Fu Rong (Three Kingdoms)

Fu Rong (died 222) was a military general of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period.

Life

Fu Rong was from Yiyang commandery, which is in present-day Xinyang, Henan. In 221, he followed Liu Bei in the campaign against Sun Quan's forces, leading to the Battle of Xiaoting. In 222, Sun Quan's general Lu Xun defeated Liu Bei's forces at Xiaoting and Yiling and forced them to retreat. Fu Rong volunteered to cover the rear during the Shu retreat. He continued to hold his ground firmly and vent his fury on the enemy even though all his comrades had already been killed. When the Wu soldiers offered him a chance to surrender, he replied, "Dogs of Wu! Do you think a Han officer will ever surrender?" He was eventually killed in action.^[1] Emperor Wu, the founding emperor of the Jin dynasty, specifically mentioned this incident in his decree.^[2]

Fu Rong's son, Fu Qian, continued serving Shu as a military general until his death during the conquest of Shu by Wei in 263.

In fiction

In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Fu Rong was renamed "Fu Tong" (傅彤). After Liu Bei's defeat at the Battle of Xiaoting, Fu Rong volunteered to cover the rear from pursuing enemy troops. He was eventually surrounded by the enemy. Sun Quan's general Ding Feng shouted at him, "Many Sichuan soldiers have died while others have surrendered. Your lord Liu Bei has been captured. Now that you're exhausted and isolated, why don't you surrender early?" Fu Rong replied furiously, "I'm a general of Han, how can I surrender to the dogs of Wu?", after which he grabbed his spear and mounted his horse, leading his men on making a last stand. However, after fighting for more than 100 rounds, Fu Rong was unable to break out of the encirclement. He sighed, "I've come to an end!", and vomited blood and died.^[3]

See also

• List of people of the Three Kingdoms

References

• Chen Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
• Sima Guang. Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 69.