Zhuge Liang (
诸葛亮) gave the pass to Ma Su (
马谡), who camped on a hilltop away from the water and was routed by the Wei army. Zhuge Liang had to call off his first northern campaign and had Ma Su executed. The story is the Peking opera
失街亭, The Loss of Jieting, usually staged together with
空城计, The Empty Fort Strategy.