Wei Bao魏豹

Where the histories differ

The Records of the Grand Historian places Wei Bao and Peng Yue in a joint biography to observe their grand ambitions, while the History of Han changes to a joint biography with Tian Dan and King Xin of Han, lamenting that fate is hard to defy.

• histories differThe arrangement and historical evaluation of Wei Bao's biography, who was captured but did not surrender

  In the Records of the Grand Historian, the joint biography of Wei Bao and Peng Yue deeply discusses their ambition to seek future success even after being captured and humiliated: 'There was no other reason; their wisdom and strategy surpassed others, and they only feared losing their lives. If they could obtain a small measure of power, they would rise like clouds and transform like dragons, hoping to fulfill their plans, and therefore they did not refuse imprisonment.' In the History of Han, the biography of Wei Bao, Tian Dan, and Han Xin moves Peng Yue out and instead places Wei Bao with the Tian Dan brothers and Han Xin in one volume, with the praise turning to a sigh that the old states were hard to establish: 'During the conflict between Chu and Han, heroes mutually became kings; only Wei Bao, Han Xin, and the Tian Dan brothers were descendants of the old states, yet they all perished in their own lifetimes. Heng's ambition and integrity, and the guests' admiration for righteousness, still could not make them stand on their own—was this not heaven's will!'