Gan Ning's History

[NingSuccessor]

My favorite historical figure is probably Gan Ning, as cruel as he was, it is said he treated his troops well. I just wondered if maybe i could be enlightened on some things about his life. what big things did he do in history and did he have a son or successor?...did he die by illness or did Sha Moke really kill him with an arrow?

[Kong Wen]

For a historical account of Gan Ning's exploits, check out his bio from SGZ. It's posted online, here:
http://www.kongming.net/novel/sgz/ganning.php

The end of the bio mentions his son, Gan Huai, who did nothing of note other than get himself exiled.

[NingSuccessor]

thanks

[Marc]

To answer one of your questions, Gan Ning died through illness, but Luo Guanzhong changed his death in the novel to him being shot by Shamoke. Hope that helps.

[boogiepopmeup]

heehee he had dysentery when shamoke killed him! ^_^

[Chibichan]

Dysentery... what a horrible way to die... and it's not just the runs part of it either.

[Wizardman]

Never understood why Luo changed Gan Ning's death to dysentary/shot by Shamoke. It actually makes Gan Ning look a little weaker that way. Although the vultures at the end is an interesting touch.

[Chibichan]

I thought it was crows, and in the book, Gan Ning charged out while he had dysentery... he saw his opponent, grew a brain and thought 'crap, I'm no match for this guy... best wait until I feel better to fight' and turned away, then gets hit.

I think the book was better... I'd rather die to an arrow in the head then from dysentery... that's a horrible way to die.

[Lady Wu]

Continuing discussion from the FAQ thread:

Question about Gan Ning.

I was reading Rafe's To Establish Peace and came along something saying there was a Gan Ning who served Liu Zhang and later rebelled against him, was defeated, and fled to Jing.

I would check the characters in the name to check if he was the same as the known one. but could not find them.

The fleeing to Jing thing makes sense since he ended up serving Liu Biao, in Jing.

Anyone know if they are one and the same?

From Liu Yan's SGZ biography with reference to Yin Xiong Ji, Gan Ning rebelled (together with Lou Fa and Chen Mi) shortly after Liu Yan died. In Gan Ning's SGZ biography with reference to Wu Shu, it mentioned that Gan Ning deserted his post and returned him not long after being employed in Yi Zhou. Given that both records mentioned Gan Ning's stay in Yi Zhou, we can deduce that "Gan Ning" refered to the same person. The only thing is the discrepancy pertaining to how Gan Ning came to Jing Zhou.

I had to look this up before believing that it's true I find this puzzling, though. According to Gan Ning's bio, he had been an adventure-seeking buccaneer, leading reckless youths in banditry, until he was 20-something, when he started to study the classical texts and went to seek employment at Liu Biao's. The text of the SGZ bio sounds like he's bummed around harrassing people until he was 20. It seems odd that he would have had an official position with Liu Zhang at the same time.

[Separation Anxiety]

One thing i find very interesting is how similar he is to Zhang Liao. They were both very feared generals and had great accomplishments, like their raids against each other at Hefei. This was what caused that fear. Also Gan Ning and his men wore bells to let people know they were coming, which scared people away. This is very similar to Zhang Liao, whose name would stop a Southland child from crying at night.