Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties · Sui General and Strategist

Shi Wansui 史萬歲

c. AD 549 - AD 600

Passages
15
Chapters
2
Histories
1

Overview

Shi Wansui was a Sui General and Strategist.

IdentityHistorical · Male
Found inBook of Sui

Life and dates

Birth

Death

Age

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 13 passages
  2. Book of Sui, Chapter 52 Volume 52 Biographies 17: Han Qinhu, He Ruobi 2 passages

Career and standing

Places and affiliations

Learning and skills

Works and attributed material

  • Defense · Summary Denied accepting Cuan Wan’s bribe and explained why he had left him in office.
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 24

Events and relationships

  • After penal assignment to Dunhuang, proved his mounted archery skill, raided Turkic territory, and won a single combat challenge for Dou Rongding.
    Frontier service
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 21
  • Defeated more than thirty communities in the south but accepted Cuan Wan’s bribe and left him in office.
    Southern campaign
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 23
  • Fought more than seven hundred engagements suppressing Gao Zhihui’s southern rebellion and sent a report in a bamboo tube when cut off.
    Suppression
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 22
  • Pursued and defeated Tardu Khan’s withdrawing army, but Yang Su suppressed the victory.
    Frontier victory
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 28
  • Rallied faltering troops before Ye and helped defeat Yuchi Jiong.
    Battle
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 20
  • Was killed by Emperor Wen after forcefully protesting the suppression of his soldiers’ merit.
    Death
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 28

Assessments and attributes

  • Assessment cavalry general not a supreme commander · Mode named-speech Speaker He Ruobi (賀若弼)
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 52, passage 198
  • Did not impose rigid camp order, adapted freely in battle, and was regarded as a fine general.
    Mode historian-narrative
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 29
  • The historiographer praised his courage, care for soldiers, and far-reaching victories, and judged that he died for no true crime.
    Mode historiographer-judgment
    Directly stated · Book of Sui 53, passage 37

References in the histories

15 passages

Book of Sui, Chapter 52Volume 52 Biographies 17: Han Qinhu, He Ruobi · 2 passages
Open chapter
Book of Sui, Chapter 53Volume 53 Biographies 18: Daxi Zhangru, Helou Zigan, Shi Wansui, Liu Fang · 13 passages
Open chapter
史萬歲，京兆杜陵人也．父靜，周滄州刺史．萬歲少英武，善騎射，驍捷若飛．好讀兵書，兼精占候．年十五，值周、齊戰於芒山，萬歲時從父入軍，旗鼓正相望，萬歲令左右趣治裝急去．俄而周師大敗，其父由是奇之．武帝時，釋褐侍伯上士．及平齊之役，其父戰沒，萬歲以忠臣子，拜開府儀同三司，襲爵太平縣公． Shi Wansui came from Duling in Jingzhao. His father Jing had been Zhou’s governor of Cangzhou. From youth Wansui was bold and martial, skilled in riding and archery, swift as if he could fly. He loved military texts and was also expert in divination and celestial signs. At fifteen, when Zhou and Qi fought at Mount Mang, he was with his father in the army. The two hosts were just facing each other when Wansui told his attendants to pack up and leave at once. Soon the Zhou army was routed, and his father marveled at him. Under Emperor Wu he entered service as senior attendant of the guard. In the pacification of Qi his father died in battle; as a loyal minister’s son, Wansui was made director of the bureau with equal standing and inherited the dukedom of Taiping county.
尉迥之亂也，萬歲從梁士彥擊之．軍次馮翊，見群雁飛來，萬歲謂士彥曰：「請射行中第三者．」既射之，應弦而落，三軍莫不悅服．及與迥軍相遇，每戰先登，鄴城之陣，官軍稍卻，萬歲謂左右曰：「事急矣，吾當破之．」於是馳馬奮擊，殺數十人，眾亦齊力，官軍乃振．及迥平，以功拜上大將軍． During Yuchi Jiong’s rebellion Wansui followed Liang Shiyan. The army halted at Fengyi when a flock of wild geese flew past. Wansui said to Shiyan, “Let me shoot the third bird in the line.” He loosed his arrow and it fell at the twang; the whole army marveled. Whenever they met Jiong’s forces he was first over the wall. Before Ye City the imperial troops began to falter. Wansui told his men, “This is urgent—I will break them.” He spurred his horse and struck, killing dozens; his men rallied with him and the army recovered its nerve. When Jiong was subdued, Wansui was made grand general of the first rank for his merit.
爾朱勣以謀反伏誅，萬歲頗相關涉，坐除名，配敦煌為戍卒．其戍主甚驍武，每單騎深入突厥中，掠取羊馬，輒大剋獲．突厥無眾寡，莫之敢當．其人深自矜負，數罵辱萬歲．萬歲患之，自言亦有武用．戍主試令馳射而工，戍主笑曰：「小人定可．」萬歲請弓馬，復掠突厥中，大得六畜而歸．戍主始善之，每與同行，輒入突厥數百里，名讋北夷．竇榮定之擊突厥也，萬歲詣轅門請自效．榮定數聞其名，見而大悅．因遣人謂突厥曰：「士卒何罪過，令殺之，但當各遣一壯士決勝負耳．」突厥許諾，因遣一騎挑戰．榮定遣萬歲出應之，萬歲馳斬其首而還．突厥大驚，不敢復戰，遂引軍而去．由是拜上儀同，領車騎將軍．平陳之役，又以功加上開府． Erzhu Ji was executed for treason; Wansui was somewhat implicated, stripped of rank, and sent to Dunhuang as a garrison soldier. The garrison commander was a fierce fighter who often rode alone deep into Turk lands for sheep and horses and always returned with rich spoils. No Turk band, large or small, dared face him. Proud and overbearing, he repeatedly abused Wansui. Wansui, resenting this, said he too had martial skill. The commander tested him at mounted archery and found him expert. The commander laughed, “The fellow will do.” Wansui took bow and horse, raided the Turks again, and came back with great herds. The commander then favored him and often rode with him hundreds of li into Turk territory until his name terrified the northern tribes. When Dou Rongding attacked the Turks, Wansui came to the camp gate and offered to prove himself in service. Rongding had often heard of him and was delighted. He sent word to the Turks: “What crime have ordinary soldiers committed that you kill them? Let each side send one champion to decide the matter.” The Turks agreed and sent a challenger. Rongding sent Wansui out; he galloped forward, struck off the man’s head, and returned. The Turks were terrified, would not fight again, and withdrew. For this Wansui was made director with equal standing of the first rank and general of chariots and cavalry. In the conquest of Chen he was again promoted to superior director of the bureau for his merit.
及高智慧等作亂江南，以行軍總管從楊素擊之．萬歲率眾二千，自東陽別道而進，踰嶺越海，攻陷溪洞不可勝數．前後七百餘戰，轉鬥千餘里，寂無聲問者十旬，遠近皆以萬歲為沒．萬歲以水陸阻絕，信使不通，乃置書竹筒中，浮之於水．汲者得之，以言於素．素大悅，上其事．高祖嗟歎，賜其家錢十萬，還拜左領軍將軍． When Gao Zhihui and others rebelled in the south, Wansui followed Yang Su as commander on campaign. With two thousand men he advanced by a separate route from Dongyang, crossed mountains and sea, and took ravine strongholds beyond count. In more than seven hundred fights over a thousand li of hills, for a hundred days no word came from him; everyone thought Wansui was dead. Cut off by land and water, he sealed a letter in a bamboo tube and set it adrift. Someone who drew water found it and told Su. Su was delighted and reported upward. Gaozu marveled and gave his family one hundred thousand cash; on his return Wansui was made general of the left forward army.
先是，南寧夷爨翫來降，拜昆州刺史，既而復叛．遂以萬歲為行軍總管，率眾擊之．入自蜻蛉川，經弄凍，次小勃弄、大勃弄，至于南中．賊前後屯據要害，萬歲皆擊破之．行數百里，見諸葛亮紀功碑，銘其背曰：「萬歲之後，勝我者過此．」萬歲令左右倒其碑而進．渡西二河，入渠濫川，行千餘里，破其三十餘部，虜獲男女二萬餘口．諸夷大懼，遣使請降，獻明珠徑寸．於是勒石頌美隋德．萬歲遣使馳奏，請將翫入朝，詔許之．爨翫陰有二心，不欲詣闕，因賂萬歲以金寶，萬歲於是捨翫而還．蜀王時在益州，知其受賂，遣使將索之．萬歲聞而悉以所得金寶沉之於江，索無所獲．以功進位柱國．晉王廣虛衿敬之，待以交友之禮．上知為所善，令萬歲督晉府軍事．明年，爨翫復反，蜀王秀奏萬歲受賂縱賊，致生邊患，無大臣節．上令窮治其事，事皆驗，罪當死．上數之曰：「受金放賊，重勞士馬．朕念將士暴露，寢不安席，食不甘味，卿豈社稷臣也？」 Earlier, Cuan Wan of the Ningnan Yi had surrendered and been made governor of Kunzhou, then rebelled again. Wansui was sent as commander on campaign against him. He entered by the Qingling River, passed Nongdong, and halted at Lesser and Greater Bonong before reaching the southern heartland. The rebels held every strong point; Wansui broke them all. After several hundred li he came upon Zhuge Liang’s victory stele, inscribed on the back: “After ten thousand years, whoever surpasses me will pass this place.” Wansui had his men overturn it and march on. He crossed the two western rivers, entered the Quluan River, marched more than a thousand li, and shattered more than thirty tribes, taking more than twenty thousand captives. The Yi were terrified, sent envoys to surrender, and presented a pearl an inch across. He carved a stone praising Sui virtue. Wansui sent a swift report asking that Wan be brought to court; the edict agreed. Wan secretly had no wish to come to the capital and bribed Wansui with gold and jewels; Wansui then left him and returned. The prince of Shu was in Yizhou; learning of the bribe, he sent men to seize the goods. Wansui heard of it and sank everything he had received in the river, and nothing was found. For his merit he was made pillar of state. Prince Jin Guang treated him with open respect as a friend. The emperor, knowing Guang favored him, put Wansui in charge of the prince of Jin’s military affairs. The next year Cuan Wan rebelled again. Prince Xiu of Shu reported that Wansui had taken bribes and released the rebel, bringing border trouble and failing the integrity of a great minister. A full investigation confirmed everything; the crime merited death. The emperor recounted his offenses: “You took gold and let the rebel go, wasting soldiers and horses. When I think of men exposed in the field I cannot sleep or eat with ease—are you a minister of the altars of state?”
萬歲曰：「臣留爨翫者，恐其州有變，留以鎮撫．臣還至瀘水，詔書方到，由是不將入朝，實不受賂．」上以萬歲心有欺隱，大怒曰：「朕以卿為好人，何乃官高祿重，翻為國賊也？」 Wansui said, “I left Cuan Wan because I feared unrest in his prefecture and kept him to pacify the region. When I reached the Lu River your edict had only just arrived, so I did not bring him in. I truly took no bribe.” The emperor, believing he was deceitful, raged: “I thought you a good man—how, with high rank and rich pay, have you become a traitor to the state?”
顧有司曰：「明日將斬之．」萬歲懼而服罪，頓首請命．左僕射高熲、左衛大將軍元旻等進曰：「史萬歲雄略過人，每行兵用師之處，未嘗不身先士卒，尤善撫御，將士樂為致力，雖古名將未能過也．」上意少解，於是除名為民．歲餘，復官爵．尋拜河州刺史，復領行軍總管以備胡． He turned to the officials: “Tomorrow he dies.” Wansui, terrified, confessed and begged for his life. The left vice director Gao Jiong, the general of the left guard Yuan Min, and others said, “Shi Wansui’s strategy surpasses other men; in every campaign he leads from the front. He is especially skilled at winning his men, who gladly give their all—even famous generals of old could not match him.” The emperor’s anger eased somewhat; Wansui was stripped of rank and made a commoner. After a year his titles were restored. He was soon governor of Hezhou and again commander on campaign against the barbarians.
開皇末，突厥達頭可汗犯塞，上令晉王廣及楊素出靈武道，漢王諒與萬歲出馬邑道．[一]萬歲率柱國張定和、大將軍李藥王、楊義臣等出塞，至大斤山，與虜相遇．達頭遣使問曰：「隋將為誰？」 At the end of Kaihuang the Turk khan Tatou raided the frontier. The emperor sent Prince Jin Guang and Yang Su by the Lingwu route, and Prince Han Liang and Wansui by the Mayi route. [1] Wansui led the pillars of state Zhang Dinghe and the grand generals Li Yaowang, Yang Yichen, and others beyond the border. At Mount Dajin they met the enemy. Tatou sent a messenger to ask, “Who is the Sui general?”
候騎曰：「是也．」達頭聞之，懼而引去．萬歲馳追百餘里乃及，擊大破之，斬數千級，逐北入磧數百里，虜遁逃而還．楊素害其功，因譖萬歲云：「突厥本降，初不為寇，來於塞上畜牧耳．」遂寢其功．萬歲數抗表陳狀，上未之悟．會上從仁壽宮初還京師，廢皇太子，窮東宮黨與．上問萬歲所在，萬歲實在朝堂，楊素見上方怒，因曰：「萬歲謁東宮矣．」以激怒上．上謂為信然，令召萬歲．時所將士卒在朝稱冤者數百人，萬歲謂之曰：「吾今日為汝極言於上，事當決矣．」既見上，言將士有功，為朝廷所抑，詞氣憤厲，忤於上．上大怒，令左右摧殺之．既而悔，追之不及，因下詔罪萬歲曰：「柱國、太平公萬歲，拔擢委任，每總戎機．往以南寧逆亂，令其出討．而昆州刺史爨翫包藏逆心，為民興患．朕備有成敕，令將入朝．萬歲乃多受金銀，違敕令住，致爨翫尋為反逆，更勞師旅，方始平定．所司檢校，罪合極刑，捨過念功，恕其性命，年月未久，即復本官．近復總戎，進討蕃裔．突厥達頭可汗領其兇眾，欲相拒抗，既見軍威，便即奔退，兵不血刃，賊徒瓦解．如此稱捷，國家盛事，朕欲成其勳庸，復加褒賞．而萬歲、定和通簿之日，乃懷姦詐，妄稱逆面交兵，不以實陳，懷反覆之方，弄國家之法．若竭誠立節，心無虛罔者，乃為良將，至如萬歲，懷詐要功，便是國賊，朝憲難虧，不可再捨．」死之日，天下士庶聞者，識與不識，莫不冤惜． The scouts said, “It is he.” When Tatou heard this he withdrew in fear. Wansui galloped after them for more than a hundred li, overtook them, and broke them utterly, taking several thousand heads. He drove the fugitives north into the desert for hundreds of li before they escaped and he returned. Yang Su, jealous of his glory, slandered him: “The Turks had already surrendered and were only pasturing livestock at the border—they were not raiding.” His merit was buried. Wansui memorialized again and again; the emperor would not see it. When the emperor returned from Renshou Palace to the capital, deposed the crown prince, and hunted the eastern palace faction, he asked where Wansui was. Wansui was in fact at court, but Yang Su, seeing his anger, said, “Wansui has gone to the eastern palace,” to inflame him further. The emperor believed it and summoned Wansui. Several hundred soldiers he had commanded were at court petitioning that they had been wronged. Wansui told them, “Today I will speak out for you before the emperor—the matter will be settled.” Before the emperor he spoke of his men’s merit and how the court had suppressed them; his tone was fierce and he gave offense. The emperor raged and ordered his attendants to kill him on the spot. He soon regretted it but could not undo the deed, and issued an edict condemning Wansui: “The pillar of state and duke of Taiping, Wansui, was raised and entrusted with every campaign. When the south rebelled he was sent to punish them. Cuan Wan of Kunzhou harbored treachery and harmed the people. We had made full plans to bring him to court. Wansui took much gold and silver, disobeyed Our plan by leaving him, and Cuan Wan soon rebelled again, costing fresh armies before order returned. The crime merited death; remembering his merit We spared him and soon restored his rank. Recently he commanded the advance against the frontier tribes. Tatou led his fierce horde to resist; at sight of our might they fled—blades unstained, the enemy dissolved. Such a victory is the state’s glory; We meant to crown his merit with new rewards. Yet on the day the registers were filed he and Dinghe lied, claiming they had met the enemy in battle when they had not, mocking the laws of the state. Only one who serves with full loyalty and no deceit is a true general; Wansui, who sought merit by fraud, is a traitor. The statutes cannot bend—we will not spare him again.” On the day he died, all who heard, whether they knew him or not, mourned 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.