Biography
Emperor Xian, held hostage by Dong Zhuo secretly sent Liu He (劉和) to appeal for help from Liu He's father, Liu Yu -- the governor of You Province. While traveling through Luyang, Liu He was held by Yuan Shu -- who used Liu He to extort troops and supplies from Liu Yu. Liu Yu complied against strong protest from Gongsun Zan. Afraid that Yuan Shu would hold a grudge against him, Gongsun Zan himself sent his cousin, Gongsun Yue, with 1000 troops and supplies to help Yuan Shu. This caused a rift between Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan.
When Sun Jian, who served under Yuan Shu, returned from Luoyang after defeating Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao wrote to Zhou Yu to attack Yangcheng (modern Dengfeng, Henan) -- to cut Sun Jian off. Gongsun Yue then was ordered by Yuan Shu to help Sun Jian counter-attack. They won the battle, but Gongsun Yue was killed by a stray arrow. Gongsun Zan then used Gongsun Yue's death as the pretext to declare war on Yuan Shao.
Read more about this topic: Gongsun Yue
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“A great biography should, like the close of a great drama, leave behind it a feeling of serenity. We collect into a small bunch the flowers, the few flowers, which brought sweetness into a life, and present it as an offering to an accomplished destiny. It is the dying refrain of a completed song, the final verse of a finished poem.”
—André Maurois (1885–1967)
“Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man’s life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited.”
—James Boswell (1740–95)
“Just how difficult it is to write biography can be reckoned by anybody who sits down and considers just how many people know the real truth about his or her love affairs.”
—Rebecca West [Cicily Isabel Fairfield] (1892–1983)