Atlas of Battles

battle, major, ancient

Battle of Red Cliffs

Battle of Red Cliffs was a battle fought in AD 208 at Chibi, in what is now People's Republic of China. It was part of Early Imperial China. The recorded result: Allied victory.

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Photo of the traditional site of Chibi, south of Wulin, taken in 2003.
Photo of the traditional site of Chibi, south of Wulin, taken in 2003.. User Jie on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
FoughtAD 208
WhereChibi, People's Republic of China29.870N, 113.620E
OutcomeAllied victory
Part ofEarly Imperial ChinaThree Kingdoms

Where it sits in Early Imperial China

Battle of Yijing, AD 198Battle of Red Cliffs, AD 208Battle of Jiangling, AD 208Battle of Hefei, AD 208Battle of Yiling, AD 208Battle of Changban, AD 208Battle of Mount Dingjun, AD 218Battle of Fancheng, AD 219Battle of Xiaoting, AD 221Battle of Shiting, AD 228Battle of Wuzhang Plains, AD 234Battle of Canhe Slope, AD 395AD 198AD 395Battle of Red Cliffs, AD 208
12 placed engagements of Early Imperial China in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

DateAD 208 (year precision)
PlaceChibi, People's Republic of China
29.870N, 113.620E
KindBattle, ancient
Territorial changeCao Cao fails to gain a foothold south of the Yangtze; Liu Bei gains Jingzhou
Battle of Red CliffsBattle of Red CliffsBattle of WuhanSiege of WuchangBattle of XiakouBattle of West HubeiBattle of WuhanSiege of WuchangBattle of XiakouBattle of West HubeiYueyangJianmenXiantaoHuangshiJingmenJinshiShishouPuqi100 km29.870N, 113.620E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.
The Battle of Red Cliffs sequence of events, 208, China, between the chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty Cao Cao and warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
The Battle of Red Cliffs sequence of events, 208, China, between the chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty Cao Cao and warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan.. Sémhur, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Red Cliffs
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Red Cliffs today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-10-28. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 28 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 16 to 79 m, 62 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 58% cropland, 19% water, 15% tree cover.

cropland: 58%water: 19%tree cover: 15%built-up: 4%grassland: 3%cropland 58%water 19%tree cover 15%built-up 4%grassland 3%
west to east, 10.0 km21 to 41 mnorth to south, 10.0 km21 to 61 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in AD 208

Battle of Red Cliffs is one of 97 engagements of the 3rd century in the atlas and one of 448 in present-day China.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q830059, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Red Cliffs, revision 1370587339, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.