Jiang Wei (202–264) is a general and regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history.
He originally serves Shu's rival state, Cao Wei, as a middle-level military officer, but defects to the Shu strategist Zhuge Liang, leaving his mother in Wei.
After this, Jiang Wei takes part in military campaigns against his native state.
He joins Zhuge's first Northern Expedition against Wei in 228, and is made an army commander.
Zhuge Liang has always considered Jiang Wei a resourceful and capable general, and Jiang receives rapid promotions during the regency of Zhuge Liang and of Zhuge Liang's successors Jiang Wan and Fei Yi to eventually become Fei Yi's chief assistant.
After Fei Yi's death in 253, he succeeds to Fei Yi's position, but does not have the full power that Fei Yi had, as he is only charged with military matters—and therefore is arguably a regent.
Reviving Zhuge Liang's campaigns against Wei (which Jiang Wan and Fei Yi had largely abandoned), Jiang Wei makes a number of incursions against Wei — one in coordination with Eastern Wu's regent Zhuge Ke -- but each has to be abandoned due to the inadequate food supplies or due to battlefield losses, and these campaigns greatly drain Shu's resources.
In 263, a Wei army, led by Deng Ai and Zhong Hui, conquers Shu.
Jiang Wei tries to restore Shu by persuading Zhong Hui to declare a rebellion against the de facto Wei ruler Sima Zhao; Zhong Hui agrees but after he does so, Zhong's own soldiers rebel against him.
