Cao Cao brings the Emperor to Xuchang, mid-October [14]
197
Lü Bu attacks Liu Xuande; Xuande takes refuge with Cao Cao [16]; Yuan Shu declares himself emperor [17]
198
Cao Cao faces two enemies, Zhang Xiu and Yuan Shao [18]
199
Cao Cao has Lü Bu executed [19]; Emperor Xian gives Dong Cheng a secret edict [20]; Yuan Shu dies [21]
200
Dong Cheng executed [23]; Cao Cao attacks Liu Xuande; Xuande takes refuge with Yuan Shao; Cao Cao attacks Yuan Shao [24]; Cao Cao captures Lord Guan; Lord Guan kills Cao Cao's generals [25, 26]
199-200
Events in the Southland: Sun Quan succeeds Sun Ce as ruler and accepts Han title rather than help Yuan Shao [29]; Cao Cao defeats Yuan Shao at Guandu and expands his power in the northeast [30, 31]
201
Yuan Shao flees to Jizhou; Xuande finds refuge with Liu Biao in Jingzhou [31]
202-4
Yuan Shao dies; Cao Cao attacks Shao's sons and conquers the city of Ye [32]
205-8
Yuan Shao's sons flee to the Wuhuan people; Cao Cao defeats the Wuhuan and returns to Ye [33]
207-8
Conflict between Xuande and Liu Biao's wife, Lady Cai; Xuande meets Shan Fu in Xinye [34-35]; Cao Cao prepares to attack Jingzhou [35]; Shan Fu recommends Kongming to Liu Xuande [36]; Xuande seeks out Kongming [37]; Xuande meets Kongming; Sun Quan attacks Jingzhou [38]; conflict between Liu Biao's sons, Qi and Zong; Kongming's first battle [39]; Lady Cai plans to cede Jingzhou to Cao Cao [40]; Xuande flees to Xiakou; Liu Biao dies; Lu Su of the Southland travels to Xiakou to see Kongming [41, 42]; Kongming goes to the Southland to meet General Zhou Yu and arrange an alliance against Cao Cao; the Battle at Red Cliffs [43-50]
209-10
Xuande occupies Jiangling and Gong'an; Liu Qi dies [51]; Xuande occupies the southern districts of Jingzhou [53]; Xuande marries Sun Quan's sister, Lady Sun; Lu Su demands the return of Jingzhou to the Southland [54]; Xuande leaves the Southland with Lady Sun [55]
211
Zhou Yu dies; Cao Cao kills Ma Teng; Cao Cao threatens Hanzhong; Hanzhong's ruler, Zhang Lu, threatens the Riverlands; Riverlands leader Liu Zhang sends Zhang Song to Cao Cao for help; Zhang Song visits Liu Xuande [57-60]
212
Xuande marches to the Riverlands; Kongming governs Jingzhou [60]
212-13
Cao Cao attacks the Southland; Cao Cao assumes the Nine Dignities of a patriarchal lord; Xuande enters the Riverlands [61-62]
214
Kongming goes to the Riverlands; Lord Guan governs Jingzhou; Xuande takes control of the Riverlands [63-65]
215
The Southland demands Jingzhou; Cao Cao conquers Hanzhong [66-67]
216
Cao Cao becomes king of Wei [68]
217
Cao Cao attacks Southland positions [69]
218
Revolt against Cao Cao crushed in Xuchang; Huang Zhong kills Xiahou Yuan, endangering Cao Cao's hold on Hanzhong [69-72]
219
Cao Cao withdraws from Hanzhong to Chang'an; Xuande becomes king of Hanzhong; Lord Guan takes Xiangyang and Fan; the Southland takes Jingzhou; Lord Guan defeated [73-76]
220
Sun Quan puts Lord Guan to death; Cao Cao dies; Emperor Xian abdicates (November 24) to Cao Pi, who establishes a new dynasty, the Wei [77-80]
221
Xuande proclaims himself emperor (May) and marches against the Southland (August); Sun Quan accepts the suzerainty of the Wei dynasty; the Southland resists the Riverlands invasion [80-82]
222
Southland forces under General Lu Xun drive back Liu Xuande's invading army; Wei attacks the Southland [83-85]
223
Liu Xuande dies; Liu Shan succeeds him as Riverlands ruler; Sima Yi attacks the Riverlands; Kongming revives the Riverlands-Southland alliance against Wei [85-86]
224
Cao Pi invades the Southland [86]
225
Kongming subdues the Southern Man people [86-91]
226
Cao Pi dies; Cao Rui becomes the new ruler of Wei; Kongming persuades Liu Shan to wage war against Wei; Sima Yi leads the Wei forces [91-92]
228
Meng Da killed; Kongming launches the war against Wei [94-95]
229
Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor [98]
230
Wei commander Cao Zhen's campaign thwarted by heavy rain [99]
231
Cao Zhen dies; Kongming recalled from the field [100]; Kongming resumes the war [101]
234
Kongming dies on the field; Riverlands armies return to Chengdu; Wei Yan dies [104-5]
239
Cao Fang succeeds Cao Rui as ruler of Wei; Cao Zhen's son, Cao Shuang, becomes co-regent with Sima Yi; decade of conflict between Cao Shuang and Sima Yi begins [106]
249
Cao Shuang killed; Sima Yi seizes control of the Wei kingdom; Jiang Wei, aided by Xiahou Ba, leads a new Riverlands campaign against Wei [106-7]
251-52
Sima Yi dies; Sun Quan dies; war between Wei and the Southland [108]
254
Sima Yi's son Sima Shi deposes Cao Fang and enthrones Cao Mao [109]
255
Commanders Wen Qin and Guanqiu Jian revolt against the coup in Wei; Sima Shi dies and his brother Sima Zhao leads the Sima clan [110]
257
Sima Zhao defeats his opponents; the Riverlands abandons its war against Wei [112]
258
Sun Chen deposes Sun Liang, ruler of the Southland; Sun Xiu assumes power and executes Sun Chen; Wei commander Deng Ai leads the campaign against the Riverlands [113]
260
Cao Mao killed; Cao Huan assumes the Wei throne; Sima Zhao becomes prime minister [114]
263
Wei's campaign against the Riverlands threatens Chengdu [115-17]
264
Liu Shan, Second Emperor of the Riverlands, surrenders to Deng Ai; Sima Zhao marches to Chang'an; Zhao names Sima Yan his heir and dies [118-19]
265-80
The Sima clan establishes a new dynasty, the Jin, and then conquers the Southland; the empire is again united [120]
TITLES, TERMS, AND OFFICES IN THREE KINGDOMS
Auxiliary Corps commanding officer
biebusima
Cavalry commander
qiduwei
chief commanding officer / grand marshal / regent-marshal
dasima
chief of Palace Security
weiwei
chief of the Capital Guard
zhijinwu
chief of the Secretariat
zhongshuling
city or town
xian or cheng
commandant/commander
xiaoyu/xiaowei
commandant for Military Standards
dianjunxiaoyu
commander of the Capital Districts
silixiaoyu
commanding general
shuai
commanding officer / commander
sima
corps
bu
corps commander
bujiang
county magistrate / prefect
xianling
court counselor
yilang
court officer / imperial attendant
silang
court steward
taipu
director general
junshi
director of the Imperial Clan
zongzheng
director of the Palace
guangluxun/langzhongling
director of the Secretariat
lushangshushi
district / imperial district
jun
district commander
duwei
district inspector
duyou
Exemplary Cavalry
yuejixiaoyu
eunuch / constant attendant
> zhongchangshi
field army
lu
field marshal / general
dudu
first field marshal / chief commander
dadudu
first secretary
zhubu
garrison commander
yajiangjun
general/commander
jiangjun
general of Chariots and Cavalry
jujijiangjun
general of the Flying Cavalry
piaojijiangjun
governor (of a district)
taishou
governor (of a fief)
xiang
grand commandant
taiyu/taiwei
honorary lord
guannei hou
imperial attendant / court officer
silang
imperial censor
yushidaifu
Imperial Corps commander
zhonglangjiang
imperial corpsman
zhonglang
imperial guardian
taifu
imperial inspector
cishi
imperial mentor
taizhongdaifu
imperial preceptor
taishi
Imperial Tiger Escort
huben
Inner Bureau
huangmen
judicial officer
xianwei
libationer
jijiu
lieutenant (to cishi or mu)
biejia
lieutenant commander
fujiangjun
lord of a Capital Precinct
duting hou
lord of the first rank
liehou
master of ceremony
taichang
minions of the Palace
zhongjuan
minister of protocol
taihonglu
minister of the interior
situ
mountain/hill
shan
Palace Guard
jinjun
precinct
ting
precinct master
tingzhang
prime minister / Excellency
chengxiang
privy counselor
shizhong
protector
mu
province
zhou
regent / regent-marshal / supreme commander
dajiangjun
Royal Guard
yulin
Secretariat
shangshu
senior adviser
Zhangshi
superviser in the Secretariat
puye
three elder lords
sangong
treasurer
dasinong
Valiant Cavaliers
xiaojixiaoyu
ABBREVIATIONS
CZL
Ye Weisi and Mao Xin. Sanguo yanyi chuangzuo lun. N. p.: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 1984.
HHS
Fan Ye. Hou Han shu. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1982.
LWJ
Henansheng shehui kexueyuan wenxue yanjiusuo. Sanguo yanyi lunwenji. Zhongzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 1985.
PH
N. a. Sanguozhi pinghua. Shanghai: Shanghai gudian wenxue chubanshe, 1955.
SGZ
Chen Shou. Sanguozhi. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959.
SJ
Sima Qian. [Shi ji] Shiki kaichū kōshō. Ed. Takigawa Kametarō. Tokyo: Tōhō bunka gakuin Tōkyō kenkyūjo, 1932-34.
TS
Luo Guanzhong. Sanguozhi tongsu yanyi. Shanghai: Guji chubanshe, 1980.
XK
Zhongguo Sanguo yanyi xuehui. Sanguo yanyi xuekan #1. Chengdu: Sichuan-sheng shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 1985. #2, 1986.
YJJ
Shehui kexue yanjiu congkan bianjibu. Sanguo yanyi yanjiu ji. Chengdu: Si-chuansheng shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 1983.
ZHT
Qiu Zhensheng. Sanguo yanyi zonghengtan. Nanning: Lijiang chubanshe, 1983.
ZLHB
Zhu Yixuan and Liu Yuchen, eds. Sanguo yanyi ziliao huibian. Tianjin: Baihua wenyi chubanshe, 1983.
ZZTJ
Sima Guang. Zizhi tongjian. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1976.
NOTES TO THREE KINGDOMS
EPIGRAPH
1. Mao Zonggang took this verse from Ershiwu shi tanci, a collection of popular songs on historical themes compiled during the Ming dynasty by Yang Shen (d. 1559). The verse opens section three of the collection, the section covering the transitions from the Zhou dynasty to the Han. The Great River is the Chang Jiang, sometimes called the Jiang or the Yangzi. A river is a conventional metaphor for history. See, for example, Lord Guan's speech opening the third act of Guan Hanqing's Guan da wang fu dan dao hui: "Battle follows battle on the Jiang; / The second wave impels the first wave on." Also see Analects 9. 16: "The Master stood above the river. 'Racing past like that—day and night, unceasingly,' he said." Yang Shen's poem recalls Su Shi's ci, "Remembering the Red Cliffs," translated under its tune-title, "The Charms of Nien-nu," in Cyril Birch, ed., Anthology of Chinese Literature (New York: Grove Press, 1965), 1: 356.
Mao Zonggang was the editor of the mid-1660s edition of Three Kingdoms, the one translated here. For further information, see the Afterword, pp. 939-40 and 965-80. In the notes, the form "Mao:" indicates a translation of an interlinear note to the text by Mao Zonggang.
CHAPTER 1
1. The Zhou dynasty, founded in the 11th century b. c., was conquered in 256 B. c. by the western state of Qin, which established its unified rule over the empire in 221 b. c. In its fifteen-year dominion (221 to 206 b. c. ) the Qin dynasty organized the realm into a system of imperial districts and counties (jun and xian), thus laying the geographical and bureaucratic foundation for the succeeding dynasty, the Han (206 b. c. to a. d. 220), China's longest and mightiest. The Warring States period (403 to 221 b. c. ) preceded the Qin-Han era of unity; the Three Kingdoms era (a. d. 220 to 280) followed the Han.
2. The Supreme Ancestor (Gao Zu), founder of the Han, was Liu Bang (256 to 195 b. c. ), one of many rebels against the Qin. According to his "Basic Annals" in the S] the serpent he slew was the son of the White Emperor, god of the west, which certain Qin kings had worshiped. The "Feng shan shu" of the SJ explains the incident of the killing of the serpent as the killing of the son of the White Emperor by the son of the Red Emperor. Eventually, fire and the color red came to symbolize the Han; they also symbolized the Zhou dynasty.
3. Xian was the last Han emperor; this posthumous title meaning "rendering up" may refer to his ultimate abdication. He reigned from a. d. 189 to 220.
Mao Zonggang's prologue ends with this paragraph. The 1522 or TS edition begins at paragraph 2 as follows: "On the death of Emperor Huan [r. a. d. 147-68] of the Later Han, Emperor Ling [r. a. d. 168-89] came to the throne at the age of twelve. Sustaining and guiding him were Regent Dou Wu, Imperial Guardian Chen Fan, and Minister of the Interior Hu Guang." (Hu Guang later made his peace with the government; presumably that is why Mao left out his name. )
4. In the struggle for control over the imperial house in this period, the senior court officials and the district- and provincial-level officials fought for decades against the growing influence of the palace eunuchs. The empress's family sometimes aided and sometimes opposed the eunuchs. Beginning with Huan's reign the civil and military services suffered purges called dang gu; these were suspended only in a. d. 184 after the Yellow Scarves Uprising became so threatening that court-palace unity had to be restored. The dang gu proscriptions are often regarded as a primary cause of the fall of the Han. See HHS ( "Dang gu liezhuan" ), pp. 2183-223, and the useful summary in Zeng Zi-sheng, Zhongguo zhengzhi zhidu shi (reprint, Hong Kong: Longmen shudian, 1969). Also see B. J. Mansvelt Beck, "The Fall of Han," in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 1, The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 b. c. -a. d. 220, ed. Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), pp.
317-76.
5. Imperial guardian was the highest civil office at this time; there was no prime minister (chengxiang or xiangguo). As the guardian of the heir apparent, he was a key figure in selecting and guiding the emperor's successor.
6. a. d. 168-72. Han emperors established several successive nianhao or year titles in the course of their reigns. Within each nianhao the years were numbered, starting with one (or yuan meaning "origin" of the reign period).
7. a. d. 178-84. Mao: "The eunuchs represent male turned into female. Eunuch interference in government represents female turned into male." A secondary (or "female" ) rainbow is concentric with but fainter and larger than a primary rainbow.
8. A span (chi) was slightly under 10 inches. Six chi made a bu (pace); and 300 bu made a li, about one-third of a mile.
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