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The Deadly Rivalry Between Wei Qing and Li Gan

By
thehistorianshut
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In 119 BCE, the accomplished Chinese military leader, Wei Qing, launched one of his many incursions into Xiongnu territory on behalf of Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141-87 BCE). With him was a subordinate general named Li Guang, a well-respected, but also well-aged, warrior. Although Li Guang was an inspiring officer, with a near-legendary skill with a bow, both Wei Qing and Emperor Wu had their reservations about the old general’s capabilities. Heeding these doubts, Wei Qing decided to remove Li Guang from the vanguard of his army, and instead sent him to reinforce the army’s right flank. Yet, while Li Guang and his forces were traveling to their new position, they unfortunately became lost and fell behind the rest of the army. In the end, Li Guang missed the battle between Wei Qing and the Xiongnu.

Despite Li Guang’s absence, Wei Qing won the day—he nearly encircled the enemy forces, but the Xiongnu leader was able to punch through the Han lines with his cavalry and escape. After the battle, Wei Qing summoned Li Guang to answer for his absence during the battle. Officials in the army would then send a report to the emperor of both the accusations and the general’s responses. The old military leader knew from experience that such unflattering reports could lead to a general being imprisoned, stripped of his titles, and possibly executed. Therefore, the seasoned warrior arrived at the meeting with Wei Qing in a grim state of mind.  According to the Grand Historian, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), the disgruntled Li Guang appeared for his hearing and abruptly stated “Now I am over sixty—much too old to stand up to a bunch of petty clerks and their lists of charges!” (Shi JI 109). He then unsheathed his sword and cut his own throat.

Many in China mourned the death of Li Guang, but the late general’s son, Li Gan, had the most visceral reaction. Li Gan, like his father, served in the Han military, and he distinguished himself enough in battle to be given the noble rank of marquis, a title also held by the aforementioned Wei Qing. The two marquises, unsurprisingly, did not get along. Li Gan held Wei Qing responsible for driving his father to suicide and Wei Qing, in response, was irritated by Li Gan’s attitude. The friction between the two men steadily built, and, in a moment of weakness, Li Gan lost his composure and physically struck Wei Qing. The general was injured, but the wound was not serious, as Wei Qing quickly recovered and neither he or his friends filed charges against Li Gan. Unfortunately, Wei Qing’s mercy over this incident did not mean that Li Gan was forgiven.

At a later date, both Li Gan and other prominent men of the empire joined the emperor at the Palace of Sweet Springs. Emperor Wu and his courtiers, as noblemen were often wont to do, decided to go on a hunting trip. Yet, the outdoor excursion would prove to be anything but calm and peaceful.

During the course of the hunt, Li Gan eventually paired up with Huo Qubing, a devoted friend and relative of Wei Qing. Unfortunately, only one of the two would survive the hunt. At an unknown time during the trip, Li Gan was found dead and his body contained a suspicious puncture wound. Huo Qubing reportedly witnessed the death and he told the emperor that the dead marquis was killed by a deer. He claimed that, as they hunted together, he and Li Gan encountered an aggressive stag. Despite both hunters being great archers, this stag supposedly rushed the noblemen and fatally impaled Li Gan with an antler. Emperor Wu, who was fond of Huo Qubing, believed (or did not question) the story and publicly backed Huo Qubing’s testimony. Sima Qian and other contemporaries, however, viewed the death with much more suspicion. By the time Sima Qian began writing his Records of the Grand Historian, he had become convinced that Li Gan was murdered:

“When the party reached the Palace of Sweet Springs, an imperial hunt was held. Huo Qubing, who was on very close terms with Wei Qing, took the opportunity to shoot and kill Li Gan. At this time, Huo Qubing enjoyed great favor with the emperor, and the emperor therefore covered for him, giving out the story that Li Gan had been gored and killed by a stag. A year or so later, Huo Qubing died [117 BCE]” (Shi JI 109).

 

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (The Qianlong Emperor Hunting Hare, by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

Xenophon

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Xenophon (c. 420-350 BCE)

“As you know, everything that belongs to the losers in a war becomes someone else’s property, while if we win we can regard our enemies as our baggage-handlers.”

  • Anabasis Kyrou (Upcountry March of Cyrus, Book III, section 2) by Xenophon and translated by Robin Waterfield (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).

The Horrible Year 580

By
thehistorianshut
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According to Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594), the year 580 was a particularly horrible year for people living in the regions of France and Spain. The poor 6th-century denizens of those regions reportedly faced threats from the air, ground and water, all combining to form a stew of horrible natural disasters and epidemics. Here are just a few of the events that Gregory of Tours claimed to have happened in the vicinity of France for the year 580.

 

Flood

Intense flooding was said to have occurred in the region of Auvergne, France, in 580. Gregory reported that several rivers overflowed and harmed the properties of nobles and peasants, alike. Crops and livestock were killed by the rising waters, and the flooding occurred so rapidly that human lives were also lost. Of the major cities affected by the floods, Lyons appeared to have been the most damaged, as its very walls were undermined by the rushing water.

 

Possible Meteor Strike

Gregory of Tours claimed that bright moving lights were seen in the sky near Tours and Bordeaux. When the light disappeared, a loud impact sound was heard in France. Gregory wrote, “a bright light was seen to traverse the sky and then disappear in the East. A sound as of trees crashing to the ground was heard throughout the whole region, but it cannot hardly have been a tree for it was audible over fifty miles and more” (History of the Franks, V.33). Within the same paragraph, Gregory claimed that “Villages around Bordeaux were burned by a fire sent from heaven” (History of the Franks, V.33). The lights, sounds and fire coincided with a series of earthquakes that shook southern France and the bordering regions of Spain. Whether or not these individual occurrences are truly connected is difficult to determine, but the earthquakes and fires were destructive, all the same, leaving many without shelter and food. Some refugees from these disasters reportedly fled toward Spain, but rockslides in the Pyrenees accompanied the earthquakes, crushing anything in its path.

 

Plague

Possibly exacerbated by the homelessness and poor living conditions caused by the floods, fires and earthquakes in 580, the entirety of France was reportedly hit by a devastating epidemic of disease. Gregory of Tours identified the illness ravaging the land as dysentery, and no one—young or old, rich or poor—was safe from its clutches. The household of King Chilperic of the Franks (r. 561-584) was particularly hard-hit. Chilperic personally fell ill, as did two of his sons. King Chilperic survived the disease, but his two afflicted children, unfortunately, were not as lucky. Chilperic’s brother, King Guntram (r. 561-593), also suffered loss because of the epidemic; his wife, Queen Austrechild, caught the disease. Two doctors, named Donatus and Nicolaus, were brought in to treat the queen, but despite their best efforts, Austrechild died—in consequence of their failure, the two doctors were executed.

Gregory of Tours was able to write about the deaths of queens, princes, counts and bishops without showing much emotion in his writing, but when he moved on to the toll that the epidemic took on children in France, his pain went unmasked. It ranks as one of the most emotional passages in his ten-book text. Gregory of Tours wrote:

“The epidemic began in the month of August. It attacked young children first of all and to them it was fatal: and so we lost our little ones, who were so dear to us and sweet, whom we had cherished in our bosoms and dandled in our arms, whom we had fed and nurtured with such loving care. As I write I wipe away my tears and I repeat once more the words of Job the blessed: ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away’” (History of the Franks, V.34).

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Sodom and Gomorrah afire, by Jacob Jacobsz (flourished 17th century), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

  • The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours, translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.

Mencius

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Mencius (4th century BCE)

“The people are of supreme importance; the altars to the gods of earth and grain come next; last comes the ruler.”

  • From The Mencius (Book VII, Part B, section 14) by Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau (Penguin Classics, 2003).

The Giant Siblings Of Bulghār

By
thehistorianshut
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A 12th-century Granadan traveler named Abū Hāmid al-Gharnātī left his original homeland of Spain far behind to explore distant regions, such as the Aral Sea, the Volga River and the Hungarian kingdom of Geza II (r. 1141-1162). He wrote about his experiences in at least two books, the Gift of the Hearts and an Exposition of Some Wonders of the West. As the title of the latter book suggests, he was greatly interested in ‘wonders’—bizarre, otherworldly and folkloric animals, peoples and places that could supposedly be found on the frontier regions in which he traveled. Some wonders were reported to Abū Hāmid by informants, other wonders he read about in texts, yet there were a few wonders that he claimed to have witnessed with his own eyes. Of these oddities that Abū Hāmid personally witnessed, one of the most peculiar was a pair of sibling giants living around the city of Bulghār, on the Volga River.

Tales of giants were nothing new for Muslim travelers along the Volga. An Abbasid diplomat named Ibn Fadlān reached Bulghār in 922, and he reported that the khan of the Volga Bulgars had shown him a skeleton of a recently-killed giant, allegedly measuring 12 cubits in height (18 feet). Curiously, the account of Ibn Fadlān had reportedly been lost by the time of Abū Hāmid and would not be rediscovered until the 13th century. Despite the probability that Abū Hāmid never read Ibn Fadlān’s report, the Granadan traveler also would claim to see evidence of giants in the Volga region. Yet, while Ibn Fadlān saw only skeletal remains of dubious origins, Abū Hāmid claimed to have personally seen two living giants.

As the story goes, Abū Hāmid traveled to Bulghār around 1135 or 1136. While there, he claimed to have seen a man called Danqa, who was over 7 cubits (10.5 feet) tall. In addition to his height, the giant was reported to have been extremely strong. With only the use of his hands, Danqa was said to have had enough strength to snap in half the leg of a muscular horse, as if the horse’s bone was a mere bundle of herbs. Such size and strength made him a coveted prospect for the army of Bulghār, and, indeed, Danqa was said to have been successfully enticed to join the military through gifts of armor. Abū Hāmid wrote: “The king of Bulghār had a cuirass made for him, which he carried to battle with him in a cart, and an iron helmet like a great cauldron. He fought with a great wooden mace, thick and long, made from a massive oak which no man could lift, but in his hand it was like a stick would be in ours” (Exposition of Some Wonders of the West, Penguin ed. pg. 86). Despite the giant’s height, strength and enlistment into the military, Abū Hāmid claimed that the towering man was of the mildest and kindest of dispositions.

Besides Danqa, there was reportedly one more giant living in Bulghār at the time that Abū Hāmid paid the city a visit. The other giant was Danqa’s unnamed sister, who was said to have equaled her brother’s size and strength. Despite her physical prowess, very few feats of strength were attributed to her. As may be expected from a medieval text, marriage was considered her greatest accomplishment. The giantess’ marriage was said to have ended tragically, however, when she accidentally caused her husband’s ribs to implode during a passionate bear-hug.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (The Giant Skrymir and Thor, depicted by Louis Huard (1813-1874), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

  • Exposition of Some of the Wonders in the West by Abū Hāmid al-Gharnātī, translated by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. New York, Penguin Classics, 2012.

Aristotle

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

“It is proportional requital that holds the state together; because people expect either to return evil for evil – and if they cannot, feel that they have lost their liberty – or good for good, and if this is impossible no exchange can take place; and it is exchange that holds them together.”

  •  From The Nicomachean Ethics (Bekker page 1133a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

The Property Woes Of Duke Lupus Of Champagne

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Time and time again, vassals of monarchal governments divide into opposing political camps, one side supporting the royal family, and the other side wishing to limit the power of the monarchy. Duke Lupus of Champagne, a 6th-century vassal to the Merovingian kings of Austrasia, fit into the former pro-monarch category—Lupus supported King Sigebert I (r. 561-575) until the king was assassinated, and then he defended the interests of Sigebert’s widow, Queen Brunhild, and her five-year-old son, King Childebert II (r. 575-595). Duke Lupus, however, was only one of many vassals in the court of young Childebert II, and the party in favor of protecting the young king’s interests was apparently outnumbered by the faction that wanted to decrease or freeze monarchal power.

Opposed to Duke Lupus and his allies was a so-called aristocratic party, led by Dukes Ursio and Berthefried. Tensions ran hot during the political debating and maneuvering between the two sides, and eventually, Lupus and the opposing dukes became bitter personal enemies. Ursio and Berthefried grew tired of playing politics with Duke Lupus and ultimately decided it would be much simpler just to send an army to capture or kill the troublesome duke. Queen Brunhild discovered this plot and was able to warn Duke Lupus before the aristocratic party forces arrived on his estate; so, Ursio and Berthefried failed to catch their foe, and bloodshed was avoided. Unfortunately, the aristocratic party had already mobilized its forces and wanted some gain for their efforts. Therefore, as they could not reach the duke, they attacked the next best thing—Lupus’ estates. Ursio and Berthefried looted Lupus’ properties of its wealth and, using their ties to the regency council of Childebert II, managed to hide Lupus’ wealth inside the boy-king’s treasury.

Although Duke Lupus had escaped with his life, he could no longer fight the aristocratic party from within the kingdom of Austrasia. With his assets plundered and his pro-monarchy allies unwilling or unable to help him fight back against Ursio and Berthefried at that time, Duke Lupus fled to the court of another Merovingian monarch—King Guntram of Burgundy (r. 561-593), who was an uncle of Childebert II. Duke Lupus stayed with Guntram until Childebert II grew old enough to shed off his regency council. As for Ursio and Berthefried, they continued their plotting against the crown even after Childebert II came of age, and for this reason they both eventually met violent deaths.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Image of King Childebert II from a text dated 1885, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

Cassius Dio

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

Cassius Dio (c. 163-235)

“Those who make statements which lack credibility not only fail to convince others, but create the impression that they themselves are imposters.”

  • From a speech attributed to Octavian in Cassius Dio’s The Roman History (Book 53, chapter 3), translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Penguin Classics, 1987).

The First Viking Raids Against The Umayyad Emirate Of Cordoba

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

The early 840s were a time of heightened Viking activity. Norsemen took advantage of the Carolingian Dynasty’s civil war among the sons of Louis the Pious (d. 840). Lothair, one of these sons, was said to have “called in the Norsemen to help him, had put some Christians under their lordship, and permitted them to plunder others” (Nithard’s Histories, IV.2). Meanwhile, from 839-845, Vikings raided the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Britain on a near-annual basis. By this point, the British Isles (and to a lesser extent, France) was already becoming a familiar raiding destination for the Vikings. Yet, in the early 840s, one large Viking fleet found its way to a land that had never before faced Viking raids—the Umayyad Emirate of Cordoba.

A Viking fleet reportedly numbering 108 vessels of various sizes was spotted sailing along the coast near Lisbon around August of 844. The movements of these raiders were documented by various writers, such as Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Rāzi (d. 955), Īsa ibn Ahmad al-Rāzi (d. 980), Ibn al-Kutia (d.977), Ibn Hayyān (d.1076), and Ibn Idhari (c. 13th-14th century). The order and duration of the Viking attacks vary in some of these sources, but the authors are fairly consistent about which cities in the Emirate of Cordoba were attacked by the Norsemen.

By all accounts, Lisbon (or the region in its vicinity) was the first area in the emirate that was raided by the Viking fleet in 844. After reportedly fighting three skirmishes in the area around Lisbon, the fleet continued sailing down the coast of the Iberian Peninsula and reached the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. The ultimate target for the fleet of raiders was Seville, a city that the raiders could reach by sailing inland by means of the Guadalquivir. Before reaching this goal, however, the Vikings may have raided settlements that were situated along or near the river, such as Cadiz, Medina-Sidonia, Isla Menor, and Coria del Rio. Whatever the case, the Vikings reached the city of Seville by September or October, and by this time their reputation had preceded them—the governor of Seville fled the city before the Vikings arrived, taking shelter in fortified Carmona. Therefore, when the fleet of raiders dropped anchor at Seville, they found the city leaderless, unorganized and undisciplined. According to the account of Īsā ibn Ahmad al-Rāzī, the citizens of Seville poured out of the city to try to stop the Vikings. Yet, as forces of Seville had no commander, the raiders easily gained a foothold, defeated the defenders of Seville, and took the city by force.

Tracking the Vikings’ movements becomes more difficult after they captured Seville, as the raiders seemed to have split into different parties to scour the land for loot. According to the account of Ibn al-Kutia, multiple raiding or scouting parties were dispatched every day to different locations, and a separate Viking camp might have been set up on Isla Menor.

The Vikings at Seville were a numerous and organized force, reportedly dominated by a single ruler whose name, unfortunately, was not recorded. Due to the size and ferocity of the Viking army, the military leaders of the Emirate of Cordoba decided to take a cautious approach to dealing with the invaders—a decision that understandably annoyed the coastal cities. Nevertheless, Emir Abd al-Rahman II (r. 822-852) mobilized his forces and had some troops gather at Carmona, while the rest formed up at Cordoba.

The Emirate of Cordoba eventually mustered enough troops to instill enough confidence in their military leaders to throw off the earlier policy of defensive caution. The forces of Cordoba began probing the Viking positions, trying to lure the raiders into an opportune ambush or battle. The emirate finally found its chance on November 11, 844, when it caught a reported splinter of 16,000 Vikings off guard at a place called Tablada near Seville. In the battle, the raiders lost many warriors and were forced to abandon several ships. The military of Cordoba, encouraged by this victory, decided to advance against the city of Seville, itself, in order to drive out the Norsemen. The Viking army in Seville, more concerned about gaining wealth than holding land, reportedly abandoned the city when they discovered that the Emirate of Cordoba was finally making its move. Floating once more on the Guadalquivir, the Vikings regrouped and backtracked to some of the places that they had sailed by or raided earlier. They stopped at Coria del Rio, then Isla Menor, Medina-Sidonia and Cadiz, reportedly allowing these cities to pay ransoms for prisoners that were still held by the fleet. Finally, the Vikings exited the Guadalquivir, sailed to Niebla, then back to Lisbon, and finally departed into the unknown.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Prince Vladimir Campaigns to Korsun, by Nicholas Roerich  (1874–1947), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

  • Ibn Fadlān and the land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, edited and translated by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. New York: Penguin Classics, 2012.
  • The Viking Age: A Reader, edited by Angus A. Somerville and R. Andrew McDonald. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010.

The Buddha

By
thehistorianshut
-

 

The Buddha (6th-5th century BCE)

“Not because of matted hair,
not by means of ancestry, not by birth
does a person become superior.
But because one is honest and just
he is at ease, he is superior.”

  • The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 26), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.
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