Quan Duan

Historical Record

Quan Duan was a general of the state of Wu in the Three Kingdoms period, whose family was once illustrious within the Eastern Wu polity. His family had deep marriage ties with the family of Sun Quan: Sun Liang's empress, Lady Quan, was the daughter of Quan Shang, and Quan Shang was the man beloved by the princess who was Quan Duan's grand-aunt. After Lady Quan was established as empress, Quan Shang was appointed Colonel of the City Gates and enfeoffed as Marquis of Duting, later succeeding Teng Yin as Grand Master of Ceremonies and General of the Guard, advancing to Marquis of Yongping with charge of the Imperial Secretariat. At that time, five members of the Quan family were enfeoffed as marquises and held command of troops, while the rest of the kinsmen served as gentlemen-attendants and cavalry commandants, guarding the palace precincts. Within Wuxing Commandery, the illustriousness of the Quan family as imperial in-laws was unrivaled ^c:4548.

Quan Duan himself also achieved something in the military sphere. The histories record that in the Battle of Dongxing, Quan Duan was ordered, together with Liu Lue, to garrison the two cities flanking the great dike of Dongxing. At that time, the Wu Chancellor Zhuge Ke, in the tenth month of the first year of Jianxing, mustered his army and rebuilt the great dike of Dongxing, raising two cities on either side of the dike in accordance with the terrain, leaving a garrison of a thousand men in each under the charge of Quan Duan and Liu Lue ^c:4549. The Wei generals Hu Zun, Zhuge Dan, and others led a great army of seventy thousand to attack, seeking to destroy the dike. The cities held by Quan Duan and the others, however, stood on lofty ground, and the Wei army found them hard to take. In the end, under Zhuge Ke's command, the Wu army routed the Wei army and won the great victory at Dongxing. Yet the illustriousness of the Quan family did not last. When the Wei general Zhuge Dan raised troops in revolt at Shouchun and later sought aid from Wu, during this time Quan Duan, together with Quan Yi, Quan Yi, Quan Yi, and other Quan kinsmen, surrendered to Wei at this critical moment. Quan Xi was killed when his rebellion leaked, and from then on the Quan family gradually declined ^c:4548.

In the Novel

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Quan Duan appears as a Wu general, his deeds concentrated chiefly during Zhuge Dan's Battle of Shouchun, broadly consistent with the historical fact but with some literary embellishment and deviation. In the novel, Quan Duan, together with Quan Yi, was dispatched by Sun Chen as a chief commander leading a great army of seventy thousand to relieve Zhuge Dan at Shouchun ^c:4550. At this time in Wu, the Chancellor Sun Jun had died of illness, and his cousin Sun Chen held the regency; he was violent by nature, and all power fell into his hands. Zhuge Dan, discontent with Sima Zhao deposing the ruler and abusing power, raised troops against Wei and sent Wu Gang with his son Zhuge Jing to Wu to seek aid. Sun Chen agreed and dispatched Quan Duan and the others.

After the city of Shouchun was besieged by the Wei army, however, Quan Duan's fate in the novel took a dramatic turn. His son Quan Yi, after leading troops into the city of Shouchun, saw the great strength of the Wei army and, finding no way forward or back, surrendered to Sima Zhao. Sima Zhao enfeoffed Quan Yi as General of the Auxiliary, and Quan Yi, grateful for the kindness, wrote a letter and had it shot into the city, urging his father Quan Duan and uncle Quan Yi to surrender, saying that Sun Chen was cruel and they would do better to submit to Wei. On receiving Quan Yi's letter, Quan Yi (the uncle), together with Quan Duan, led several thousand men to open the gates and surrender to Wei ^c:165. This episode is also recorded in the histories—that Quan Duan and other Quan kinsmen surrendered to Wei at the time of Zhuge Dan's surrender—but the novel, through Quan Yi's letter of persuasion, adds more internal family drama and emotional factors to this historical event.

Key Relationships

* The Eastern Wu polity (serves): Quan Duan was once a general of Eastern Wu and was ordered to garrison a city in the Battle of Dongxing ^c:4549. In the novel, he was further dispatched by Sun Chen to relieve Zhuge Dan, reflecting his identity as a Wu general ^c:4550.
* Cao Wei (defected_to): In both history and the novel, Quan Duan ultimately surrendered to Cao Wei. The histories record that at the time of Zhuge Dan's surrender to Wei, Quan Duan surrendered together with Quan Yi, Quan Yi, and other kinsmen ^c:4548. In the novel, it was through the persuasion of his son Quan Yi that Quan Duan and his son submitted ^c:165.
* Quan Yi (parent_of): Quan Yi was Quan Duan's son. In the novel, Quan Yi's surrender to Wei and his letter of persuasion were the key factors in Quan Duan's eventual surrender to Cao Wei, displaying the emotional bond between father and son and its influence on the family's fate ^c:165 (novel only).
* Quan Yi (same clan): Quan Yi was Quan Duan's clansman, acting together with Quan Duan in both history and the novel. The histories record that they surrendered to Wei together ^c:4548; in the novel, they were together dispatched by Sun Chen to relieve Zhuge Dan and together opened the gates to surrender ^c:4550, ^c:165.
* Sun Liang's Lady Quan (family relation): Lady Quan was the daughter of Quan Shang, and Quan Shang was of the generation of Quan Duan's grand-uncle. Lady Quan's establishment as empress made the Quan family illustrious within the Eastern Wu polity, and Quan Duan, as a member of the family, benefited accordingly ^c:4548.

Iconic Scenes

* Defending the city at Dongxing: In the Battle of Dongxing, Quan Duan, together with Liu Lue, was ordered to garrison the cities flanking the great dike of Dongxing. Facing the powerful assault of the Wei army, they held the cities fast, laying the foundation for the Wu army's eventual victory. This scene displays Quan Duan's military duty and his spirit of steadfast defense as a Wu general ^c:4549.
* Surrendering to Wei at Shouchun: In Zhuge Dan's Battle of Shouchun, Quan Duan and the Quan kinsmen finally chose to surrender to Cao Wei. In the novel, this scene is depicted more concretely: Quan Duan's son Quan Yi first surrendered to Wei, then wrote a letter of persuasion; on receiving it, Quan Duan and Quan Yi led their men to open the gates and surrender. This event marked the shift in Quan Duan's political stance and reflected the complex predicament and ultimate choice of the Quan family amid the struggle between Wu and Wei ^c:165.
* The rise and fall of the Quan family: The Quan family of Wuxing to which Quan Duan belonged once held overwhelming power at court through marriage ties with Sun Quan's family, with five members enfeoffed as marquises and in command of troops, their illustriousness as imperial in-laws unrivaled. Yet with the surrender to Wei of Quan Duan and the others and the death of Quan Xi, the Quan family swiftly declined. This rise and fall is the grand backdrop to Quan Duan's personal fortunes, and an epitome of the rise and fall of the great clans of the Three Kingdoms period ^c:4548.