Xiahou Shang夏侯尚

History vs. fiction

The plot of Huang Zhong capturing Xiahou Shang alive and shooting him with an arrow at Dingjun Mountain is unique to the novel.

• novel inventionXiahou Shang being captured alive by Huang Zhong at Dingjun Mountain and being hit by an arrow is fictional in the novel.

  The novel describes that in the Battle of Dingjun Mountain, Xiahou Shang was captured alive by Huang Zhong 'in a single encounter, and he was taken back to the camp,' and later, when exchanging prisoners in front of the two armies, 'when Xiahou Shang was about to reach the camp gate, Huang Zhong shot him in the back with an arrow. Shang returned with the arrow in his back.' The official history has no record of his capture or being shot. Xiahou Shang later was active on the southern front, and proposed a strategy: 'If we send elite troops secretly, taking them by surprise, we will have the advantage of a decisive victory,' and 'then he led the troops to attack Shangyong, pacifying three commanderies and nine counties, and was promoted to General Who Conquers the South.'