Biography
Lineage and Regional Pacification
Zhou Fang was born around 190 CE in Yangxian, Wu Commandery (modern Yixing, Jiangsu) into an eminent regional gentry family. Celebrated for scholarship in youth, he was recommended as Filial and Incorrupt, entering civil service as magistrate of Ningguo and Huai'an. Appointed Chancellor of Qiantang, he suppressed regional rebel leader Peng Shi within a single month, earning promotion to Western Commandant of Danyang. In 225 CE, when tribal bandit leader Peng Qi sacked counties across Poyang, Sun Quan appointed Zhou as Administrator of Poyang; cooperating with Hu Zong, Zhou pursued and captured Peng Qi after a year of operations, stabilizing the sensitive inland mountains.
The Shiting Stratagem and Feigned Defection
In 228 CE, Sun Quan sought to draw Cao Wei forces into a decisive eastern ambush. Dismissing unreliable mountain chieftains, Zhou Fang volunteered to execute a personal feigned surrender. He drafted seven confidential letters to Wei Grand Marshal and Yang Province Governor Cao Xiu, professing deep grievances against the Wu court and offering to surrender Poyang in exchange for military rescue. When imperial inspectors staged investigations, Zhou walked to the public gate of Poyang and cut off his hair in dramatic remorse. Convinced that an aristocratic Chinese official would never shear his hair insincerely, Cao Xiu mobilized 100,000 troops and marched directly into Wancheng.
The Triumph at Shiting and Later Governance
Sun Quan appointed Lu Xun as supreme commander, deploying an elite army that ambushed and shattered Cao Xiu's exposed expeditionary force at Shiting, killing and capturing tens of thousands of Wei soldiers. At the victory banquet, Sun Quan toasted Zhou Fang, declaring that his hair-shearing deception had accomplished the empire's grand strategy, elevating him to Lieutenant General and Marquis of Guannei. In subsequent years, Zhou deployed covert intelligence operatives to assassinate entrenched bandit chieftain Dong Si, bringing enduring peace to Poyang, Yuzhang, and Linchuan. Zhou governed Poyang with impartiality and firmness for thirteen years, dying in office around 239 CE. His son Zhou Chu later achieved immortality as a Western Jin hero and general.