Zhuge Zhan Zhuge Zhan ( 227 – 263 ) , Siyuan , was a politician and military general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period . He was a son of Shu Han ' s Zhuge Liang . Early life . When Zhuge Zhan was 16 years old , the emperor of Shu , Liu Shan , arranged a marriage between his daughter and the adolescent , and made his son - in - law a Captain of the Cavalry , a title slightly lower than that of a general . One year later , the captain was promoted to General of the Household , serving as an imperial guardian . Henceforth , the prince consort constantly received promotions , and served many posts , including both civil and military appointments . Besides his many official titles , Zhuge Zhan was an artist who was particularly good at painting and calligraphy . Since the people of Shu yearned for the deceased Zhuge Liang , they especially loved Zhuge Zhan ' s talents . Whenever there was a good policy set up within the state , the citizens would credit Zhuge Zhan with it , even though it actually had nothing to do with him . As Zhuge Liang banned the post of Historian in Shu , it was hard to distinguish which policy was suggested by Zhuge Zhan , and which was not , but Zhuge Zhan ' s reputation was surely greater than his real accomplishment . Pinnacle of power . His frequent promotions had been continuing until the prince consort reached the ceiling of the imperil administrative system — the Imperial Secretariat . At the same time , Zhuge Zhan was appointed the acting commander of imperial defensive forces and acting director of all military generals . Since his ascension to Imperial Secretariat , Zhuge Zhan ' s power within Shu appeared unrivaled , as veteran generals like Liao Hua , who served as the Right General of Chariot and Cavalry ( top ranked military position , only next to Grand General and General of the Elite Cavalry ) , still had to buy the prince consort off for their political prospect . While a son of Zhuge Liang , Zhuge Zhan realized the danger of over - extending the military . After Jiang Wei became the paramountcy of the army , Zhuge Zhan attempted to restrain the former from constantly waging wars against Cao - Wei . When Jiang Wei finally suffered a crushing defeat from Deng Ai , Zhuge Zhan memorialized the emperor that Jiang Wei should be stripped off from military command and replaced by Yan Yu , who , although a personal friend of the notorious Huang Hao , was said to be a capable general . Zhuge ' s memorial to Liu Shan was archived by some respected elders in Shu region even at the time of Jin Dynasty . However , it is not known whether the emperor listened to the Prince consort ' s suggestion , because Jiang Wei dared not return to Chengdu when he knew his failure had drawn him much resent from the people of Shu . But Zhuge Zhan ' s proposal of switching from an offensive stance to a defensive stance was somehow compromised by Liu Shan , who had earlier replaced Wei Yan ' s tried - and - trusted defensive layout with a high - risk - high - reward strategy presented by Jiang Wei . Previously , Wei Yan invented a defense mechanism to hinder and repel invading forces by setting up " covering camps " on the outskirt and exits of trails leading to Hanzhong territory . Even after Wei Yan ' s death , Shu had been following his arrangement , successfully driving out Cao - Wei forces everytime . However , Jiang Wei argued Wei Yan ' s design " could only repel the enemy but not reaping big profit . " To anticipate a Wei attack , Jiang Wei proposed to abandon the camps set up by Wei Yan and vacate all the passes in the Qin Mountains ( Qinling ) , so the Cao Wei army would slide deeper into Hanzhong , where the weary expedition force would be blocked and vulnerable to a Shu counterattack upon retreat . Jiang Wei claimed his arrangement could achieve a decisive victory previously unimaginable when they had just defended along the Qinling ridges . Since the lobbyist ' s analysis was of decent logic and merit , Zhuge Zhan did not oppose dismantling Wei Yan ' s intertwined fortifications . Futile effort to defend Shu . In early 263 , Jiang Wei requested reinforcement be sent from Chengdu when Wei general , Zhong Hui , received the staff of authority to command the western regions . But Liu Shan made the wrong judgment to believe in Huang Hao ' s witchcraft theory that destiny dictated Wei would not attack , at the time not informing Zhuge Zhan of Jiang Wei ' s warnings . However , reinforcements were nevertheless sent before engagement started . When Cao Wei mobilized in September , Jiang Wei ' s plan worked — only for its first half that Wei ' s forces advanced unopposed until they reached the fortresses of Han ( 汉 ) and Yue ( 乐 ) , which served as a bait to wear the enemies out . However , enemy commander , Zhong Hui , simply split out two detachments to besiege the two cities , and swiftly continued to press on . Meantime , Jiang Wei was consecutively defeated by Wang Qi and Yang Yan ( 杨欣 ) , and was forced to change the entire plan spontaneously into relying on the defense of Jian ' ge ( 剑阁 ) , where the great tower finally blocked Zhong Hui ' s advance . Knowing Jiang Wei ' s plan failed and had sown seeds of destruction , Zhuge Zhan later assembled a force and moved to Fu city to await news from the front - lines . Battles with Deng Ai , and death . The aforementioned military movements happened within weeks , Zhong Hui ' s rapid advance was beyond most Shu general ' s comprehension , as they realized the danger of letting the enemy in , Jiang Wei and his comrades were struck in Jian ' ge . Knowing Jian ' ge would not easily fall , Zhuge Zhan did not send additional troops there , but kept his position in Fu County . When the Wei general , Deng Ai , suddenly appeared in Jiangyou ( 江由 ) though a treacherous trail , the local Grand Administrator was shocked and subsequently surrendered , providing the former a foothold . In Huang Quan ' s biography in Chen Shou ' s " Records of the Three Kingdoms " , it is recorded that Huang Chong , son of the defector Huang Quan , urged Zhuge Zhan on numerous occasions to secure advantageous terrain before Deng Ai would get to a flat plain . Like his father Zhuge Liang , the son was also a chary person , who deemed Huang Chong ' s plan too ambitious ; Zhuge Zhan preferred a " more cautious approach . " However , when Huang bawled and repeatedly pushed the commander for an offensive , Zhuge Zhan relented and tentatively attacked the enemy with the van , which was promptly destroyed by Deng Ai . Then , Zhuge Zhan left Fu for a better fortified Mianzhu ( 绵竹 ) , and planned to have a final showdown with his pursuer . When Deng Ai tailed the loser to Minzhu , he gave a last chance to Zhuge Zhan and promised to recommend the latter to be " King of Langye . " But Zhuge Zhan executed Deng Ai ' s messenger , moved out from the fortress , and supposedly arranged the famous military formation improved by Zhuge Liang — Eight Trigrams Formation . The array involved the highest - ranked officials present in Minzhu , including grandson of Zhang Fei and Imperial Secretariat , Zhang Zun ( 張遵 ) , Right Commander of Feathered Imperial Guards , Li Qiu ( 李球 ) , the aforementioned Huang Chong , Zhuge Zhan , and Zhan ' s son , Zhuge Shang . After Huang Chong performed a speech in front of the army to boost the morale , Zhuge Zhan asked Deng Ai to attack his position . Deng Ai ordered his son , Deng Zhong , and Major , Shi Zuan ( 师纂 ) , to flank Zhuge ' s position . The two generals then moved to the formation ' s left and right , but were intercepted and beaten by their adversary , only Deng Ai ' s central army remained intact . Deng Zhong and Shi Zuan returned to Deng Ai , stating the enemy could not be broken , and suggested the commander to order a general retreat . But Deng Ai angrily told the duo that the battle must be won for them to live another day , and even threatened his subordinates with death penalty if the duo were to be defeated again . Thus , Deng Zhong and Shi Zuan dashed back and led a raid that successfully broke the formation . Zhuge Zhan , along with his son , resisted the enemies until the father and son were finally butchered . In fiction . The depiction of his ill - fated defense of Shu capital in Luo Guanzhong ' s historical novel " Romance of the Three Kingdoms " was quite dramatized . When Liu Shan , the Shu Han emperor , asked Zhuge Zhan to think of a plan to save the state , he thought of a plan by dressing up like his father Zhuge Liang , to scare the enemy off . His ruse shocked Cao Wei army into believing Zhuge Liang indeed returned from the dead . However , under leardership of Deng Ai , the Wei army regrouped and attacked again , sending Zhuge to the underworld in the process . Zhuge Zhan died defending Mianzhu Pass with his son Zhuge Shang , along with Huang Chong ( son of Huang Quan ) , hopelessly outnumbered .