He Lei's view, which many share, leads us to look into the ideological and psychological tactics of the Manchus in the decades before they assumed governmental power in China. In 1616 Nurhaci, later honored by the Manchus as the dynastic founder, established the Later Gin. In that political form he consolidated his nation's position, winning important battles against the other northern nations and also against Ming outposts. In 1626 Abahai succeeded Nurhaci. Beginning in 1629, Abahai campaigned successfully in the territory of China proper, and many Ming commanders and soldiers went over to the Manchus. By 1635 the Later Gin, ruled by the khan Abahai, had achieved a commanding superiority, having acquired the great seal of the Mongols in a victory over the Chahar branch.72
Concomitantly, Abahai began preparing for the conquest of China by refashioning Manchu state organization along Chinese lines, copying certain aspects of Ming administration and assimilating certain elements of Chinese culture. This explains Manchu interest in Three Kingdoms and the four Confucian classics. In 1636, a turning point in China's history, Abahai changed his designation from khan to emperor (as Liu Yuan once had done at the beginning of the fourth century, before conquering the Jin); he changed his dynasty's name from Later Gin to Qing; and he changed his reign title to Honoring Virtue (implying "Things Chinese will be preserved" ).
The new reign title, Honoring Virtue (Chong De), served a symbolic purpose. Virtue refers not only to the rightness of Abahai's claim to rule China as emperor, but also to Five Agents theory, which explains the succession of dynasties in terms of a sequence of symbolic elements. The Manchus used the element water in their dynasty name, Qing, and also in their national name, Manzhou (i. e., Manchu). This element suggests that they would "overcome" the Ming, which like the Han, ruled under the element fire.
The Manchus took these institutional and symbolic steps to deny their previous formal subordination to the Ming and to temper Chinese anxiety at the echo of the "foreign conquest of the Northern Song." The Manchus were also positioning themselves as the rightful successors to the Ming, bringers of a new order that would rescue China from corruption and rebellion, an order that would be fully recognizable and acceptable to the Chinese. And many Chinese did indeed accept Manchu rule, if only out of despair at the prospect of continued Ming rule. (Anti-Qing nationalism built upon a Ming restoration is a concept more of the nineteenth than the seventeenth century. ) The small Southern Ming courts never became a serious force or a popular nationalist movement. In this perspective, He Lei's argument for the Maos' pro-Qing sympathy gains strength, and any analogy between the Southern Ming courts and the Shu-Han kingdom is weakened.
Another fact lending support to He Lei's position is the importance of Liu Bei to the Manchus as a symbol of their elder-brother relationship to the Mongols. According to an anonymous late Qing source:
The Manchus used Three Kingdoms as a means of exercising control over the Mongols. Even before the conquest, when [Abahai] first subjugated the various tribes of the inner Mongols he formed fraternal alliances with their khans. Using the oath in the peach garden of Three Kingdoms as a model, the Manchus identified themselves with Liu Bei and the Mongols with Lord Guan. After becoming emperor of China's heartland, [Abahai], fearing Mongol disaffection, enfeoffed Lord Guan [with many titles, including] sage and great emperor, in order to demonstrate his respect for the Mongols. At that time the Mongols revered no one more than Lord Guan, except their spiritual leaders, the lamas. And it is solely thanks to [the Manchu policy of honoring Lord Guan] that the Mongol vassals along the northern marches have remained loyal vassals for more than two hundred years, emulating Lord Guan's scrupulous devotion to Liu Bei.73
According to this record, the novel had considerable importance to the Manchus before as well as after the conquest. The Maos therefore may well have been catering to their rulers' interests in preparing their edition. In 1650 the Manchus had Three Kingdoms translated into Manchu and required the elite youth to study it. The novel's political, military, and diplomatic information was useful for governing the Chinese; and the novel celebrated the fraternal ties that served as a model for Manchu relations with the Mongols. Or perhaps Liu Xuande stood for the quintessential Han Chinese leader in the Manchus' eyes (after their decision to become more "Chinese" ), to whom non-Han nations could and would pay heartfelt homage. Considering how Xuande had represented Han resistance to non-Han conquerors, one might say that the Manchus had successfully appropriated an important symbol of the conquered.
At this point a simple question presents itself. If the novel really represented a pro-Ming position in the eyes of the Manchus, would they not have acted to censor it (as they censored Shuihu zhuan for advocating rebellion) instead of seizing on it as a useful instrument? It is not likely that the debate over whether the Maos were pro- or anti-Qing, or neither, can be resolved, but it is a tribute to the thematic complexity of the novel that it can be used to support all three positions.
THREE KINGDOMS AS LITERATURE: THE MAO COMMENTARY
Mao Zonggang's comprehensive commentary on Three Kingdoms focuses on structure and character. He subdivides structure into larger and smaller, characters into major and minor. The dufa, Mao's analytical introduction, identifies six large narrative segments on which the novel is constructed. These "six beginnings" and "six endings" are:
[1] The reign of Emperor Xian begins when Dong Zhuo deposes his elder brother [Liu Bian, or Emperor Shao] and places him [Liu Xie] on the throne; it ends when Cao Pi usurps the [Han] throne. [2] The history of Shu begins when Liu Bei declares himself emperor in Chengdu; it ends with Liu Shan [Bei's son, Houzhu or Second Emperor] quitting the town of Mianzhu to surrender [to Wei]. [3] The story of the three brothers begins with the oath in the peach garden; it ends in Baidi with Liu Bei's last act, entrusting his son to the care of Zhuge Liang. [4] The story of Zhuge Liang begins with Liu Bei's three calls to his thatched hut; it ends with the six offensives he led against Wei from the Qishan hills. [5] The story of the kingdom of Wei begins with its first imperial reign period, Huang Chu, "Commencement of the Yellow" ; it ends with Sima Yan receiving the abdication of the last Wei emperor. [6] The story of the Southland begins when Sun Jian conceals the imperial seal; it ends when Sun Hao tenders the imperial seal to the Jin emperor [ending the novel].
These six narratives form the novel's framework.
As for the dominant characters, Mao Zonggang chooses three whom he calls incomparable (jue): Kongming, Lord Guan, and Cao Cao—the prime minister, the general, and the Machiavellian (or amoral, jian) hero. Mao does not need to mention Liu Xuande, since he is the pivotal figure around whom Kongming, Lord Guan, and Cao Cao orbit; the three incomparables define themselves in relation to Liu Bei. Thus, four biographies dominate the novel. Once these larger frameworks are understood, the reader can appreciate the novel's smaller-scale techniques of composition, the sequential plotting and the parallel and contrastive patterning that create its texture.74
Causal sequences are of great interest to Mao Zonggang. In one passage of the dufa he discusses the author's practice of "probing the origins to find the source" :
The partition into three kingdoms stems from the rivalries among the various lords; these rivalries arose from Dong Zhuo's disruption of the dynastic succession; this disruption arose from He jin's summoning outside troops into the capital; the troops were summoned because of the tyranny of the Ten Eunuchs; the Ten Eunuchs, then, are the starting point. However, Liu Xuande's career does not start among the various lords, but rather among the marshland [i. e., outlaw] heroes who joined forces to fight for right and justice when the Yellow Scarves created turmoil in the land.
The narrative of Three Kingdoms thus has a second point of departure in the Yellow Scarves. But before they started their rebellion, Heaven sent down omens and portents as a warning; loyal counselors and wise planners gave blunt advice and unrestrained remonstrance because of what they foresaw. If only the sovereign had embodied that benevolent love that is the mind of H
eaven, accepted the sound judgment of elite vassals, and decisively thrust from him the Ten Eunuchs, then the Yellow Scarves would never have come into being, the heroes of the marshland would never have risen up, the various lords would never have resorted to arms, and the realm would not have been partitioned.
This search for causality is more than a literary device; it is a truism of Confucian political morality. On the authority of Confucius (Analects, 12. 11), the responsibility for disorder rests on those above: "If the king is not kingly, the vassals will not serve as [as vassals should]; if the father is not fatherly, the sons will not be filial." Shuihu zhuan similarly blames rebellion on misgovernment.
Another important technique that Mao Zonggang describes in the dufa is foreshadowing and aftereffect. Foreshadowing is "sleet seen before snow, thunder heard before rain. Something to be related formally and directly will be preceded by something informal or indirect.... The great fire that burned out Cao Cao in Puyang is preceded by the fire in Mi Zhu's house." Conversely, there are "ripples after the wave, showers after the storm.... Every extraordinary passage produces an after-pattern.... Liu Bei's three visits to Kongming are followed by Liu Qi's three visits to Kongming." Sometimes the most inconspicuous clue is inserted long before some great event,
a seed is planted many years in advance. The expert horticulturalist sows in anticipation of future growth. The chess master's casual play anticipates dozens of moves to come. The novel tells its story in much the same way. Liu Zhang, inspector of the Riverlands, is the son of Liu Yan. In the first chapter Liu Yan is mentioned before Liu Bei, planting long in advance the hint of Liu Bei's conquest of the Riverlands. Again, when Liu Bei campaigns against the Yellow Scarves, Cao Cao and Dong Zhuo make their entrances, preparing the way for Zhuo's overthrow of the legitimate emperor and Cao's monopoly of power.
The more one studies the patterns of the novel, the more it seems like a grand cathedral designed by an intelligence purposefully placing even the smallest, most innocent details, not only to create satisfying patterns but also to make a point or suggest a judgment.
Another technique Mao describes is contrast within categories:
The same tree has different branches, the same branch different leaves, the same leaf different blossoms, the same blossom different fruit.... Brothers in conflict include Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, Liu Qi and Liu Zong, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. The first pair died; of the second pair one died, one survived; of the third pair both survived.... Zhao Zilong saved Ah Dou [Liu Bei's son] twice: the first time on land, the second time on water; the first time receiving him from his natural mother's hands, the second time snatching him from his stepmother's grasp.
Mao Zonggang sees the novel patterned by repetitive incidents; he denies that this creates redundancy and speaks of the patterns as artfully contrived themes and variations.
Another aspect of the patterning is contrastive parallelism or "using the guest [i. e., the secondary figure] to enhance the host."
The brotherhood in the peach garden is preceded by the story of the three Yellow Scarves brothers. The former is the host, the latter the guest.... The story of He Jin is preceded by the story of Chen Fan and Dou Wu [the novel's opening scene describes their efforts to free the court of eunuch influence]. Alongside the brilliance of Liu Bei, Lord Guan, Zhang Fei, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian [the kingdom-founders] one finds the mediocre lords of the various garrison towns. When Liu Bei is about to meet Kongming, he first encounters Sima Hui, Cui Zhouping, and others, who serve to set the stage for Kongming. Xu Shu [i. e., Shan Fu] and Pang Tong also serve as foils for Kongming, who advised two emperors [Liu Bei and his son Liu Shan]; Xu Shu comes early and departs swiftly, and Pang Tong comes late but predeceases Kongming. Zhao Zilong first served Gongsun Zan,... Ma Chao first served Zhang Lu, Fan Zheng and Yan Yan first served Liu Zhang. All eventually transferred their allegiance to Liu Bei, [lending him luster],... Regarding the theory of succession by abdication—Li Su used it to deceive Dong Zhuo, but Cao Pi made it real, and so did Sima Yan; Dong Zhuo was the guest, Cao Pi and Sima Yan the hosts. Places as well as persons can serve as host and guest. When Emperor Xian moved from Luoyang to Chang'an, then back to Luoyang and finally to Xuchang, Xuchang was the host, Chang'an and Luoyang the guests. When Liu Bei lost Xuzhou and then gained Jingzhou, Xuzhou was the guest, Jingzhou the host; then when he gained the Riverlands and lost Jingzhou, the Riverlands became the host, Jingzhou the guest.
The host-and-guest technique and the similar technique of contrast within categories are basically spatial. Mao also mentions a temporal or dynamic technique called bian (surprise or reversal):
As the poet Du Shading [Du Fu] says, "Clouds—one moment like white clothes in mid-heaven, the next a gray dog." This line speaks of the unfathomable events of this world.... He Jin started out plotting to execute the eunuchs, but in the end they killed him.... Liu Bei began by following Yuan Shao to chastise Dong Zhuo and ended up helping Gongsun Zan against Yuan Shao. At first Liu Bei wanted to aid Xuzhou, but finally he took over the province himself.
Mao Zonggang enumerates dozens of such reversals and, judging by the length of the list, looked on reversal as the main dynamic of the novel's narratives.
In addition to metaphors of gardening, weather, etiquette, and chess, Mao Zonggang draws on landscape painting to describe the novel's manner of composition:
Horizontal clouds transect mountains, bridges enclose streams. Certain segments are suited for continuous, others for discontinuous narration. Lord Guan's killing five of Cao Cao's pass guards, Liu Bei's three calls to Kongming's thatched hut, Kongming's seven captures of Meng Huo—all show the author's genius for continuous narration. Kongming's angering Zhou Yu three times, his six offensives from the Qishan hills, and the nine expeditions against the north—all show the author's genius for discontinuous narration. Shorter segments require continuous treatment for coherence; longer segments would fatigue the reader unless broken up with other material.
Another painting technique bears mention here: "Close hills are done with heavier strokes, distant trees with lighter ones." This describes the author's use of different emphases for foreground and background detail.
These are the principal aspects of Three Kingdoms composition as analyzed in the dufa of Mao Zonggang. To show in fuller detail Mao's method of analysis in practice, the annotations to this translation draw on many of Mao's chapter introductions and interlinear commentary. A number of Chinese scholars (and some Western readers, too) have found the novel's techniques of patterning obvious or burdensome. Some may feel the novel is redundantly structured. The author had to bring order to historical material of great volume and complexity, however, and this may explain his reliance on a variety of transparent organizing devices. In much the same way, Shakespeare resorted to rather transparent parallelisms and contrasts in writing the three Henry VI plays. If Luo Guanzhong's penchant for organization was his way of grappling with a wealth—if not a surplus—of material, the authors of Shuihu zhuan and Journey to the West were not so burdened, and therefore could give freer rein to their imaginations, unleashing their powers of invention to the full. The resulting spontaneity, many have found, makes these novels more appealing and sets them apart from Three Kingdoms. Mao Zonggang, however, contests this view, closing his dufa with the claim that Three Kingdoms surpasses Shuihu and Journey to the West because of its fidelity to the historical record. Mao is thinking along the same lines as Han Feizi when he remarked that it is easier to draw a demon than a man because demons do not exist and no one knows what they look like, while everyone knows what men look like. Perhaps this was the test—transforming a stretch of all too familiar history into literary art—that the author faced and passed.
We proceed now to consider how some of the major characters have been recast in the Mao edition, bearing in mind that we are dealing with shifts of emphasis within generally similar portraits.
KONGMING IN MAO ZONGGANG'S EDITION
The dufa says, "Three Kingd
oms has three superlative portraits: Zhuge Kongming's, Lord Guan's, and Cao Cao's." Before comparing the Kongming of the Mao edition with the Kongming of the TS, certain thematic differences between the two editions of the novel should be noted. Both editions uphold the cause of Liu Xuande's legitimacy and treat Cao Cao as a tyrant and usurper, though the Mao edition, as noted elsewhere, consistently tries to sharpen the contrast, even at the expense of historical fidelity to the SGZ and ZZTJ. However, the two editions do not justify Liu Xuande's legitimacy in quite the same way. The TS gives priority to virtue (de) over Liu lineage; the Mao edition does not. Six times, and in six different contexts, the TS states, "The empire belongs to no one man but to all in the empire." The import of this motif, whether expressed or implied, is that "he who has virtue should rule." Mencius expressed similar reservations about making the rights of the blood heir absolute when he said, "Any man can be a [sage-king like] Yao or Shun."
Mao Zonggang cannot accept a formula that advocates nonlineage legitimacy. Therefore, he removes from his edition each of the six occurrences of the phrase "The empire belongs to no one man." For Mao, virtue can never displace lineage, and the figure of Liu Xuande does not require him to confront the possibility of a contradiction between virtue and lineage. Mao's opening statement in the dufa that lineage, not territory, determines legitimacy has already been cited. True to that principle, Mao says in his introduction to chapter 80: "In judging Liu Bei's accession to the imperial throne, having a Liu succeed a Liu meant simply that the throne was properly [shun as opposed to ni] won and properly held." Despite their differences on the basis of legitimacy, both editions of the novel uphold Liu Xuande's Shu-Han kingdom, not the Cao-Wei dynasty, as the rightful heir of the Han dynasty. Accordingly, both editions (and the PH as well) protect Xuande's humane image by not including the protest of one Shu-Han official, Fei Shi, to his enthronement as emperor in Shu-Han, though the historical texts, the SGZ and the ZZTJ, record the protest.75
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