clerk, advancing with twenty-seven battalions. Fang’s discipline was severe and his ranks orderly; violators were beheaded on the spot, yet he was kind to his men and nursed the sick himself. Chief clerk Jing Deliang fell gravely ill at Yinzhou and could not continue; Fang left him at the prefectural lodge and wept at their parting so that passersby were moved. With such authority and kindness together, men called him a fine general. At Dulong Ridge more than two thousand rebels attacked; Fang sent the battalion commanders Song Zuan, He Gui, and Yan Yuan to break them. Advancing on Fozi, he first sent men to explain fortune and disaster; Fozi surrendered in fear and was sent to the capital. The stubborn and cunning, lest they rebel again, were all executed.
尋授驩州道行軍總管，以尚書右丞李綱為司馬，經略林邑．方遣欽州刺史甯長真、驩州刺史李暈、上開府秦雄以步騎出越常，方親率大將軍張愻、司馬李綱舟師趣比景．高祖崩，煬帝即位，大業元年正月，軍至海口．林邑王梵志遣兵守險，方擊走之．師次闍黎江，賊據南岸立柵，方盛陳旗幟，擊金鼓，賊懼而潰．既渡江，行三十里，賊乘巨象，四面而至．方以弩射象，象中創，卻蹂其陣，王師力戰，賊奔於柵，因攻破之，俘馘萬計．於是濟區粟，度六里，前後逢賊，每戰必擒．進至大緣江，賊據險為柵，又擊破之．逕馬援銅柱，南行八日，至其國都．林邑王梵志棄城奔海，獲其廟主金人，污其宮室，刻石紀功而還．士卒腳腫，死者十四五．方在道遇患而卒，帝甚傷惜之，乃下詔曰：「方肅承廟略，恭行天討，飲冰遄邁，視險若夷．摧鋒直指，出其不意，鯨鯢盡殪，巢穴咸傾，役不再勞，肅清海外．致身王事，誠績可嘉，可贈上柱國、盧國公．」子通仁嗣． He was soon made commander on the Huanzhou route with Li Gang of the state affairs office as chief of staff to pacify Linyi. Fang sent Ning Changzhen, governor of Qinzhou, Li Yun, governor of Huanzhou, and the superior director Qin Xiong with infantry and cavalry by Yuechang, while he himself led Zhang Xun and Li Gang with the fleet toward Bijing. Gaozu died and Emperor Yang succeeded; in the first month of Daye year one the army reached Haikou. King Fan Zhi of Linyi sent troops to hold the passes; Fang drove them off. At the Zhanli River the enemy held the south bank behind palisades. Fang displayed his banners and beat drums and gongs; the enemy broke in fear. After crossing they marched thirty li when the enemy came on great elephants from every side. Fang shot the elephants with crossbows; wounded, they trampled their own ranks. The imperial army fought hard; the enemy fled to their palisades and were stormed, with tens of thousands taken. They crossed the Qulu and the Six Li, met the enemy again and again, and captured them in every fight. At the Dayuan River the enemy held the passes once more and were broken again. Passing Ma Yuan’s bronze pillar, they marched south eight days to the capital. King Fan Zhi abandoned the city and fled to the sea. They seized the temple’s golden image, defiled the palaces, carved a stone of victory, and returned. The soldiers had swollen feet; four or five in ten died. Fang fell ill on the road and died. The emperor mourned him deeply and issued an edict: “Fang reverently carried out the state’s strategy and Heaven’s punishment, drinking ice as he hastened on, treating peril as level ground. He crushed the vanguard and struck unawares; the enemy were destroyed and their nests overturned; the work was not done twice and the southern sea was cleared. He gave his life to the throne with true merit—let him be posthumously pillar of state of the first rank and duke of Lu.” His son Tongren succeeded him.
子幹西涉青海，北臨玄塞，胡夷懾憚，烽候無警，亦有可稱．萬歲實懷智勇，善撫士卒，人皆樂死，師不疲勞．北卻匈奴，南平夷、獠，兵鋒所指，威驚絕域．論功仗氣，犯忤貴臣，偏聽生姦，死非其罪，人皆痛惜，有李廣之風焉．劉方號令無私，治軍嚴肅，克剪林邑，遂清南海，徼外百蠻，無思不服．凡此諸將，志烈過人，出當推轂之重，入受爪牙之寄，雖馬伏波之威行南裔，趙充國之聲動西羌，語事論功，各一時也． Zigan crossed the Qinghai westward and faced the dark northern passes; the tribes feared him and the beacons knew no alarm—this too deserves praise. Wansui truly had wisdom and courage, won his soldiers’ hearts, and every man gladly faced death; his armies never tired. In the north he drove back the Xiongnu; in the south he pacified the Yi and Liao; wherever his blades pointed, his might shook the farthest lands. When merit was debated he spoke with proud spirit, offended powerful ministers, partial listening bred treachery, and he died for a crime not his own—all mourned him, and he had something of Li Guang about him. Liu Fang’s orders were impartial; he governed the army with severity, cut down Linyi, and cleared the southern sea; the hundred tribes beyond the borders all wished to submit. All these generals had wills and valor beyond ordinary men: abroad they bore the weight of the realm’s defense, at home they were the emperor’s trusted claws and teeth. Though Ma Yuan, the General Who Pacifies the Waves, carried his might through the south and Zhao Chongguo’s fame shook the western Qiang, speaking of deeds and weighing merit, each was foremost in his time.
Book of Sui, Chapter 56Volume 56 Biographies 21: Lu Kai, Ling Huxi, Xue Zhou, Yu Wenbi, Zhang Heng, Yang Wang · 1 passage
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Book of Sui, Chapter 82Volume 82 Biographies 47: The Nanman · 7 passages
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