Three Kingdoms

by Luo Guanzhong (Moss Roberts trans. )

  The Yuan storytelling tradition, judging from trace remarks in various records, may go back to the Northern Song.34 In the commercial centers of the Song there were public recitations of Three Kingdoms themes and ample audiences to support the raconteurs. According to the oft-cited remark of Su Dongpo,

  A group of children from the alleys... hearing ancient Sanguo tales... knit their brows and weep if Liu Xuande is defeated, but shout with delight when Cao Cao is defeated.35

  But as for extant texts embodying that performance tradition, there is only one, the San-guozhi pinghua (PH) of 1321—23 and its earlier, almost identical edition, the Sanfen shilüe. The PH may be described as a storyteller's prompt book, and it is apparent that the author of Three Kingdoms was familiar with it. Dramas written on Three Kingdoms subjects developed particular incidents and characters and had a limited focus, usually a single episode, but the PH presents the events of the century (a. d. 184-280) in serial fashion, and its influence on the novel is primarily because of this.

  The PH is crude and episodic; it numbers about 80, 000 words (less than one-tenth the length of the TS). It strings together more than eighty sparsely sketched incidents without developing much causal connection in their sequence. For the most part these incidents have some historical basis, but a number are sheer invention. Nevertheless, however crude they may be, the PH's techniques of composition—the serial presentation of events, the multiple-track narrative, the interaction of characters, the interplay of character and incident—foreshadow the novel; thus, the PH may be called a primitive blueprint for Three Kingdoms. Indeed, in the words of one scholar, "these structural features [of the PH] make it the foundation stone of the composition of China's [classic] novels."36

  The PH begins with the peach garden oath and the campaigns against the Yellow Scarves; it ends with the death of Kongming. The succeeding events (a. d. 234-80), which take up the last sixteen chapters of the novel, are passed over, though the reunification of A. D. 280 is touched on at the end. The first half of the PH is dominated by Zhang Fei—Lord Guan plays a lesser role—and Kongming dominates the second half. The author is friendly to Liu and hostile to Cao, though he is uninterested in the legitimacy question per se. Finally, the narrative includes such oddities as having Emperor Ling execute the Ten Eunuchs and deliver their heads to Liu Xuande (who has become a bandit) to entice him to serve the court (zhao an) by suppressing the Yellow Scarves. Another fanciful segment shows Cao Cao forcing Emperor Xian to abdicate to his son Cao Pi. The PH's interest in history is slight. Accordingly, Kongming's famous analysis of the state of the empire (the "Longzhong dui" ) is only partly introduced, and Kongming's petitions on taking the field (the first and second "Chushi biao" ) are not included at all. In general, Kongming is characterized more as a magician than as a strategist. Some of the differences between the PH and the novel arc pointed out in the notes to the translation.37

  A striking difference between the PH and the novel is that the PH has a prologue and an epilogue that fall outside the time frame of the novel. The prologue is a supernatural tale in the chuanqi tradition and the epilogue is a quasi-factual account of the fall of the Jin in the early years of the fourth century. Apart from their relevance to the study of popular storytelling, the two sections throw an interesting light on the purposes of Luo Guanzhong precisely because he did not use them.

  The prologue and epilogue extend the PH's time frame well beyond the novel's. The PH puts the genesis of the division of the empire into three kingdoms back to the first reign of the Former Han dynasty. The author manages this by using the following myth based on Buddhist concepts of reincarnation and retribution. During the first reign of the Later Han, Sima Zhongxiang (later reborn as Sima Yi, who laid the basis for the founding of the Jin) enters the imperial park with a book in hand. Reading in it of the dreadful rule of the Qin dynasty, Zhongxiang curses the first Qin emperor and declares that if he had ruled then the people of the empire would have been happy. Suddenly, a team of ghost-officials rushes him to the underworld, where he is outfitted like a monarch and empowered to judge the rights and wrongs of history. The first (and only) case to come before him concerns the founder of the Han, Liu Bang, and his Empress Lü. Three plaintiffs come forward to accuse them of betrayal.

  First Han Xin appears and complains of his demotion and ambush. Han Xin was the single most important figure in Liu Bang's victory over Xiang Yu, his rival for the empire. When Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were at a standoff, Han Xin, newly king of Qi, had the opportunity to exploit the stalemate and declare Qi an independent kingdom. This course, which his adviser Kuai Tong urged on him, would have created three kingdoms: his own, Liu Bang's, and Xiang Yu's.38 Han Xin rejected Kuai Tong's advice and threw his support to Liu Bang, who went on to defeat Xiang Yu and found the Han dynasty (hence his title Gao Zu, or Supreme Ancestor. ) But after becoming Emperor of Han, Liu Bang moved against many of the veterans and comrades-in-arms who had helped him to power. Han Xin was the first victim, and this is why his wronged soul appears before Sima Zhongxiang. Zhongxiang rectifies the injustice by arranging for Han Xin to be reborn as Cao Cao so that he can take revenge on the Han. Zhongxiang arranges other reincarnations: Liu Bang as Emperor Xian, and Empress Lü as Lady Fu (Xian's only consort, whom Cao Cao puts to death), and Kuai Tong as Kongming.39

  In addition to Han Xin, two other plaintiffs present their grievances to the court of the netherworld, Peng Yue and Ying Bu. They, too, had suffered betrayal at the hands of the first family of the Han. To requite their ghosts, Sima Zhongxiang has them reborn as Liu Bei and Sun Quan, respectively. Thus, the PH introduces the fall of the Han and the division of the empire as supernatural retribution for Liu Bang's betrayal of his comrades.40

  The tendency among scholars has been to dismiss the prologue as superstition and to praise Luo Guanzhong for dropping it and getting down to history with the businesslike opening line of the TS: "On the death of Emperor Huan of the Later Han, Emperor Ling assumed the throne at the age of twenty." The prologue would hardly make an ideal introduction to the novel, it is true, but the novel is not entirely free of supernatural elements, of ghosts returning to protect or to warn. And the character of Kongming retains certain magical aspects. So something of the prologue's spirit survives in the novel.

  Of greater importance is the survival of the theme of retribution in the novel and its use as an organizing principle. Whether accomplished in a few moments' repartee or in the course of decades, secular retribution or cause and consequence is a question the novel pursues. The usurpation of Han by Wei (chapter 80) is the long-range consequence of the failure of Han to govern well, just as the rise of the Yellow Scarves is a more immediate consequence. And the usurpation of the Wei by the Sima clan is the long-range consequence of the Wei usurpation of Han, just as Liu Xuande's declaration that Han still reigns in Shu is the immediate consequence. The relentless movement from cause to consequence and the wavelike conversion of consequence to cause describes the dynamic of Three Kingdoms. It is likely that this narrative design owes something to the theme of retribution, announced by the prologue, that dominates the PH.41

  One contemporary scholar who treats the prologue as thematically relevant to the PH sees the legend of Sima Zhongxiang's restitution of territory to the three wronged vassals of merit as a criticism of autocracy: "To write a tale of a xiucai who, though holding no office, rectifies historical injustices... is a fiction to delight the hearts of men in an age of sacred and inviolable monarchical power."42 In the novel Zhang Fei comes closest to representing so radical a view of status and authority (see the quatrain ending chapter 1).

  Not only does the PH trace the cause for the breakup of the Han empire to a far earlier point than the novel, but it concludes a generation beyond the novel. The novel ends in a. d. 280 with the triumphant reunification of the empire under a new dynasty, the Jin, ruled by the Sima house. The PH ends with Liu Yuan's siege of Luoyang in a. d. 304 and the fall of the Jin dynasty in a. d. 316. What diff
erence does the ending date make for the story of the Three Kingdoms?

  Historically, the Jin reunification of a. d. 280 was nothing to boast about. The dynasty enjoyed twenty years of relative stability. Then in a. d. 300 a Jin prince tried to overthrow Emperor Hui, touching off a six-year fratricidal war called the Disorder of the Eight Princes. As a result, the Jin could not police its borders, and the fourth century began with a series of attacks by "barbarian" nations. Liu Yuan, a sinicized Xiongnu, became the leader of these invasions. Xiongnu pressure soon led to the evacuation of Luoyang and the capture of the emperor. Forced from the north, the Jin reestablished its dynasty in the Southland region in a. d. 317 under the name of Eastern Jin. The new dynasty asserted its "Han-ness" by its first reign title, Jian Wu, the same title used by the founder of the Later Han. The north, meanwhile, was occupied by a variety of non-Han (Hu) nations. The period, referred to by southern writers as the Disorder of the Five Hu, evolved into a three-century era of disunity known as Northern and Southern Dynasties, which lasted until the Sui reunification of a. d. 581.

  Why does the PH end with an account of Liu Yuan and the fall of the Jin? Liu Yuan was a descendant of Mo Du (often read Mao Dun), the founder of the Xiongnu nation. Mo Du came to power in 209 b. c., shortly before the founding of the Former Han; his heirs adopted the Liu surname. The point the PH makes is that a branch of the Liu clan avenges the Han dynasty by destroying the Jin, thus completing the cycle of retribution. The PH says:

  Liu Yuan addressed his army: "Han engaged the people's love during its long years of rule, and I, as a maternal nephew of the ruling house, must avenge my uncle, whom the Jin have captured." Then... he founded a kingdom that he called Han and, declaring himself king of Han, established the ancestral precedents. He changed the reign title to Yuan Xi, "Original Glory," and honored the late Liu Shan [second emperor of Shu-Han and son of Liu Bei] as His Glorious Majesty Huai the Filial.... The third year he moved the capital to Pingyang and assumed the throne.... After Emperor Hui [of Jin, r. a. d. 290-306] died, Emperor Huai [of Jin] came to the throne. The king of Han [Liu Yuan] led an army of several hundred thousand against Luoyang, the Jin capital. The Jin emperor [Huai] met the enemy in the field but was defeated. [Liu Yuan's] Han soldiers seized his person and offered him in sacrifice at the temple of Liu Shan.

  Next, Emperor Min [of Jin] assumed the throne in Chang'an [capital of the Former Han]. The king of Han [Liu Yuan] sent Liu Yao to conquer the city. Liu Yao captured Emperor Min and took Min's empress, Lady Yang, as his own wife. Liu Yao then escorted the Jin Emperor to Pingyang and extinguished the Jin dynasty. Liu Yao paid homage at the ancestral temple of the Supreme Ancestor [Liu Bang] and at the temple of Emperor Guang Wu [Liu Xiu, founder of the Later Han], Emperor Zhao Lie [Liu Bei], and Emperor Huai [Liu Shan]. Liu Yao made offerings and declared an empire-wide amnesty.43

  If we take Liu Yuan's claim of kinship to the royal family figuratively, this account is basically historical. The Xiongnu groups that Liu Yuan led, settlers "inside the [Han] border," had a history of ethnic integration (if not assimilation) with the Chinese, and Liu Yuan himself was versed in Chinese language and culture. So there is nothing absurd about his bid to restore the Han dynasty through his own line. Such a claim might have overawed internal opposition and neighboring Hu nations and thus served Liu Yuan well. Certain of his Xiongnu rivals wanted him to establish an independent Xiongnu nation, however, and not take the road to sinicization. Would he choose to be khan or emperor? His paternal grandfather, Liu Xuan, declared:

  Long ago our forefathers bound themselves to the Han as brother to brother. After the fall of the Han, Wei rose [and fell] and was followed by Jin. Our khans have had empty titles but nary an inch of our land has been returned. Our people's status is as low as the registered [common farmers]. Now the Sima house is destroying itself from within, and the realm is a seething cauldron. The time to revive our nation's heritage has come.44

  Thereupon Liu Xuan and the various Xiongnu branches secretly made Liu Yuan khan. In a. d. 304 Liu Yuan began to organize a mighty host from his own, the Bingzhou Xiongnu, and associated Xiongnu nations. The eager response of these nations to Liu Yuan's leadership suggests their strong antagonism to the Jin, Wei, and late Han dynasties for the suffering caused by generations of civil war. The Disorder of the Five Hu dates from this moment.

  Jin's end was swift and ignominious. In a. d. 309 Liu Yuan began an attack on Luoyang. In a. d. 311 he died, and his son Zong continued the siege until Luoyang fell that same year. Xiongnu troops sacked the capital and took Emperor Huai of the Jin captive. The Jin then moved the court to Chang'an under a new emperor, Min. After five more years of fighting, Liu Zong had reduced Chang'an and Emperor Min had surrendered. Jin power then vanished from northern China. Emperor Min was taken and killed together with Emperor Huai.

  Liu Yuan accomplished these things as Han emperor, not as Xiongnu khan. In a. d. 309, the year he began the attack on Luoyang, he declared himself emperor of Han, reminding his followers how successful Liu Bei had been in waging war from an isolated province in order to regain the empire.

  Liu Yuan said, "I am a maternal nephew of Han; we are bound as brother to brother. If the elder dies, should not the younger succeed him? Let us proclaim ourselves Han." Then he honored the memory of the Second Emperor [Liu Shan].45

  Liu Yuan's son, Zong, continued to claim the title emperor of Han until a. d. 318, the second year of Eastern Jin. Shortly thereafter Liu Yuan's house was extinguished.

  Extending the story of Three Kingdoms to conclude with these events, the PH fulfills its theme of retribution (perhaps the dominant theme of Yuan drama as well). In the course of this final generation (a. d. 280-317), other symmetries emerge. For one, the sack of Luoyang aptly closes an era that began with Dong Zhuo's forced evacuation of Luoyang in a. d. 189. (Like Liu Yuan, Dong Zhuo had close non-Han ties. ) Second, the return of Emperor Min to Chang'an reverses the shift of capitals from Former to Later Han. Third, the troubled ethnic and economic relationships between the Han and their northern neighbors reaches a kind of conclusion when Chinese dynastic power vacates the north, as if history had refuted Cao Cao's stunning victory over the Wuhuan people and Kongming's astonishing triumph over the Southern Man.

  Compared to the PH, the novel appears as a work that seeks to restore something of Han's greatness in Jin's reunification, and concluding its narrative in a. d. 280 contributes to that effect. The novel begins with an end and ends with a beginning, leaving the reader with a sense of optimism (or at least renewal) about Chinese history: "The empire, long divided, must unite." But the PH begins with an end and ends with an end, and the implications are ominous. The Han—and a unified China—is lost. When will it return? The PH expresses a Southern Song or Yuan mood; the novel, a Ming mood. The Ming founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, had publicly and purposefully portrayed himself as another Supreme Ancestor, another founder of the Han, and had succeeded in 1368 in projecting Han power into the north for the first time since 1127. Thus, in reunifying China Zhu Yuanzhang fulfilled a long-frustrated ambition of Han nationalism. Three Kingdoms reflects something of Zhu's achievement.

  We turn from the PH to consider some of the Yuan period Three Kingdoms plays. Drama as an art form thrived in Yuan China, and Three Kingdoms plays were a vital component. Traces of Three Kingdoms drama can be found as early as the Sui and Tang, but no texts survive. For the Gin and Song periods only a handful of titles remain out of hundreds (including non-Three Kingdoms plays) that are listed in early sources. Notices of Three Kingdoms shadow plays in the Northern Song have been found, but again no texts and only a few titles. For the Yuan period, however, the flourishing of Three Kingdoms drama is a striking fact, and the Riverlands heroes are the prominent figures. If whole and partial texts as well as titles (without texts) are counted, the number of Yuan and early Ming Three Kingdoms plays comes to between fifty and sixty, nearly 10 percent of the more than seven hundred (on all subjects) that we know of.

  Ten
dramatizations of Three Kingdoms tales (half by unknown authors), fragments of another six, and the titles of another eleven survive from the Yuan period.46 The remaining plays are Ming or fall into the vaguer category of Yuan-Ming because no date can be established. Given the uncertainties about the novel's dating, it is not always possible to say whether a play influenced the novel or the other way around. But taking the sixty plays as a whole, it is striking how thoroughly they cover the novel's century from Dong Zhuo's sedition to the founding of the Jin. Ye Weisi and Mao Xin have drawn up lists showing the corresponding events in the plays, the PH, and the novel.47 These lists show the time span the plays cover and also how popular the legends and characters of the Three Kingdoms had become by the Yuan dynasty. In Yuan times so much fictional material was added to the existing historical base that Luo Guanzhong might well have called himself, as Confucius once did, "a transmitter, not a maker."

  By and large, the plays continue the Southern Song tradition of taking the part of Liu Xuande against Cao Cao. Most of the extant plays feature Liu Bei or heroes devoted to him—Kongming, Lord Guan, Zhang Fei, Zhao Zilong, Ma Chao, and so on; the others deal with Cao Cao, Dong Zhuo, and Lü Bu. Among the plays there is a surprising tendency to treat not only the Wei but also the Southland leadership as enemies of Liu Bei. For example, in Guan Hanqing's Lone Swordsman Attends the Feast (Dan dao hui) Lu Su is the villain, with his plot to kidnap Lord Guan and retake Jingzhou. The same plot is found in chapter 66 of the novel, but it is set in a context that makes Lu Su more sympathetic by showing his deep commitment to the Shu-Wu alliance (even if he has to work against it in chapter 66). The novel with its fuller background explores the contradictions between the two kingdoms within the necessity of the alliance.48