郁成 / Yucheng (Western Han-era)

Overview

郁成 / Yucheng is a Western Regions polity appearing in Hanji 375-1 during 李广利’s Dayuan campaign. Its forces defeat a detached Han unit, after which 上官桀 attacks and its king flees to 康居.

Current Profile

The source supplies only a narrow campaign profile. Yucheng can destroy or disperse a roughly thousand-person Han detachment, but it cannot withstand the subsequent force sent under Shangguan Jie. Its king seeks safety in Kangju, whose ruler turns him over after learning that Han has defeated 大宛 and fearing that protection will widen the conflict.

Yucheng therefore appears as a small polity exposed to cascading coercion after a larger regional victory. Its local battlefield success does not survive the shift in regional expectations created by Dayuan’s defeat, and its king’s fate depends on a neighboring power’s risk calculation rather than only Yucheng’s own military capacity.

Key Characteristics

• Western Regions polity encountered during the Han expedition against Dayuan.
• Able in the episode to defeat a separated Han detachment under Wang Shensheng.
• Subsequently attacked by Shangguan Jie’s force.
• Loses its king when he flees to Kangju and is surrendered under Han pressure.
• Illustrates how a major expedition changes the choices available to smaller neighboring powers.

Evidence

Local conflict:

• Hanji 375-1 says a Han detachment of roughly one thousand under Wang Shensheng reaches Yucheng and is nearly destroyed.
• Hanji 375-1 says Li Guangli sends Shangguan Jie to attack Yucheng after survivors return.

King’s flight and surrender:

• Hanji 375-1 says the king flees to Kangju and is handed over after Kangju learns of Han’s Dayuan victory.

Qualifications

This page is bounded to one short podcast source. It does not reconstruct Yucheng’s location, government, population, relation to Dayuan, the initial clash’s causes, the king’s name, or civilian consequences. Force size, sequence, and motives remain episode-attributed. The transcript form “御城” is normalized to 郁成.

What Changed

• Created Yucheng’s bounded campaign profile from Hanji 375-1.

Relationships

• 李广利 / Li Guangli (Western Han) - Han expedition commander who sends a follow-up force after the detached unit’s defeat.
• 上官桀 / Shangguan Jie (Western Han) - commander who attacks Yucheng and pursues its king.
• 康居 / Kangju - neighboring polity that initially receives and then surrenders the fleeing king.
• 赵弟 / Zhao Di (Western Han) - rider who kills the captive king during the return escort.
• 大宛 / Dayuan (Western Han) - larger campaign target whose defeat changes Kangju’s response to Yucheng’s king.