Pang Tong
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Páng Tǒng (龐統) (Wade-Giles Pang T'ung) (178-213AD), courtesy name Shìyuán (士元), was an advisor to Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and during the Three Kingdoms era of China. His Taoist name was Young Phoenix (鳯雛; Fèngchú). The classic historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms portrays Pang Tong as a genius military strategist, and describes him and Zhuge Liang in equal terms. Indeed, Sima Hui first recommends Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong to Liu Bei with the following introduction:
"Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix: with either one you can settle all under heaven."
Pang Tong was born in Xiangyang and initially served the warlord, Sun Quan. In this capacity, Pang Tong pretended to defect to Cao Cao in the build-up to the Battle of Red Cliffs, and advised Cao Cao to chain his warships together, ostensibly to stabilise them and reduce sea-sickness among the soldiers. As a result, when Wu attacked the ships with fire, the fire spread quickly to destroy Wei's entire fleet.
After the death of Wu's commander-in-chief Zhou Yu, Zhou's successor Lu Su recommended Pang Tong to Sun Quan as a chief advisor. However, Sun Quan was prejudiced against Pang Tong due to his ugly appearance, and the young man took offense. When asked how his learning compared to the late commander Zhou Yu, Pang haughtily replied that his abilities were not to be compared to those of Zhou Yu.
Pang Tong then went to serve Liu Bei, and mapped out the occupation of Liu Zhang's territory in Yizhou (modern Sichuan), which Zhuge Liang had decided years ago to be the heartland of Liu Bei's kingdom. Pang Tong suggested to Liu Bei to surprise Liu Zhang at their first meeting and kidnap him; Liu Bei declined, reasoning that it was too big of a risk to take at that stage, given his own unfamiliarity with the province. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms fictionalized this event into an attempt by Pang Tong to have Liu Zhang assassinated through Wei Yan's pretense of a sword dance, but was prevented by Liu Bei who saw Liu Zhang as a kinsman, however distant, and instead tried to help fight Zhang Lu when he attacked Liu Zhang.
Liu Zhang, however, was persuaded not to send troops to reinforce Liu Bei, and Liu Bei decided no longer to help Liu Zhang and to take the strategically important Fu Pass. At the Fu Pass, Liu Zhang's generals Yang Huai and Gao Pei tried to assassinate Liu Bei, but were caught and put to death by Pang Tong. Liu Zhang then ordered his generals to attack Liu Bei, and as Liu Bei's two armies marched towards Luocheng, Pang Tong was ambushed in the Valley of the Fallen Phoenix (落鳯坡) by Liu Zhang's general Zhang Ren, where he was mistaken for Liu Bei because he had been given Liu Bei's white horse. He and his men were killed in the shower of arrows. He died at the age of thirty-five.
Liu Bei was left hemmed in at the Pass, and so Zhuge Liang had to leave Jingzhou to relieve him. Guan Yu then had to hold the entire region of Jingzhou alone, leading eventually to defeat when Cao Cao and Sun Quan allied to attack Jingzhou from both north and south.
[edit] Modern references
Pang Tong is featured in the Dynasty Warriors video games by Koei. He is portrayed as a hunched figure who wields the "Tornado Staff", a weapon capable of conjuring magic. His character is cynical and carefree, but wise nonetheless, and has appeared masked in every title in the series, in reference to his supposed ugly appearance. In Dynasty Warriors 6, Pang Tong's wardrobe takes on the appearance much like that of a moth. He is referred to as the "Fledgling Phoenix," and his friendly rivalry with Zhuge Liang has grown more distinguished with each successive title. His special attack is argued by some to be the most powerful in the game for its ability to "vacuum" opponents into its range of effect and deal impressive damage incomparable to his standard attacks.
Not surprisingly, Pang Tong generally takes the place of advisor to Liu Bei, and some of the early strategies in various levels involve him. Although he usually participates in battle, his attacks are short-ranged, slow and not suited for general combat, due to his lack of crowd-control skill. Instead, Pang Tong relies on his superb Musou Attack, which is arguably the strongest and most devastating in the series.
Pang Tong is eventually killed by Zhang Ren, during an ambush in which he is mistaken for Liu Bei during the invasion of Chengdu. Ironically, in a cutscene, he mentions the name of the hill, "Fallen Phoenix Hill".
Pang Tong also appears in the game "Warriors Orochi". He joins together with Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan in the resistance against Orochi. Eventually, they join Cao Pi when they hear that he's planning to restore the kingdom of Wei and rebel against Orochi.
[edit] See also
- Three Kingdoms
- Personages of the Three Kingdoms
- Records of Three Kingdoms
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms
fr:Pang Tong zh-classical:龐統 ko:방통 id:Pang Tong ja:ホウ統 th:บังทอง vi:Bàng Thống zh:庞统
