武关 / Wuguan
武关 / Wuguan appears in 《资治通鉴·周纪》51丨 楚怀王：秦小儿看舅舅如何灭了你！ as the pass route through which 楚怀王 tries to push against 秦国 after 张仪’s six-li reversal. The first attack moves north from Danyang toward Wuguan and ends in 丹阳之战.
The second attack uses the same route in a more dangerous way. Qin retreats through Wuguan and 商於, drawing the 楚国 army deeper toward Lantian, where the Chu force becomes isolated and supply-stretched before defeat at 蓝田之战. In this source, Wuguan is less a neutral place than a corridor where anger keeps pulling Chu into Qin’s chosen terrain.
《资治通鉴·周纪》53丨秦惠王用张仪换地皮 uses Wuguan in two ways. First, land east of Wuguan is part of 秦惠文王’s proposed exchange for 黔中. Second, after his release, 张仪 warns that Qin can exit Wuguan to cut off Chu’s northern territory, making the pass both a bargaining marker and a threat route.
《资治通鉴·周纪》62丨稷儿，诓你舅舅的“腿”啊 makes Wuguan the trap site itself. 秦昭襄王 invites 楚怀王 to meet there, but Qin has a general impersonate the king and closes the pass once Chu Huaiwang enters. In this source, Wuguan shifts from invasion corridor and bargaining marker into the place where Qin converts meeting protocol into captivity.
Qinji 137 adds Wuguan’s Qin-collapse role. 刘邦 captures the pass with tens of thousands of troops, making the anti-Qin war visible at a gateway into Qin’s heartland. In that episode, Wuguan is the point where 赵高’s 危机信息封锁 can no longer keep 胡亥 / 秦二世 insulated from the eastern rebellion.
Qinji 138 part 2 makes Wuguan the previous gateway before the final 峣关 and 蓝田 line. Once Wuguan exposes the war to Hu Hai, the palace crisis ends with Hu Hai’s death; the battlefield sequence then continues as Ziying’s Qin tries and fails to hold the next pass.
Hanji 153 reuses Wuguan as a political boundary rather than a pass battle. After the 彭城之战, 刘邦 asks at 下邑 who can help attack Chu and offers the lands east of Wuguan as reward. The pass therefore marks the divide between Liu Bang’s western base and the eastern reward field used in 下邑画策.
Hanji 162-1 reuses Wuguan as an operational diversion route. After Liu Bang escapes 荥阳, 袁先生 / 袁生 advises him to move out through Wuguan toward 宛县, fortify, and refuse battle, pulling 项羽 south and buying time for 荥阳相持, 成皋, and 韩信.
Connections
- Hanji 162-1, 袁先生 / 袁生, 宛县, 成皋, and 韩信 - southward diversion route after Liu Bang escapes Xingyang.
- 丹阳之战 and 蓝田之战 - two campaign stages tied to the route.
- 秦国, 楚国, and 楚怀王 - combatants and decision-maker.
- 商於 - promised region beyond the pass route.
- 因怒兴师 and 急行军作战风险 - decision and campaign-risk frame.
- 黔中, 张仪, and 连横 - Zhouji 53 land-exchange and Qin threat-map branch.
- 秦昭襄王, 昭雎, 芈兰, 咸阳, and 战术信用成本 - Zhouji 62 meeting trap and detention branch.
- Qinji 137, 刘邦, 赵高, 胡亥 / 秦二世, and 危机信息封锁 - Qin-collapse gateway captured and hidden crisis exposed.
- Qinji 138 part 2, 峣关, 蓝田, and 子婴 - next defensive line after Wuguan’s fall exposes the court crisis.
- Hanji 153, 下邑画策, and 下邑 - reward boundary in Liu Bang’s post-Pengcheng strategy.