At that time, the state of Shu Han was recovering from its previous defeat at the Battle of Xiaoting in 222 and from the Southern Campaign against opposing forces in the south in 225.
The Song dynasty poet Su Shi commented in the Yue Quan Xiansheng Wenji Xu (樂全先生文集敘) that Zhuge Liang's (Former) Chu Shi Biao was "simple and concise, direct but not unbridled."[REF] .