Bei Yan was a military general serving under the warlord Gongsun Yuan

Gongsun Yuan

Gongsun Yuan , style name Wenyi , was a warlord and vassal of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history.-Biography:...

 during the Three Kingdoms

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

 period of Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

.

During the Liaodong campaign

Sima Yi's Liaodong campaign

Sima Yi's Liaodong campaign occurred in 238 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Sima Yi, a general of the state of Cao Wei, led a force of 40,000 troops to attack the warlord Gongsun Yuan, whose clan had ruled independently from the central government for three generations in the...

 against Gongsun Yuan by the state of Cao Wei

Cao Wei

Cao Wei was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid...

, Bei led Gongsun's troops against Sima Yi

Sima Yi

Sima Yi was a general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He is perhaps best known for defending Wei from Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions...

 but ultimately lost. After he retreated from defeat, he once again reassembled his forces and attempted a second attack under Gongsun Yuan's order to fight to the death, but after several skirmishes, he was defeated and presumably slain.

In fiction

In Luo Guanzhong

Luo Guanzhong

Luo Ben , better known by his style name Luo Guanzhong , was a Chinese writer of the early Ming Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was also known as Huhai Sanren...

's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...

, Bei was slain by the Cao Wei general Xiahou Ba

Xiahou Ba

Xiahou Ba , style name Zhongquan , was a military general of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history...

 in this battle.

See also

• List of people of the Three Kingdoms