Sections
Places
Capitals, provinces, and battlefields. Modern locations are given only as far as a present-day city or region. Disputed sites, above all Red Cliffs, keep the dispute visible.
Luoyang
Capital of the Eastern Han. Dong Zhuo burned it when he moved the court west. Cao Wei and Western Jin ruled from Luoyang again. The late-Han coups and the Gaopingling coup were staged here.
GuanzhongBothChang'an
The old Western Han capital. Dong Zhuo moved Emperor Xian here and died here. Li Jue and Guo Si then fought over the court. The novel also sets the chain plot in Chang’an.
Yu provinceRecordsXuchang
Seat of Emperor Xian after 196 and the base of Cao Cao’s claim to act for the Han. Guandu lies to the northeast, near modern Zhongmou.
Ji provinceRecordsYe
Yuan Shao’s capital, then Cao Cao’s base in the north after Guandu. Under Cao Pi it remained one of Wei’s five capitals. Later literature attaches the Bronze Bird Terrace to it.
Jing provinceBothJingzhou
Liu Biao’s province, divided among Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan after Red Cliffs. Guan Yu held it until Lü Meng’s seizure broke the Sun–Liu alliance.
Middle YangziBothRed Cliffs
The 208 battlefield where the Sun–Liu alliance burned Cao Cao’s fleet. The name is both a place and a battle. Su Shi’s Huangzhou cliff is not the historians’ first choice.
Middle YangziBothYiling
The field of Liu Bei’s eastern campaign. Lu Xun burned the Shu camps at Xiaoting. The histories call it Yiling or Xiaoting.
Yi provinceRecordsChengdu
Capital of Shu Han. Liu Bei entered in 214 and proclaimed himself emperor here in 221. Under Zhuge Liang it was the center of government, not the front of the northern wars.
Yang provinceRecordsJianye
Sun Quan’s base on the Yangzi, and Wu’s capital after he became emperor in 229. Later Jinling and Nanjing grew on the same site.
Northern edge of YiBothHanzhong
The north gate of Yi province and the south gate of Guanzhong. Liu Bei and Cao Cao fought for it, and Liu Bei’s royal title came from it. Zhuge Liang based the northern expeditions here.
LongyouBothQishan
A pass Zhuge Liang used on several northern expeditions. Jieting lies on a road to its east. It is not Chengdu and not the city of Hanzhong.
Eastern edge of YiBothBaidi
Liu Bei stopped here after Yiling, entrusted the state, and died in 223. The fortress guards the Qutang gorge, the east gate of Yi.
Yu provinceRecordsGuandu
The 200 battlefield between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, northeast of Xu, not inside the later city of Xuchang.
Northern JingBothXiangyang
Liu Biao’s seat. Zhuge Liang farmed and Liu Bei lived as a guest near here, not at Jiangling. Guan Yu later attacked Fan, across the river from Xiangyang.
Middle YangziRecordsWuchang
Sun Quan used it as a capital around the time he became emperor. Lu Xun held it for years. With Jianye, it is Wu’s upriver base.
HuainanRecordsHefei
Cao Cao’s fortress in Huainan. Sun Quan attacked it in person more than once and did not take it. Zhang Liao’s fight at Xiaoyao Ford happened here.
Xu provinceRecordsXiapi
Lü Bu’s last city. In 198–199 Cao Cao flooded it with the Yi and Si rivers. Lü Bu came out and was killed.
Western edge of GuanzhongBothWuzhangyuan
Where Zhuge Liang camped in 234 and where he died. He did not die in the chancellery at Chengdu. The empty fort should not be placed on this standoff.
Jing provinceRecordsMaicheng
Where Guan Yu fell back after losing Jiangling. He was captured nearby. The proverb comes from here. The place itself is small.