First Rebellion in Shouchun

The First Rebellion in Shouchun, also known as Wang Ling's Rebellion or the Wang Ling Rebellion, was a punitive uprising in 251 led by Wang Ling against Sima Yi and his clan in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era. This was the first of a series of three rebellions that all took place in Shouchun (壽春; present-day Shou County, Anhui) in the 250s.

Background
Like each of the Three Rebellions in Shouchun, the revolt was caused by the usurpation of state power in Wei by Sima Yi and his clan following the Incident at Gaoping Tombs in 249. Around 240, Wang Ling, an influential governor and general of Wei, was appointed General Who Attacks the East (征東將軍) and placed in charge of military affairs in Yang Province. In 241, the Eastern Wu general Quan Cong led thousands of troops to attack a Wei embankment at Quepi (芍陂). Wang Ling led an army to counter the invaders and drove them away after several days of fighting. For his efforts, Wang Ling was granted the title of "Marquis of Nan" (南鄉侯), promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry (車騎將軍) and the number of households under his control increased to 1,350.

Trigger
Around that time, Wang Ling's nephew Linghu Yu (令狐愚) was appointed Inspector of Yan Province (兗州刺史) for his contributions and garrisoned at Ping'e (平阿). Both of them wielded significant power in the Huainan region. Wang Ling was subsequently promoted to Excellency of Works (司空). After Sima Yi eliminated Cao Shuang and his clan in the Incident at Gaoping Tombs, Wang Ling was appointed Grand Commandant (太尉) and given a ceremonial axe (節鉞). Wang Ling and Linghu Yu had a discussion and felt that the Wei emperor Cao Fang was not worthy to sit on the throne, and that Cao Biao (曹彪), the Prince of Chu (楚王), was more capable, so they plotted to install Cao Biao on the throne with the capital in Xuchang.

In the ninth lunar month of 249, Linghu Yu sent his subordinate Zhang Shi (張式) to Boma (白馬) to make contact with Cao Biao. Wang Ling also sent someone to Luoyang to inform his son Wang Guang (王廣) about the plot, but Wang Guang advised his father against the idea, saying, "The act of changing the ruler is a cause for disaster." The unofficial historical text Hanjin Chunqiu (漢晉春秋) written by Xi Zuochi (習鑿齒) during the Eastern Jin Dynasty provided an account of Wang Guang writing a long reply to his father, stating that Cao Shuang and his associates fell from power because they lost the people's support, and Sima Yi's policies were more popular, and it was difficult to unseat the Sima clan because they wielded strong military power. Pei Songzhi, in his annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms, claimed that Xi Zuochi fabricated this account, on the grounds that the tone and writing style of Wang Guang's reply differed from earlier records.

Rebellion
In the 11th lunar month, Linghu Yu sent Zhang Shi to contact Cao Biao again but he died of illness before Zhang Shi returned. In 250, a glitter was observed in the South Dipper constellation, and Wang Ling said, "When there's a star in the Dipper, someone will make a sudden big fortune." Pei Songzhi's annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms from the Weilue mentioned that Wang Ling questioned people in the area about the meaning of the stars, and those people, wanting to please Wang, lied to him that the stars show that a ruler will rise. Wang Ling then affirmed his plan to rebel.

In the spring of 251, Wu forces garrisoned at Tushui (塗水), and Wang Ling requested permission from the Wei court to attack the enemy, hoping to use that to mask his revolt. Sima Yi roughly sensed Wang Ling's intention and ignored the latter's petition. Wang Ling then sent Yang Hong (楊弘) to inform Huang Hua (黃華), the Inspector of Yan Province (兗州刺史), but Yang and Huang reported Wang to Sima Yi instead. News of the rebellion reached the Wei emperor Cao Fang in the fourth lunar month of 251.

Sima Yi immediately mobilised troops to attack Wang Ling, travelling on water. He first issued a pardon to Wang Ling and sent a secretary to call for Wang's surrender, while his army advanced to within 100 chi of Wang's base to pressure the latter. Wang Ling knew that his forces were too weak so he gave up, and sent his subordinate Wang Yu (王彧) to apologize and hand over his official seal and ceremonial axe on his behalf. Pei Songzhi's annotations in Records of the Three Kingdoms from the Weilue contained detailed records of two apology letters written by Wang Ling to Sima Yi.

When Sima Yi's army reached Qiutou (丘頭), Wang Ling tied himself up (to show his repentance). Acting on imperial order, Sima Yi sent a Registrar (主簿) to unbind Wang and reassure him, while returning his official seal and ceremonial axe. Wang Ling later had a conversation with Sima Yi at a distance of more than ten zhang between them. Wang Ling knew that he had committed a serious crime, so he requested for a coffin from Sima Yi to test the latter's intention, and the latter obliged. Sima Yi then sent 600 men to escort Wang Ling back to the capital Luoyang, but before reaching his destination, in the fifth lunar month of 251, Wang committed at Xiang (項) by consuming poison. Pei Songzhi's annotation from Weilue wrote that before his suicide Wang exclaimed, "After living up to the age of 80, my reputation is now destroyed!" An additional annotation from Gan Bao's Jin Ji (晉紀) stated that before his suicide at Xiang, Wang Ling passed a shrine honouring Jia Kui, and he said, "Jia Liangdao (referring to Jia Kui by his style name), only God knows that Wang Ling is truly loyal to Wei."

Cao Biao was ordered by the Wei court to commit suicide and his subordinates who conspired with him were executed along with their families. Wang Ling and Linghu Yu's bodies were exhumed from their graves and exposed to the public for three days in a nearby city, while their official seals and court dresses were burned and buried.

Aftermath
As a result of this uprising, it occurred to many Wei officials that Sima Yi and his clan were serious about affairs, most likely because the Wei court was seen as being divided into those supported the Simas and those who still had their allegiances to the Cao imperial family. The revolt also had a strong influence on the subsequent second and third rebellions in Shouchun, as they were all inspired by the same cause, which was to unseat the Simas and restore the monarchy.

During the revolt, Sima Yi, who was pretending to be sick before the Incident at Gaoping Tombs, became drastically ill and died in September 251. The regency was passed on to his eldest son Sima Shi, who immediately faced an assassination attempt and the second rebellion in Shouchun.

The revolt is often also considered a turning point in the decline of Wei and marked the beginning of the rise of the Sima clan, for Sima Yi's grandson Sima Yan would eventually unify the Three Kingdoms under the Jin Dynasty in 280.

Order of battle
Wang Ling forces
 * Wang Ling
 * Wang Yu (王彧)


 * Cao Biao (曹彪), Prince of Chu (楚王)


 * Linghu Yu (令狐愚)
 * Zhang Shi (張式)

Wei forces
 * Sima Yi

Modern references
The rebellion, along with the other two uprisings, are all featured as playable stages in the Jin Story Mode in the seventh instalment of Koei's Dynasty Warriors video game series. During the stage, the player plays as Sima Yi, and has to plot with Wang Ling's son Wang Guang, who chose to remain in Wei to convince his father Wang Ling to "clear his mind from the chaos". During the stage, Eastern Wu's Zhuge Ke also makes it to the battle to support Wang Ling, even though in history he never did.