Mi Fang
Mi Fang, courtesy name Zifang, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He was also the younger brother of Mi Zhu, who also served Liu Bei. In 219, Mi Fang surrendered to Liu Bei's ally-turned rival Sun Quan, directly resulting in the loss of Jing Province and the death of Guan Yu. The Australian Sinologist Rafe de Crespigny notes that Mi Fang had the remarkable record of serving each of the leaders of the Three Kingdoms during his lifetime.
Early life
Mi Fang was from Qu County, Donghai Commandery, which is present-day Lianyungang, Jiangsu. He was born in an extremely rich merchant family, which had over 10,000 servants and guests. Mi Fang and his elder brother Mi Zhu were said to be proficient in horsemanship and archery. Along with the Chen clan, the Mi family served under Tao Qian, the Governor of Xu Province.Service under Liu Bei
Upon Tao Qian's death, the influential Mi clan strongly advocated the governorship be passed on to Liu Bei, to whom Mi Fang had his sister married. Thereafter, the Mi brothers joined Liu Bei's army to Xuyi and Huaiyin to counter-attack the warlord Yuan Shu in 196. Zhang Fei, who was left behind by Liu Bei to guard Xiapi, killed Cao Bao, the chancellor of Xiapi when Tao Qian was still in charge of Xu Province, after an intense quarrel over some trivial things. Cao Bao's death caused unrest in the city, and the locals opened the city gate for Lü Bu, who then seized control of the city, capturing the families of Liu Bei and Mi Fang during the process. Upon hearing the news, Liu Bei's soldiers started to desert. Liu Bei then retreated to Haixi, Donghai Commandery. Faced with enemies on both sides and a lack of supplies, the Mi brothers encouraged Liu Bei and used their personal wealth to support the army. Seeing no other viable option, Liu Bei sought a truce with Lü Bu, who accepted the proposal and returned Liu Bei's family as an act of good faith. In fear of being isolated by Yuan Shu, Lü Bu obstructed further attempts by Yuan Shu to eliminate Liu Bei.Liu Bei moved his camp to Xiaopei where he was financially supported by the Mi brothers to rebuild his army, gathering over 10,000 men. Lü Bu became concerned and attacked Xiaopei. Liu Bei then fled to Xuchang, where warlord Cao Cao had set his base. While Liu Bei served under Cao, Cao Cao enticed Mi Zhu and Mi Fang by offering them governorships of Ying Commandery and Pengcheng Commandery respectively, but both chose to follow Liu Bei when their brother-in-law left Cao Cao, giving up the high positions for an unknown future.
Later, Liu Bei joined Liu Biao, the Inspector of Jin Province. After the battle of Jiangling, Liu Bei successfully negotiated with the southern and eastern warlord Sun Quan to lend him the Nan Commandery of Jing Province, and Mi Fang was assigned the post of the Administrator of the commandery. When Liu Bei embarked for Yi Province, Mi Fang was ordered to stay behind with Guan Yu in Jing Province.
Service under Sun Quan
In 219, Guan Yu launched an invasion against Cao Cao, leaving Mi Fang with the defence of the base city in Jiangling, and Shi Ren in Gong'an County. Earlier, Mi Fang had accidentally set some military equipment ablaze, and Guan threatened to dish out harsh punishment should he triumph over Cao Cao. As a result, Mi Fang was afraid of Guan Yu. Mi Fang received letters from Sun Quan, who was also a brother-in-law to Liu Bei, who was also angered by Guan Yu's insolence.Thus, when Sun Quan launched a surprise attack on Jiangling, Mi Fang listened to Shi Ren's suggestion and surrendered to Sun Quan. Sandwiched on both sides by enemies, Guan Yu was captured by Lü Meng and executed. Mi Zhu was deeply ashamed of his brother's betrayal, and soon died of sickness and wrath. Mi Fang was not only blackened by Yang Xi of Shu Han for his betrayal, but had also been derided by Yu Fan of Eastern Wu for the very same reason.
In July 223, an Eastern Wu commander named Jin Zong, who was in charge of Qichun, defected to Cao Wei by launching a rebellion. So Sun Quan ordered He Qi to put down the rebellion. Mi Fang then served under He Qi as a commander, along with another two generals named Liu Shao and Xianyu Dan. They succeeded in their mission, capturing Jin Zong alive and retaking Qichun. That was the last historical record of Mi Fang, after which he was not mentioned again.
Like Shi Ren, while Mi Fang's death year or date was not recorded in history, he was mentioned in Yang Xi's Ji Han Fuchen Zan, suggesting that he died before 241.