Ding Feng

Ding Feng is a Wu commander whose career in the narrative spans battlefields and the palace: he helps trap Liu Bei during the retreat from Yiling, takes part in the attack that forces Cao Pi to withdraw, and later works with Sun Xiu and Zhang Bu to bring down Sun Chen. His recurring role is that of an active military figure whose force is deployed both against rival armies and in a decisive struggle inside Wu’s court.

Identity and Place in the Narrative

The account does not provide Ding Feng’s background or a physical description. Instead, it identifies him through the consequences of his actions. In the aftermath of the Battle of Yiling, he is one of the Wu commanders pursuing Liu Bei’s beleaguered force; during Cao Pi’s invasion, he attacks the retreating Wei ruler; and later he is summoned by Sun Xiu as a veteran commander trusted to assist in a dangerous palace plot.

These appearances give Ding Feng a distinctive reach across the story’s military and political arenas. He is not presented only as a battlefield figure: the same experience that makes him useful in the conflict with Wei also places him among those capable of acting when Wu’s ruler seeks to break Sun Chen’s grip on power.

Pursuit of Liu Bei after Yiling

During the Battle of Yiling, Lu Xun’s fire attack throws Liu Bei’s camps into disorder. As the encampments burn and Wu troops advance, Liu Bei tries to reach the safety of Feng Xi’s position. When that route fails, he is caught between opposing forces: Xu Sheng presses from one direction, while Ding Feng attacks from behind. The encirclement leaves Liu Bei in immediate danger, until Zhang Bao breaks through and gets him away with the royal guard.

Ding Feng’s appearance in this pursuit marks the collapse of Liu Bei’s confidence into a desperate retreat. The Wu attack does not end with the first escape. The following morning, as Liu Bei’s party flees toward Baidi, the pursuing forces continue to threaten it. At a later point in the retreat, Ding Feng leads the Wu troops that overwhelm Fu Tong, who is protecting Liu Bei’s withdrawal. Ding Feng tells Fu Tong that Liu Bei has been captured; Fu Tong refuses to surrender, declares his loyalty to the Han, and dies fighting. The episode presents Ding Feng as part of the force pressing the retreat to its most perilous point, though Zhao Zilong’s arrival ultimately enables Liu Bei to reach safety.

Attack on Cao Pi’s retreat

During Cao Pi’s invasion of Wu, the Wei ruler concludes that his army cannot succeed and orders a withdrawal to safeguard the capital. The retreat itself becomes dangerous. Sun Shao attacks Cao Pi’s forces and boats, and the Wei army loses many men. When Cao Pi tries to leave the water for dry land, burning oil-soaked reeds block the way. Ding Feng then attacks, adding a direct assault to the hazards already disrupting the withdrawal.

Cao Pi escapes only through the efforts of Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. The campaign ends in a major defeat for Wei, with extensive losses and substantial spoils captured by Wu. Ding Feng is one of the commanders whose attack helps make the retreat costly, while Zhang Liao is badly wounded and later dies of those wounds. The narrative thus connects Ding Feng’s action to the wider consequences of Wu’s successful defense, without attributing the entire defeat to him alone.

Role in Sun Chen’s Overthrow

Ding Feng’s military role acquires a political dimension when Sun Xiu, alarmed by Sun Chen’s attempt to seize imperial power, calls on his adviser Zhang Bu and summons Ding Feng. Together they plan to overthrow Sun Chen during a great festival, intending to invite him to attend and then kill him. Their conspiracy turns a public court occasion into the setting for a carefully prepared confrontation.

On the appointed day, Sun Chen dismisses warnings and boasts that his brothers control the palace guards. He sits beside Sun Xiu, apparently secure, until flames break out around the palace. Taking this as the signal he had himself proposed, Sun Chen rises; Zhang Bu enters with thirty guards and seizes him. Sun Chen asks to be allowed into internal exile, but Sun Xiu points to the people Sun Chen has arbitrarily killed and orders his execution. Ding Feng’s part is established in the planning and in his summons as a veteran commander; the account does not specify a separate action by him during the seizure itself.

Significance

Ding Feng’s appearances trace a movement from battlefield pursuit to participation in a change of political power. At Yiling, he helps close in on Liu Bei and later leads the troops that confront Fu Tong. Against Cao Pi, he presses an attack during a retreat already made hazardous by fire and the Wu advance. In the palace, he lends military standing to a plan intended to end Sun Chen’s control.

The different settings underscore a recurrent feature of the narrative: military command is consequential beyond the field. Ding Feng’s strength is shown through his place in the pursuit and assault, while his later summoning reflects the need for armed authority in a contest over who governs Wu. His path therefore connects the external wars among the Three Kingdoms with the internal instability that threatens Wu itself.