Introduction
Liao Li (simplified: 廖立, traditional: 廖立, pinyin: Liào Lì), courtesy name Gongyuan (公淵), was a Shu Han official from Wuling Commandery. Zhuge Liang once ranked him with Pang Tong as “fine talents of Chu” who could help restore the realm. Liao Li served as Administrator of Changsha under thirty, then after losing the city to Lü Meng fled to Liu Bei and was made Administrator of Ba and later of Guling, and Palace Attendant. Under Liu Shan he was Colonel of Changshui but believed he deserved to be second only to Zhuge Liang; he criticised the late emperor’s campaigns, Guan Yu, and several officials. Zhuge Liang memorialised that he had “slandered the late emperor and defamed the court”; Liao Li was stripped of rank and exiled to Wenshan, where he lived by farming until his death. When Zhuge Liang died, Liao Li lamented that he would “remain among the barbarians.”
Biography
Service under Liu Bei in Jing Province
After the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei took charge of Jing Province and recruited Liao Li as an Officer (從事). Before he was thirty, Liu Bei promoted him to Administrator of Changsha (長沙太守).
When Sun Quan’s envoy asked Zhuge Liang who in Shu could help him govern, Zhuge Liang replied: “Pang Tong and Liao Li are fine talents of Chu; they can help bring about a flourishing age.”
In 215, Lü Meng attacked the southern Jing commanderies. Liao Li abandoned Changsha and fled to Liu Bei. Liu Bei valued him and did not punish him; he appointed him Administrator of Ba Commandery (巴郡太守). When the commandery was reorganised as Guling, Liao Li became its Administrator (固陵太守). In 219, when Liu Bei became King of Hanzhong, Liao Li was summoned as Palace Attendant (侍中).
Resentment and criticism under Liu Shan
After Liu Shan succeeded in 223, Liao Li was transferred to Colonel of Changshui (長水校尉). He believed his ability and reputation should place him second only to Zhuge Liang, but he was instead in a loose, secondary position below men like Li Yan, and he was openly discontented. He once killed a prisoner beside Liu Bei’s coffin and complained that he ought to be among the “ministers” or at least the Five Colonels.
When the丞相掾 Li Shao (李邵) and Jiang Wan (蔣琬) came to see him, Liao Li criticised the late emperor’s strategy: not taking Hanzhong first but fighting over the southern three commanderies (which were lost), then losing Hanzhong so that Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He penetrated into Ba, then losing Guan Yu and Shangyong. He blamed Guan Yu for relying on his reputation and leading troops without method. He called Xiang Lang (向朗), Wen Gong (文恭), and Guo Youshi (郭攸之) mediocre and unfit for responsibility, and said Wang Lian (王連) had been greedy and harmed the people. Li Shao and Jiang Wan reported his words to Zhuge Liang.
Demotion and exile
Zhuge Liang submitted a memorial accusing Liao Li of “slandering the late emperor and defaming the multitude of officials,” and of arrogance and disruptive speech. The court stripped Liao Li of office and rank and exiled him as a commoner to Wenshan Commandery (汶山郡). Liao Li went with his wife and children and supported himself by farming.
When Zhuge Liang died in 234, Liao Li wept and said: “I am fated to end as one of the left lapel” (吾终为左衽矣)—i.e. to remain among non-Han peoples and never return to office. Later, when Jiang Wei led a detachment through Wenshan, he visited Liao Li and noted that his bearing and conversation were undiminished. Liao Li eventually died in Wenshan; his wife and children were allowed to return to Shu.
Personality and traits
Talent and ambition
Liao Li was recognised by Zhuge Liang as one of “Chu’s fine talents” alongside Pang Tong. His early promotion to Administrator of Changsha before thirty and his successive posts under Liu Bei show he was trusted. His downfall came from his conviction that he should rank second only to Zhuge Liang and his unwillingness to accept a lesser role.
Outspokenness and indiscipline
He openly criticised the late emperor’s campaigns, Guan Yu’s generalship, and several officials, and killed a prisoner beside Liu Bei’s bier. These acts gave Zhuge Liang grounds to charge him with slander and indiscipline and to remove him from the court.
Political achievements
Offices held
Liao Li served as Officer under Liu Bei in Jing Province, Administrator of Changsha (lost to Lü Meng), Administrator of Ba and then Guling, Palace Attendant under Liu Bei as King of Hanzhong, and Colonel of Changshui under Liu Shan. His administrative record is not detailed in the sources; his fame rests on Zhuge Liang’s early praise and his later fall.
Relationships
Liu Bei and Liu Shan
Liu Bei valued Liao Li enough not to punish him for losing Changsha and to give him Ba and Guling and then the post of Palace Attendant. Under Liu Shan, Liao Li’s resentment at his rank and his criticism of the late emperor led to his exile.
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang publicly compared him to Pang Tong as a “fine talent of Chu.” After Liao Li’s criticism of the court and the late emperor, Zhuge Liang memorialised against him and he was exiled. Liao Li’s lament at Zhuge Liang’s death suggests he saw Zhuge Liang as the one person who might have recalled him.
Li Shao and Jiang Wan
The two reported Liao Li’s critical remarks to Zhuge Liang, which triggered the memorial and his demotion.
Anecdotes and allusions
“Fine talents of Chu”
When a Wu envoy asked who in Shu could help Zhuge Liang govern, Zhuge Liang named Pang Tong and Liao Li as “fine talents of Chu who can help bring about a flourishing age.” This became the standard assessment of Liao Li’s potential.
Source: Records of the Three Kingdoms
Type: Historical
“I am fated to end as one of the left lapel”
After Zhuge Liang’s death in 234, Liao Li, in exile in Wenshan, said: “I am fated to end as one of the left lapel” (吾终为左衽矣)—meaning he would die among “barbarians” and never return to Han office. The phrase is often cited as an example of exiled officials’ despair when their last hope of recall is gone.
Source: Records of the Three Kingdoms
Type: Historical
Jiang Wei’s visit
When Jiang Wei passed through Wenshan with a detachment (in 247), he visited Liao Li and found him “unchanged in spirit, speaking as before.” This suggests Liao Li retained his confidence and eloquence even in exile.
Source: Records of the Three Kingdoms
Type: Historical
Achievements
Liao Li’s documented achievements include:
- Being ranked with Pang Tong by Zhuge Liang as “fine talents of Chu”
- Serving as Administrator of Changsha before thirty and later as Administrator of Ba and Guling and Palace Attendant under Liu Bei
- Serving as Colonel of Changshui under Liu Shan before his demotion
Behind the scenes
Historical sources
Liao Li is recorded in the Records of the Three Kingdoms (三国志) by Chen Shou, in the “Biographies of Liu Feng, Peng Yang, Liao Li, Li Yan, Liu Yan, Wei Yan, and Yang Yi” (劉彭廖李劉魏楊傳) in the Shu section.
Chen Shou’s evaluation
Chen Shou groups Liao Li with Peng Yang as men “advanced for their talent” whose “actions and norms … brought disaster and blame, all of their own making.”
Historical evaluations
Contemporary
Zhuge Liang (early): “Pang Tong and Liao Li are fine talents of Chu; they can help bring about a flourishing age.”
Zhuge Liang (memorial): Liao Li “sits in self-importance, judges the multitude of officials, openly says the state does not employ the worthy but employs vulgar clerks, and says those who lead the myriad troops are all petty men; he slanders the late emperor and defames the multitude of officials.”
Chen Shou
Chen Shou: “Peng Yang and Liao Li were advanced for their talent … Look at their actions and norms; the disasters and blame they brought were all of their own making.”
Jiang Wei
After visiting Liao Li in Wenshan: “His spirit is undiminished and his words are as before.”
Legacy
Liao Li is remembered as a man of high ability who was once ranked with Pang Tong but whose pride and outspoken criticism of the late emperor and the court led to his exile. His phrase “I am fated to end as one of the left lapel” after Zhuge Liang’s death is often quoted to illustrate the finality of his fall.
See also
- Pang Tong — ranked with Liao Li by Zhuge Liang as “fine talents of Chu”
- Zhuge Liang — praised Liao Li, then memorialised for his demotion
- Jiang Wan — reported Liao Li’s remarks; later visited in capacity as senior official
- Li Yan — Liao Li resented being ranked below him
- Peng Yang — grouped with Liao Li by Chen Shou as talent that brought disaster on itself
- Liu Bei — lord under whom Liao Li rose; Liao Li later criticised his strategy
References
- Chen Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms (三国志), “Biographies of Liu Feng, Peng Yang, Liao Li, Li Yan, Liu Yan, Wei Yan, and Yang Yi” (蜀書·劉彭廖李劉魏楊傳).