试论关羽痛失荆州的必然性

On Inevitability of Guan Yu’s Failure in Defending Jingzhou Region

古今学者、读者多认为关羽大意失荆州,这是不符合实际的。关羽固然妄自尊大,盛气凌人,不善于处理内部矛盾,给他的人生事业造成了令人痛心的负面影响。但蜀汉失荆州无疑有其必然性:曹魏、东吴对于战略要地的拼死争夺、尤其是东吴长期而周密的军事计划是关羽失荆州的客观因素,而刘备、诸葛亮的一再失误是关羽毁败的致命原因。如果说关羽应承担失荆州百分之二十的主观责任的话,那么蜀汉最高决策层应承担百分之八十的主观责任。

There has long been a stereotype among numerous scholars and readers modern and ancient that it is supreme arrogance that Guan Yun displays which results in his defeat and losing Jing Zhou region. Granted, his personality defect like being overbearing and domineering and his inability as a senior general to manage or deal with conflicts between he and his high-ranking officers may later, as history has proven, turn to be his undoing and bring about the ruin of his reputation and the destruction of himself. But apart from this popular belief, the author suggests, it is unavoidable for both Guan himself and the Kingdom of Shu-han to fail to defend this territory against the invasion of Kingdom of Wu as reasons below: Jing Zhou as a town of great military importance, it is natural to become a battleground among three Kingdoms and has already witnessed countless violent battles between Kingdom of Wei and Kingdom of Wu. Since Kingdom of Shu is the weakest among the three Kingdoms, the force under the command of Guan Yu is trivial compared with that of made up of hardened veterans led by experienced officers from Kingdom of Wu and Kingdom of Wei. So faced with precise planning and foresight of military operation of Kingdom of Wu, punctured by those consecutively wrong orders given by Emperor Liu Bei and Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, it is safe to say that Guan Yu’s downfall is doomed. In others words, Guan himself as the highest military and executive chief in Jing Zhou should be the one less to blame, while his higher authorities should take the major responsibility for the loss of Jing Zhou.