Battle of Mount Dingjun

Battle between warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao (219)

The Battle of Mount Dingjun was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in February 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms stretch of Chinese history. Liu Bei's victory in the battle marked a major milestone in his Hanzhong Campaign and allowed him to kill the commander of the Wei's forces, Xiahou Yuan and later taking Hanzhong Commandery.

In December 217, Liu Bei led a campaign to attack Hanzhong, which was under the control of Cao Cao. His force met with resistance led by Xiahou Yuan at Yangping Pass (陽平關). The confrontation dragged on for more than a year until one night, Liu Bei set fire to the barbed fence around Xiahou Yuan's camp at the foot of Mount Dingjun. Alarmed by the attack, Xiahou Yuan sent Zhang He to defend the eastern corner of the camp, while he guarded the south. Liu Bei's main force pressed against Zhang He, outmatching the latter. Xiahou Yuan had to dispatch a fraction of his own troops to Zhang He's rescue. Fa Zheng saw that the situation was turning in their favor and advised to attack the Wei forces. Although Xiahou Yuan's soldiers were more experienced; Huang Zhong rallied his men, led the charge forward and along with "drums that shook the heavens and shouts that moved the valley" they descended upon Xiahou Yuan's forces. The battle became a rout. Xiahou Yuan and his son Xiahou Rong were both killed in action along with his deputy.

The battle is also reenacted in Peking opera, based on the novel. It was said that the actor playing Xiahou Yuan would get a red envelope for his performance during the Chinese New Year, since it is considered bad fortune to be "killed" on stage at that time of the year. The first Chinese film ever made, Dingjun Mountain (1905), was a recording of the Peking opera.