Biography
Historical records pertaining to Wen Chou are scarce. References to him could be found in Chen Shou's Records of Three Kingdoms, in the biographies of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Xun Yu, and Xun You, from where it could be gathered that Wen was a fierce warrior whose prowess in battle matched that of his counterpart, Yan Liang.
In 200, after Yan Liang was killed in the Battle of Boma, Yuan Shao brought his main army south of the Yellow River and launched a full-fledged attack on Cao Cao. Wen and Liu Bei were sent forth with a vanguard force of more than 5,000 riders to pursue the retreating army of Cao. Making a stand atop a knoll, Cao retained less than 600 cavalry and let loose the remaining horses.
As Wen's troops arrived, many broke ranks to loot the horses and other supplies. Cao then gave order for a counterattack. The small but elite cavalry force scored a brilliant victory over the disorganized enemy and killed Wen in battle.
Read more about this topic: Wen Chou
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“The death of Irving, which at any other time would have attracted universal attention, having occurred while these things were transpiring, went almost unobserved. I shall have to read of it in the biography of authors.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“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)
“In how few words, for instance, the Greeks would have told the story of Abelard and Heloise, making but a sentence of our classical dictionary.... We moderns, on the other hand, collect only the raw materials of biography and history, “memoirs to serve for a history,” which is but materials to serve for a mythology.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)