Volta
ConflictWinter 208

Battle of Red Cliffs

Also called: Battle of Chibi

The allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei burned the great fleet of Cao Cao, who had come south down the Yangtze, at Red Cliffs. Cao Cao’s bid to unify the realm was stopped, and the three-way division hardened.

Three Kingdoms Red Cliffs ancient battlefield site on the Yangtze, Chibi, Hubei
Three Kingdoms Red Cliffs ancient battlefield site on the Yangtze, Chibi, Hubei

Ddayzzz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Having taken Jing Province in 208, Cao Cao moved east down the Yangtze. Sun Quan gave Zhou Yu an army to resist him together with Liu Bei. Zhou Yu’s officer Huang Gai feigned surrender and sent burning ships into Cao Cao’s fleet; battered by fire and disease, Cao Cao withdrew north. Liu Bei then took southern Jing and later Yi Province, and the three-way contest of Wei, Shu and Wu took shape. The battlefield is usually placed at present-day Chibi in Hubei, though other sites have been proposed. Scenes such as Zhuge Liang summoning the southeast wind come from the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

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States at the time
Han
Places
Red Cliffs (Chibi)

People

  • Cao CaoAD 155 – AD 220

    commander · Chancellor and King of Wei in the late Han, who controlled Emperor Xian, defeated Yuan Shao at Guandu and unified the north, laying the foundation of Wei

  • Zhou YuAD 175 – AD 210

    commander · Sun Quan’s commander, who led the Wu forces that defeated Cao Cao at Red Cliffs in 208

  • Liu BeiAD 161 – AD 223

    commander · Founding emperor of Shu Han (Emperor Zhaolie), who claimed descent from the Han house and became emperor at Chengdu in 221

  • Sun QuanAD 182 – AD 252

    monarch · Founding emperor of Wu (Emperor Da), who allied with Liu Bei to stop Cao Cao at Red Cliffs and became emperor in 229

  • Zhuge LiangAD 181 – AD 234

    diplomat · Chancellor of Shu Han, who proposed the plan to divide the realm in three to Liu Bei in 207 and died of illness on the Wuzhang Plains in 234 during his northern campaigns

2 parts of this event

  1. AD 208Borrowing Arrows with Straw BoatsFiction

    A scene from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in which Zhuge Liang gathers a hundred thousand of Cao Cao’s arrows with straw-laden boats. It is not in the official history.

  2. AD 208Guan Yu at Huarong RoadFiction

    A scene from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in which Guan Yu, remembering past kindness, lets the defeated Cao Cao escape at Huarong Road. It is not in the official history.

Before and after

Earlier
AD 208 Battle of Changban
Later
AD 219 Battle of Fancheng and the Death of Guan Yu

Related works

Dramatized works (films, dramas, novels) may differ from the historical record.

Themes that include this event

  • The Three KingdomsAD 184 – AD 280

    From the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the Jin reunification — a century of Wei, Shu and Wu, the age of Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan