Romance of the Three Kingdoms

by Guanzhong Luo

  Said he,“I will pray for three feet of refreshing rain for the benefit of the people, nevertheless I shall not escape death thereby.”

  The people said,“But if your prayer be efficacious our lord must believe in your powers.”

  “The day of fate has come for me and there is no escape.”

  Presently Sun Ts’e came near the altar and announced that if rain had not fallen by noon he would burn the priest. And to confirm this he bade them prepare the pyre.

  As it neared noon a strong wind sprang up and the clouds gathered from all quarters. But there was no rain.

  “It is near noon,” said Sun Ts’e.“Clouds are of no account without rain. He is only an impostor.”

  He bade his attendants lay the priest on the pyre and pile wood around him and apply the torch. Fanned by the gale the flames rose rapidly. Then appeared in the sky above a wreath of black vapour followed by roaring thunder and vivid lightning, peal on peal and flash on flash. And the rain fell in a perfect deluge. In a short time the streets became rivers and torrents. It was indeed a three feet fall.

  Yu Chi, who was still lying upon the pile of firewood, cried in a loud voice,“O clouds, cease thy rain, and let the glorious sun appear!”

  Thereupon officials and people helped the priest down, loosened the cord that bound him and bowed before him in gratitude for the rain.

  But Sun Ts’e boiled with rage at seeing his officers and the people gathered in groups and kneeling in the water regardless of the damage to their clothing.

  “Rain or shine are as nature appoints them and the wizard has happened to hit upon a moment of change; what are you making all this fuss about?” cried he.

  Then he drew his sword and told the attendants to smite the Taoist therewith. They all besought him to hold his hand.

  “You want to follow Yu Chi in rebellion, I suppose,” cried Sun Ts’e.

  The officers, now thoroughly cowed by the rage of their lord, were silent and showed no opposition when the executioners seized the unhappy Taoist and beheaded him.

  They saw just a wreath of black smoke drift away to the northeast where lay the Langyeh Mountains.

  The corpse was exposed in the market place as a warning to enchanters and wizards and such people. That night there came a very violent storm and when it calmed down at daylight there was no trace of the body. The guards reported this and Sun Ts’e in his wrath sentenced them to death. But as he did so he saw Yu Chi calmly walking toward him as if he were still alive. He drew his sword and darted forward to strike at the wraith, but he fainted and fell to the ground.

  They carried him to his chamber and in a short time he recovered consciousness. His mother, the Lady Wu, came to visit him and said,“My son, you have done wrong to slay the holy one and this is your retribution.”

  “Mother, when I was a boy I went with my father to the wars, where men are cut down as one cuts hempen stalks. There is not much retribution about such doings. I have put fellow to death and so checked a great evil. Where does retribution come in?”

  ‘This comes of want of faith,” she replied.“Now you must avert the evil by meritorious deeds.”

  “My fate depends on Heaven: wizards can do me no harm, so why avert anything?”

  His mother saw that it was useless to try persuasion, but she told his attendants to do some good deeds secretly whereby the evil should be turned aside.

  That night about the third watch, as Sun Ts’e lay in his chamber, he suddenly felt a chill breeze, which seemed to extinguish the lamps for a moment, although they soon brightened again, an he saw in the lamp light the form of Yu Chi standing near his bed.

  Sun said,“I am the sworn foe of witchcraft and I will purge the world of all such as deal in magic. You are a spirit and how dare you approach me?”

  Reaching down a sword that hung at the head of his bed he hurled it at the phantom, which then disappeared. When his mother heard this story her grief redoubled. Sun Ts’e, ill as he was, did his utmost to reassure his mother.

  She said, ‘The Holy One says, ‘How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to them!’ and ‘Prayer has been made to the spirits of the upper and lower worlds.’ You must have faith. You sinned in putting Master Yu to death and retribution is sure. I have already sent to have sacrifices performed at the Jadepure Monastery and you should go in person to pray. May all come right!”

  Sun Ts’e could not withstand such mandate from his mother so, mustering all his strength, he managed to get into a sedan chair and went to the monastery, where the Taoists received him respectfully and begged him to light the incense. He did so, but he returned no thanks. To the surprise of all the smoke from the brazier, instead of floating upwards and dissipating, collected in a mass that gradually shaped itself into an umbrella and there on the top sat Yu Chi.

  Sun Ts’e simply spat abuse and went out of the temple. As he passed the gates, lo! Yu Chi stood there gazing at him with angry eyes.

  “Do you see that wizard fellow?” said he to those about him.

  They said they saw nothing. More angry than ever he flung his sword at the figure by the gate. The sword struck one of his escort who fell. When they turned him over they saw it was the executioner who had actually slain the Taoist. The sword had penetrated his brain and his life drained out through the seven channels of perception. Sun Ts’e told them to bury the man. But as he went out of the courtyard he saw Yu Chi walking in.

  “This temple is nothing more than a lurking place for sorcerers and wizards and such people,” said he.

  Whereupon he took a seat in front of the building and sent for half a company of soldiers to pull the place down. When they went up on the roof to strip off the tiles he saw Yu Chi standing on the main beam flicking tiles to the ground. More angry than ever he told them to drive out the priests belonging to the place and burn it. They did so and when the flames rose their highest he saw the dead Taoist Yu Chi standing in the midst of the fire.

  Sun Ts’e returned home still in a bad humour, which increased when he saw the form of Yu Chi standing at his gate. He would not enter but mustered his army and went into camp outside the city walls. And there he summoned his officers to meet him and talk over joining Yuan in an attack on Ts’ao.

  They assembled, but they remonstrated with him and begged him to consider his precious health. That night he slept in the camp and again saw Yu Chi, this time with his hair hanging loose. He raged at the vision without cessation.

  Next day his mother called him into the city and he went. She was shocked at the change in his appearance; he looked so utterly miserable. Her tears fell.

  “My son,” said she,“how wasted you are!”

  He had a mirror brought and looked at himself; he was indeed so gaunt and thin that he was almost frightened and exclaimed,“How do I come to look so haggard?”

  While he spoke, Yu Chi appeared in the mirror. He struck it and shrieked. Then the half healed wounds reopened and he fainted.

  He was raised and borne within. When he recovered consciousness he said,“This is the end; I shall die.”

  He sent for Chang Chao and his other chief officers and his brother, Sun Ch’uan, and they gathered in his chamber. He gave them his dying charge, saying,“In the disordered state of the Empire Wu and Yueh, with their strong defence of the Three Chiang, have a brilliant future. You, Chang Chao, must assist my brother.”

  So saying he handed his seal to Sun Ch’uan saying,“For manipulating the might of Chiangtung so as to make it the deciding force between two factions and then obtaining the whole Empire you are not so suited as I; but in encouraging the wise and confiding in the able and getting the best out of every one for the preservation of this district, I should not succeed as you will. Remember with what toil and labour your father and I have won what we possess and take good care thereof.”

  Sun Ch’uan wept as he knelt to receive the seal and the dying chief turned to his mother,“Mother, the days allotted of Heaven have run ou
t and I can no longer serve my tender mother. I have given over the seal to my brother and trust that you will advise him early and late, and see that he lives worthy of his predecessors.”

  “Alas! your brother is full young for such a task,” said his mother weeping.“I know not what may happen.”

  “He is far abler than I and fully equal to the task of ruling. Should he have doubts upon internal affairs, he must turn to Chang Chao; for outer matters he must consult Chou Yu. It is a pity Chou Yu is absent so that I cannot give him my charge face to face.”

  To his brothers he said,“When I am gone you must help your brother. Should any discord arise in the family let the others punish the wrong-doer and let not his ashes mingle with those of his ancestors in the family vaults.”

  The young men wept at these words. Then he called for his wife, the famous beauty of the Ch’iao family, and said,“Unhappily we have to part while still in the full vigour of life. You must care for my mother. Your sister will come to see you presently and you can ask her to tell Chou Yu to help my brother in all things and make him keep to the way I have taught him to walk in.”

  Then he closed his eyes and soon after passed away. He was only twenty-six.

  Men called him first of the chieftains,

  The east had felt his might,

  He watched like a tiger crouching,

  Struck as a hawk in flight.

  There was peace in the lands he ruled,

  His fame ran with the wind,

  But he died and left to another,

  The great scheme in his mind.

  As his brother breathed his last Sun Ch’uan sank by his bed and wept.

  “This is not the time to mourn,” said Chang Chao.“First see to the funeral ceremonies and that the government is safe.”

  So the new ruler dried his tears. The superintendence of the funeral was confided to Sun Ching and then Chang Chao led his young master to the hall to receive the felicitations of his officers.

  Sun Ch’uan was endowed with a square jaw and a large mouth; he had blue eyes and a dark brown beard. Formerly, when Liu Yuan had gone to Wu to visit the Sun family, he said of the family of brothers,“I have looked well at them all and they are all clever and perspicacious, but none of them have the very ultimate degree of good fortune. Only the second has the look of a deep thinker. His face is remarkable, and his build unusual, and he has the look of one who will come to great honour. But none of them will attain to the blessing of a great age.”

  History says that when Sun Ch’uan succeeded to his brother and his brother’s might, there was still some reorganization to be done. Soon Chou Yu had arrived. The young ruler received him very graciously and said,“I need have no anxiety now that you have come.”

  It will be remembered that Chou Yu had been sent to hold Pachiu. When he heard that his chief had been wounded by an arrow he thought it well to return to see how he was. But Sun Ts’e had died before Chou Yu could arrive. He hurried to be present at the funeral.

  When he went to wail at the coffin of his late chief, Wu Fu-jen, the dead man’s mother, came out to deliver her son’s last injunctions. When she had told him the last charge he bowed to the earth, saying,“I shall exert the puny powers I have in your service as long as I live.”

  Shortly after Sun Ch’uan came in, and, after receiving Chou Yu’s obeisance, said,“I trust you will not forget my brother’s charge to you.”

  Chou bowed saying,“I would willingly suffer any form of death for you.”

  “How best can I maintain this grave charge which I have inherited from my father and brother?”

  “He who wins men, prospers; he who loses them, fails. Your present plan should be to seek men of high aims and farseeing views and you can establish yourself firmly.”

  “My brother bade me consult Chang Chao for internal administration, and yourself on external matters,” said Ch’uan.

  “Chang Chao is wise and understanding and equal to such a task. I am devoid of talent and fear to take such responsibility, but I venture to recommend to you as a helper one Lu Su, named Tzuching, a man of Tungch’uan. This man’s bosom hides strategy and his breast conceals tactics. He lost his father in early life and has been a perfectly filial son to his mother. His family is rich and renowned for charity to the needy. When I was stationed at Ch’ao-ch’ang I led some hundreds of men across the Linhuai. We were short of grain. Hearing that the Lu family had two granaries there, each holding three thousand measures, I went to ask for help. Lu Su pointed to one granary and said, ‘Take that as a gift.’ Such was his generosity!”

  “He has always been fond of fencing and horse archery. He was living in Chuo. His grandmother died while he was there and he went to bury her in Tungch’eng and then his friend, Liu Tzu-yang, wished to engage him to go to Ch’aohu and join Cheng Pao. However, he hesitated about that and has not gone yet. You should invite him without loss of time.”

  Sun Ch’uan at once sent Chou Yu to engage the services of this man and he set out. When the obeisances were over he laid before his friend the inducements that his own master held out. He replied that as he had been engaged by Liu Tzu-yang to go to Ch’aohu he was just starting thither.

  Said Chou Yu,“Of old Ma Yuan said to Kuang-Wu, This is an age when not only do princes select their ministers, but ministers choose their princes.’ Now our General Sun calls to him the wise and treats his officers well. Thus he engages the help of the wonderful and gets the services of the extraordinary in a way that few others do. But if you are not engaged elsewhere come with me to Wu as the best thing to do.”

  Lu Su returned with him and saw Sun Ch’uan, who treated him with the greatest deference and with him discussed affairs very fully. The conference proved so interesting that it went on all day and neither felt fatigue.

  One day at the close of the usual reception, the chief kept Lu Su to dine with him. They sat up late and by and by slept on the same couch as would the closest of friends. In the dead of night Sun Ch’uan said to his bedfellow,“The Dynasty is failing and everything is at sixes and sevens. I have received a great charge from my father and brother and I am thinking of imitating the actions of Huan and Wen and becoming the leader of the feudal lords and I pray you instruct me.”

  Lu Su replied,“Of old Han Kao-Tsu wished to honour and serve the Emperor I, but could not on account of Hsiang Yu’s evil doings. Now Ts’ao Ts’ao can be compared with Hsiang Yu; how can you be Huan and Wen? My humble opinion is that the Hans have fallen beyond hope of recovery and Ts’ao Ts’ao cannot be destroyed and that the only key to your schemes is to secure your present position in order to keep the master hand and control the combinations among the others. Now take advantage of the turmoil in the north to smite Huang Tsu and attack Liu Piao. Thereby you will command the whole length of the Great River (Yangtse). Then you may style yourself Emperor or King and thereafter as may be. This was how Kao-Tsu acted.”

  Hearing this Sun Ch’uan was very greatly pleased. He threw on some clothing, got up and thanked his new-found adviser. Next day Sun Ch’uan gave him costly gifts and sent robe and hangings to his mother.

  Lu Su then recommended a friend of his to the young man’s notice, a man of wide reading and great ability. He was also a filial son. His double name was Chuko Chin and he came from Nanyang. Sun Ch’uan treated him as a superior guest. This man dissuaded Sun Ch’uan from making common cause with Yuan Shao, but advised him rather to favour Ts’ao Ts’ao, against whom he could plan when occasion served. Sun Ch’uan therefore sent back the messenger Ch’en Chen with despatches that broke off all negotiations.

  Hearing of Sun Ts’e’s death, Ts’ao Ts’ao was for sending an expedition against Chiangnan. But a certain historian, Chang Hung, dissuaded him, saying that it would be mean to take advantage of the period of mourning.

  “And if you should not overcome him you will make him an enemy instead of being a friend. It would be preferable to treat him generously “

  So Ts’ao memorialised the
throne and obtained for Sun Ch’uan the title of Generalissimo and Prefect of Kueichi, while Chang Hung was appointed under him as Tu-yu.

  And a seal of office was sent him. The new appointment pleased Sun Ch’uan and he was also glad to get Chang Hung back again. He was sent to act jointly with Chang Chao.

  Chang Hung was the means of getting another into Sun Ch’uan’s service. His friend was Ku Yung, known also as Yuan-t’an, a disciple of the historian Ts’ai Yung. He was a man of few words and an abstainer from wine. He was very correct in all things. Sun Ch’uan employed him in the administration.

  Henceforward Sun Ch’uan’s rule was very prosperous and he waxed mightily in influence and won the love of all the people.

  When Ch’en Chen had returned and related the events in Wu, and told of the honours that Ts’ao Ts’ao had obtained for the young man in return for his support, Yuan Shao was very wroth and he set about preparing for an attack on the capital with a force of seventy legions of northern men.

  Although in the south they rest from war,

  They rattle the spears ‘neath the northern star.

  Later it will be seen which side conquered.

  Footnote

  * 199 A.D.

  † Modern Kiangai.

  CHAPTER XXX

  YUAN SHAO DEFEATED AT THE FERRY: TS’AO TS’AO BURNS THE WUCH’AO GRANARIES

  H earing that Yuan Shao was hastening to attack at Kuantu, Hsiahou Tun wrote to the capital urgently asking for reinforcements, and Ts’ao Ts’ao told off seventy legions with which he marched. Hsun Yu was left to guard the capital.

  Just as Yuan’s army was starting T’ien Feng sent out a remonstrance from his prison cell denouncing the policy of attack and counselling Shao to wait upon such times as Heaven should appoint.

  An enemy said to Yuan,“Why does this T’ien Feng utter ill-omened words? My lord is sending forth an army in the cause of humanity and justice.”

  Easily moved to anger Yuan Shao was going to execute T’ien, but this time he forebore at the entreaties of many of his officers. However, he was not appeased, for he said,“I will punish him when I return from conquering Ts’ao Ts’ao.”