Pang De was from Huandao County (), Nan'an Commandery (),
Liang Province, which is located east of present-day
Longxi County, Gansu. In his youth, he served as an Assistant Officer () in the local commandery office.
Early military career During the Chuping era (190–193) in the reign of
Emperor Xian, the
Liang Province Rebellion broke out. Pang De joined the warlord
Ma Teng in suppressing the revolts by the
Qiang and
Di tribes, and was promoted to Colonel () for his contributions in battle. In 202, the warlord
Cao Cao, who controlled the Han central government, led his forces to attack rival warlords
Yuan Tan and
Yuan Shang at the
Battle of Liyang. When Yuan Tan ordered his subordinates
Guo Yuan and
Gao Gan to lead a separate force to attack
Hedong Commandery, Cao Cao ordered
Zhong Yao to recruit forces from Liang Province to deal with Guo Yuan and Gao Gan. Ma Teng responded to Zhong Yao's call and sent his son
Ma Chao and Pang De to assist Zhong Yao in attacking Guo Yuan and Gao Gan at Pingyang County (平陽縣; west of present-day
Linfen,
Shanxi). Pang De led the vanguard, slew Guo Yuan in the midst of battle and took his head, without knowing that the man he killed was Guo Yuan. After the battle, when Zhong Yao's men searched the battlefield, they found Guo Yuan's headless body. Shortly after, Pang De went to meet Zhong Yao and he threw Guo Yuan's head in front of him. Zhong Yao cried when he recognised Guo Yuan's head because Guo was actually his maternal nephew. Pang De immediately apologised to Zhong Yao, who replied, "Even though Guo Yuan was my nephew, he was an enemy of the state. Why do you apologise?" For his contributions, Pang De was appointed as a General of the Household () and made a Marquis of a Chief Village (). Later, Pang De followed Ma Teng to suppress a rebellion by Zhang Baiqi () at Yao County (殽縣; present-day
Luoning County, Henan). He was famous for his bravery in Ma Teng's army as Pang De recorded always personally charged inside the enemy formation during battles. When Ma Teng was recalled to the imperial capital, Xu (許; present-day
Xuchang, Henan), to serve as Minister of the Guards (), Pang De remained behind in Liang Province with Ma Chao.
Battle of Tong Pass & submitting to Cao Cao Around 211,
Ma Chao started a rebellion against the Han central government and led a coalition of warlords from
Liang Province to attack
Cao Cao, leading to the
Battle of Tong Pass. Cao Cao defeated Ma Chao and his allies at the battle and caused the coalition to break up. Despite his defeat, Ma Chao, with assistance from the
Qiang tribes and the warlord
Zhang Lu in
Hanzhong Commandery, continued to ravage the lands in Liang Province and even seized control of the provincial governorship at one point. However, he was eventually driven out of Liang Province and forced to take shelter under Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. Pang De accompanied Ma Chao to Hanzhong and became one of Zhang Lu's subordinates. Around 214, Ma Chao defected to the warlord
Liu Bei and aided him in
seizing control of
Yi Province (covering present-day
Sichuan and
Chongqing) from its provincial governor,
Liu Zhang. Pang De remained in Hanzhong with Zhang Lu. In 215, Cao Cao led his forces to attack Hanzhong and defeated Zhang Lu at the
Battle of Yangping. Pang De joined Zhang Lu in surrendering to Cao Cao. As Cao Cao had heard of Pang De's valour, he immediately recruited Pang De as his subordinate and appointed him as General Who Establishes Righteousness (). Pang De was also enfeoffed as the Marquis of Guanmen Village () and given 300 taxable households to form his marquisate.
Battle of Fancheng & death In 219, when Hou Yin () and Wei Kai () started a rebellion in Wan (宛; present-day
Wancheng District,
Nanyang,
Henan), Cao Cao sent Pang De and
Cao Ren to quell the uprising. After accomplishing their mission, they garrisoned at Fan (樊; also called Fancheng, in present-day
Fancheng District,
Xiangyang,
Hubei) to defend Cao Cao's territories in northern
Jing Province from advances by Liu Bei's general
Guan Yu, who guarded Liu Bei's territories in southern Jing Province. Pang De often said, "I've received grace from the State and I'm willing to serve the State with my life in the name of righteousness. I'll personally slay
Guan Yu. If I don't kill Guan Yu within this year, he'll kill me." As Pang De arrived in Fan, he battled the rebel forces and managed to slay the rebel leaders under Hou Yin (侯音) and Wei Kai (衛開) who conspired with Guan Yu. and feared him. Pang De later engaged Guan Yu in battle and fired an arrow which hit Guan's forehead at one time, nearly killing the Shu general.
Cao Ren ordered Pang De to set up a separate camp ten
li north of Fan. At the time, there were heavy rains for more than ten days and the
Han River next to Fan burst its banks, with the water level reaching up to five-six
zhang. Pang De and his subordinates retreated to the top of a dam. Guan Yu then led his marines to attack Fan and fired arrows from their warships at the dam. Pang De donned his armour, armed himself with a bow and arrows, and returned fire at the enemy, with not a single arrow missing its target. When Dong Heng () and Dong Chao (), two of Pang De's colleagues, wanted to surrender to Guan Yu, Pang De executed them on the spot. The battle dragged on from morning until afternoon, with Guan Yu's attacks increasing in intensity as time passed. By afternoon, Pang De and his men had expended all their arrows but they continued to engage the enemy in
close quarters combat with short weapons. Pang De told his subordinate Cheng He (), "I heard a good general doesn't fear death, nor does he hope to be spared. A martyr won't violate his principles for the sake of preserving his life. Today is the day I die." The battle raged on as the water level rose higher. By then, many of Pang De's men had surrendered, leaving Pang with only three men. They boarded a small boat and attempted to escape and return to Cao Ren's main camp. However, the boat capsized and Pang De fell into the water. While grabbing on to the boat to stay afloat, he was surrounded and captured by Guan Yu's soldiers. When brought before Guan Yu, he refused to kneel down and surrender. Guan Yu told Pang De, "Your cousin is serving in Hanzhong, and I want to recruit you as a subordinate. Why don't you surrender now?" Pang De retorted angrily, "Mean fellow, what is surrender? The King of Wei has thousands of troops and his might trembles the Empire. Liu Bei is an inferior man. How can he hope to resist (the King of Wei)? I'd rather be a ghost of the State than be a servant of my enemy." An angered Guan Yu then had Pang De executed.
Cao Cao was deeply grieved when he learnt of Pang De's death and he shed tears. In 220, after
Cao Pi – Cao Cao's son and successor – forced
Emperor Xian to abdicate the throne to him and established the state of
Cao Wei, he granted Pang De the
posthumous title "Marquis Zhuang", which literally means "robust marquis". He ordered an emissary to read out the imperial edict at Pang De's tomb. According to the
Shu Ji (蜀記;
Records of Shu) by Wang Yin (), when the state of
Shu Han (founded by
Liu Bei) was
conquered by the state of Cao Wei in 263, the Wei general
Zhong Hui had Pang De's body transported from Shu to
Ye (鄴; in present-day
Handan,
Hebei) in Wei territory. Pang De seemed alive inside the tomb. However,
Pei Songzhi, who annotated Pang De's biography in the
Sanguozhi, dismissed this account as nonsense. He wrote: "Pang De died in Fancheng. After Cao Pi ascended the throne, he sent an emissary to read out an imperial edict at Pang De's tomb, so Pang's body should not be in Shu. What Wang Yin wrote was nonsense." == Appraisal ==