Three Kingdoms

by Luo Guanzhong (Moss Roberts trans. )

  CHAPTER 5

  1. Mao (introductory note): "If Dong Zhuo had not deposed the Emperor, the eighteen lords would not have risen against him. If the eighteen lords had not risen against him, the empire would not have split into three. In this chapter we find the origin of the three kingdoms."

  2. The coordinate concepts zhong and yi are central to the epic's themes and structures. Zhong is always translated "loyal" or "loyalty." It means "truehearted" devotion to established authority and is an extension or correlate of xiao, filial love. Yi is a more difficult word to interpret. The conventional translation "righteous" is often too limited. Yi means commitment to a cause, principle, man, or group; it is an extension or correlate of ti, fraternal love. In this translation the various renderings include honor, honorable, devoted to the cause of, loyalist, righteous, sworn, true allegiance, and ethical (or principled). In chapter 1 the three brothers jieyi, enter an "honor-bound commitment" to uphold the dynasty. In the course of the novel, so long as loyalty and honor are congruent, allegiances are undivided and moral judgments clear; but when zhong and yi conflict, tragic divisions arise.

  3. The fief at Pei is Cao Cao's home district.

  4. Yuan Shao had stormed out of the court at the end of chapter 3.

  5. Liu Bei (Xuande) is the protagonist of the novel. The author uses his zi (style), Xuande, as a sign of respect. Neutral observers and Xuande's opponents use his ming (given name), Bei; the hero refers to himself as Bei, a humble form equivalent to "I." This is true for every character, of course, but this translation preserves such distinctions only for a few major characters. From here on, except in dialogue, the zi ( "style" or "courtesy name" ) will be simply enclosed in parentheses; in a few special cases a character will be consistently named by his zi instead of his ming.

  6. Mao: "They made him chief solely on the basis of his lineage."

  7. Sun Jian is the father of the founder of the kingdom of Wu, the Southland. He is introduced in chapter 2.

  8. See Analects, 17. 4. Citations are to the text in James Legge, trans., The Chinese Classics, 2d ed., vol. 1, Confucian Analects, The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1893-95). Translations of the text may vary from Legge's.

  9. A jian is a pointed two-edged sword; it has been called a sword-of-war. A dao is a single-edged weapon, also known as a backsword; the weight of its back increases its cleaving power. In this novel most swords are dao.

  10. Cheng Pu is Sun Jian's most senior general.

  11. TS (p. 46): "'What precedent is there for seating a lowly county magistrate? ' Xuande said."

  12. This is a posture of respectful attention indicating readiness to serve.

  13. Chen Shou, author of the SGZ, credits Sun Jian with the killing of Hua Xiong; see SGZ, p. 1096. The novelist sometimes follows a tradition in Three Kingdoms fiction of attributing deeds of southern heroes to the group around Liu Xuande.

  14. Mao: "What good is Yuan Shao as war-ruler if he can neither control his younger brother [Shu] nor protect his uncle?" Yuan Wei played a key role in the change of emperors engineered by Dong Zhuo. According to the ZZTJ (p. 1904), Yuan Wei guided Emperor Shao down from the dais and presented the prince of Chenliu with the royal seal and cord.

  15. A discussion of Chinese animal designs can be found in "Art as the Path to Authority," in K. C. Chang, Art, Myth, and Ritual (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983).

  16. I. e., Liu Xie, prince of Chenliu, now Emperor Xian.

  CHAPTER 6

  1. The reference is to Dong Zhuo's murder of Imperial Guardian Yuan Wei and his household.

  2. In this context the deer symbolizes the throne.

  3. Liu Bang, whose posthumous temple name is (Han) Gao Zu, meaning "Supreme Ancestor."

  4. Liu Xiu, whose posthumous temple name is Guang Wu, meaning "Glorious-in-Arms."

  5. Guanzhong or "the land within the passes" has Chang'an at its center.

  6. This is a corrected translation; the text erroneously repeats "minister of the interior" (situ). The TS and the SGZ have "minister of works" (sikong), who would be the logical official to address Dong Zhuo's claim to be able to rebuild the capital quickly.

  7. Mao: "Cao Hong is a true brother, but he acts for the world, not for the family."

  8. The bull, the sheep, and the pig. According to the Li ji, "Yue ling," the sacrifice was to petition for a son for the emperor, who participated personally; see Ci yuan (Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1979-83), s. v. gao mei (p. 3481) and tailao (p. 702). Sun Jian's act is a reminder that no successor to Emperor Ling had been universally accepted.

  9. This was 221 b. c., the year the unification was accomplished; see the opening paragraphs of chapter 1.

  10. Ziying was the last ruler of the Qin dynasty.

  11. Liu Xiu, temple name Guang Wu, was the emperor who restored the Han after the usurpation and interregnum of Wang Mang.

  12. Jingzhou was the central province geographically. Changsha, governed by Sun Jian, was one of Jingzhou's imperial districts; Jiangxia, mentioned below, is another. Both Changsha and Jiangxia bordered on Yangzhou, the southern province that for the most part lay south of the Great River.

  CHAPTER 7

  1. Mao: "Yuan Shu withheld grain and caused Sun Jian's defeat. Han Fu, by supplying grain, incited Yuan Shao's scheming."

  2. The principal city of a province often bears the same name as the whole province. Jizhou will be the nucleus of Cao Cao's northern kingdom.

  3. In view of the importance of Zhao Zilong in Three Kingdoms and more generally the question of defection, the longer dialogue in the TS is worth noting. Zan: "They say people in your esteemed region are wholeheartedly throwing in their lot with Yuan Shao. You are the only one, young master, taking a different course in coming to me. Why?" Zilong: "Now the people are in a precarious plight, as if in a time of rising floodwaters. It is my desire to follow a lord of humanity and honor [ren yi, conventionally rendered" benevolence and righteousness "] and restore peace in the empire. It is not simply that I would turn my back on Yuan Shao to enter your service, my enlightened lord" (p. 62). Throughout the translation the name Zilong is used for easier recognition.

  4. The white horse was sacred to many of the non-Han nations of the north (see chapter 1).

  5. Imperial preceptor is the new title Dong Zhuo has assumed in Chang'an. Like the title he assumed in Luoyang, xiangguo (prime minister), it is a revival of a Qin and early Han title, not a standard one in the late Han bureaucracy. His aim is to assert his authority over the child emperor.

  6. Mao: "Previously, Yuan Shu caused Sun Jian's defeat by refusing him grain. Now he resents others' refusing him and for his satisfaction deceives Jian into risking his life. Detestable man!" Liu Biao's appointment was made the year before by the Dong Zhuo court.

  7. Mao underscores the parallelism: "Yuan Shu's letter to Sun Jian is followed by Liu Biao's appeal to Yuan Shao. This was inherent in the situation."

  8. After his first wife's death, Liu Biao married Lady Cai.

  9. To the reader who may feel bewildered by the skirmishes and battles recounted in this chapter, Mao Zonggang addresses the following note: "The battles between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan tilted one way, then another, even in the course of a single day. Who could have predicted such reversals? Then came the wars between a civilian-minded, weak Liu Biao and a brave, vigorous warrior like Sun Jian. Surely the victory should have been Jian's, the defeat Biao's. But in the event there was the opposite result. This too was unforeseeable. Alas! what permanence can anyone find in the chaotic events of this world? Not only in Chen Shou's Sanguozhi must one look at things this way; the same applies to all seventeen dynastic histories!"

  10. Mao's introductory note discusses the author's narrative technique: "The death of Sun Jian and the introduction of Sun Ce are narrated for the sake of Sun Quan,... who in this chapter is merely mentioned by name... but ultimately becomes the southern counterpart of Xuande and Cao Cao—the rulers of their k
ingdoms. Hence Quan is the principal and Jian and Ce the foils. And yet Jian and Ce are the principals with respect to Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan. However, since in the account of Gongsun Zan, Xuande suddenly appears and then disappears and is recommended by Zan as governor of Pingyuan, then Zan is written of because of Xuande, and Yuan Shao because of Zan. In that case the war between Shao and Zan becomes the major theme [due to connection with Xuande] and Jian's attack on Biao, the minor. Why so? Sun Quan [is relatively less important because he] took only a share of Han's domain while Xuande was Han's legitimate continuator. Inasmuch as the division of the realm is the main theme, Zan, Shao, and the rest become the foils. And among the three kingdoms Xuande is the principal and Sun Quan his foil. Taking an overview of this chapter, Yuan Shao made war on Gongsun Zan, but the author's main interest was in Xuande; Sun Jian attacked Liu Biao, but the author's interest was in Sun Quan. The relative positions of major and minor [literally, 'host' and 'guest' or principal and foil] must be finely discriminated by readers of Three Kingdoms."

  CHAPTER 8

  1. Shangfu was a term used by Wuwang (King Wu), founder of the Zhou dynasty, to address his preceptor, Lü Wang, also known by the names Jiang Ziya and Taigong Wang.

  2. The TS (p. 71) is more graphic: "Before dying, the victims kept coming back to the wine stands, struggling for their lives.... After the banquet had adjourned, Dong Zhuo said that there was no cause for alarm as only criminals were being killed."

  3. TS (p. 71): "Dong Zhuo ordered Lü Bu to urge the guests to drink as the severed head was brought before each in turn."

  4. Mao: "Since Cao Cao failed to assassinate Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun [who provided Cao with the jeweled knife], must have been in a state of despair. Diaochan's suggestion fills the reader in."

  5. Dong Zhuo is both prime minister (xiangguo) and imperial preceptor (taishi).

  6. Diaochan's name, composed of the words for "marten" and "cicada," conveys something of her appeal: the foxy chirper or songstress.

  7. Yi Yin, a Shang dynasty minister, disciplined his sovereign, Tai Jia, and ruled in his stead. Zhougong (the Duke of Zhou) served as regent for the child emperor Chengwang, son of Wuwang.

  8. In the TS (p. 73) Wang Yun's speech begins: "The empire [tianxia] belongs to no one man [yiren]; but to all in the empire [tianxia ren de tianxia]." This motif of the TS recurs five more times; the Mao edition deletes each one. Notes to this translation mark the six deletions. For a discussion of this point, see Zhao Qingyun, "Luo Guanzhong de zhengzhiguan ji Sanguo yanyi chuangzuo sixiang guankui," LWJ, p. 358-61.

  9. This poem is based on an allusion to Zhao Feiyan, who lived in Zhaoyang Palace. A skilled performer, she was renowned for her physical lightness, hence the name Feiyan or "Flying Swallow." During the reign of the Former Han emperor Cheng, Feiyan was first his consort, then his empress.

  10. The "beat" in line one is set by musicians with clappers. Lü Bu is the rover, but the line may also allude to pilgrim-lovers of the rain goddess who dwelled in Dongting Lake.

  11. The allusion is to King Xiang of Chu, who vainly sought the goddess on Gaotang Mountain. See Song Yu's poem "Rhapsody on the Goddess" (Shen nü fu) in juan 19 of the Wen xuan.

  CHAPTER 9

  1. When the candles blew out and all was dark, a man tugged at the queen's robes. She seized his hat ribbon and bade the king apprehend him. The king refused and told all the guests to tear off their ribbons. Jiang Xiong is not named in the original story; Chu's war was with Wu, not Qin. See Han shi wai zhuan, chap. 7.

  2. Mao: "The panic is real, the tears false."

  3. TS (p. 81): "'There is a secret edict from the Emperor. Conceal it on your person, General. '"

  4. Mao (introductory note): "In persuading Lü Bu to kill Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun is alternately urgent and nonchalant, forthcoming and reluctant. He approaches Lü Bu with negative arguments and positive ones. He exerts no pressure, then he squeezes. It is a more satisfying [demonstration of the art] than Li Su gave when he persuaded Lü Bu to kill Ding Yuan" (in chap. 3).

  5. This is another allusion to Lü Wang, who supported the founder of the Zhou dynasty. When he was preceptor, Lü Wang dreamed of flying bears. There was no such corps during the Han.

  6. These are visual puns: the Chinese graphs for "thousand," "li," and "grass" make up the graph for Dong, and the graphs for "divining," "ten," and "day" make up the graph for Zhuo.

  7. The graph for the surname Lü consists of two mouths (small squares), one above the other.

  8. The TS (p. 83) dates Dong Zhuo's death to Initial Stability (Chu Ping) 3, 4th month, 22nd day, or May 22, a. d. 192.

  9. The HHS and ZZTJ provide a more balanced picture of Dong Zhuo than the novel, though they record his cruel acts and depredations. Zhuo used the eunuch domination of the government to justify seizing power, but after the wholesale execution of the eunuchs, "he promoted the sons and brothers of the elder lords and ministers to fill the offices they once occupied" [ZZTJ, p. 1905). He also rehabilitated the reputations of many of those purged during the dang gu periods, most notably Chen Fan and Dou Wu (with those executions the novel begins), "to accord with people's expectations. Then he restored their ranks and titles and raised their progeny to official positions" (HHS, p. 2325). Dong Zhuo murdered Emperor Shao (Liu Bian) after learning that Yuan Shao had organized the lords of the east against him, presumably to deny his enemies a newly deposed emperor as a rallying point.

  10. Mao (introductory note to preceding chapter): "The eighteen armies of the confederate lords failed to kill Dong Zhuo. One Diaochan sufficed [to accomplish it]. Liu Xuande, Lord Guan, and Zhang Fei could not conquer Lü Bu. Diaochan, alone, was able to. The couch was her battleground, cosmetics her armor, glances her spear and dagger, frowns and smiles her bow and arrows. With pleasing words and humble phrases she arranged surprise attacks and ambushes—a female general truly to be feared and respected." From the 1522 introduction to the TS: "Dong Zhuo absurdly coveted the sacred throne; He Jin's folly planted the seeds of disaster; Yuan Shao organized a great army openly; the three brothers stirred wind and thunder with their blood-sealed oath in the peach garden. How sad: the schemes of so many heroes fell short of Diaochan's arts of song and speech."

  The story of Diaochan is not found (except for mention of a love rivalry between Zhuo and Bu) in SGZ or HHS, but the incident is developed in the Yuan drama Lian huan ji.

  11. Mao: "[This was in] revenge for the murder of Queen Mother He."

  12. Mao: "Dong Zhuo carved and scraped the people's living flesh [to amass this wealth], and what became of him? Let this be a warning against avarice."

  13. Cai Yong was working on the Dongyuan Hanji, the main history of the Later Han. Others who worked on the encyclopedia were Ma Midi, Yang Biao, and Lu Zhi.

  14. Mao: "Wang Yun feared that Cai Yong would give a distorted account of the life of Dong Zhuo." Sima Qian (145-86? b. c. ), author of the S] (historical records from remote antiquity to the reign of the fifth Han emperor, Wu), was one of China's great historians. During the Han, however, he was often criticized for his treatment of certain officials and more generally for not sufficiently extolling the Han. A major exponent of this critical view was Ban Gu, author of the Han shu. By contrast, the Qing editor of Three Kingdoms, Mao Zonggang, regards Sima Qian as a superlative historian and Luo Guanzhong as perhaps his only equal.

  15. Zhuge Liang (Kongming), a central character, appears in chapter 36. He is also called Sleeping Dragon, hence "lay low."

  16. HHS, biography of Wang Yun (pp. 2172-75): " At the time of the Yellow Scarves uprising Yun was given a special appointment as imperial inspector of Yuzhou [a post later held by Liu Xuande], and he made Xun Shuang and Kong Rong his assistants, the Emperor having rescinded the proscription of officials opposed to the eunuchs. He won great victories against the Scarves and, together with Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun, accepted the surrender of hundreds of thousands. In rebel documents he discovered correspondence between the eunuch Zhang Rang and the Scarv
es, and he accused Zhang Rang publicly on this evidence of treachery. The Emperor was angry, but Zhang Rang kowtowed and apologized, so the Emperor took no action against him. Zhang Rang in his desire for vengeance contrived to have Wang Yun imprisoned for some offense.

  "In a subsequent amnesty Yun returned to his post as imperial inspector of Yuzhou, but was rearrested on new charges within ten days.... Although he was finally freed on appeals from the three elder lords, the power of the eunuchs was so great that to escape death he changed his name and hid himself here and there in the Henei-Chenliu area.

  "When Emperor Ling died Yun came to the capital for the rites. At that time Marshal He Jin wanted to execute the eunuchs, and Yun joined his staff as an aide before rising to governor of Henan. With the accession of Emperor Xian he was made court steward and head of the Secretariat. In a. d. 190 he replaced Yang Biao as minister of the interior while remaining in charge of the Secretariat.

  "When Dong Zhuo moved the capital to the west, Yun gathered up the main documents, maps, and occult writings and followed him. After reaching Chang'an, the libraries were put into proper order once again.... All business at court was delegated to Yun, and he enjoyed the confidence of Zhuo.... That is how he upheld the royal house in the midst of the chaos."

  This information, which also serves as background to chapter 1, would have been known to a traditionally educated reader of the novel.

  17. This action taken by Wang Yun is the seed of all subsequent events. Mao (introductory note to chap. 8): "Had Wang Yun not driven the four generals into rebellion, the house of Han could have been restored at this time. And Diaochan would have won everlasting recognition."

  18. Mao: "Hu Chi'er's murder of Niu Fu resembles Lü Bu's murder of Dong Zhuo. What he saw clearly in others he was blind to in himself."

  19. Reversing standard procedure, Liu Bang's general, Peng Yue, used this tactic against the forces of Chu in a battle of the civil war between Chu and Han.

  CHAPTER 10

  1. Zhu Jun was a veteran of the campaigns against the Yellow Scarves. See chapter 1.