Three Kingdoms

by Luo Guanzhong (Moss Roberts trans. )

  9. The avalanche suggests danger from non-Han nations of the north, the Wuhuan or Xiongnu; the word beng, "collapse," also refers to the death of the Emperor.

  10. Zhongchangshi (constant attendants to the emperor) were employed as early as the Qin. The founder of the Eastern or Later Han, Emperor Guang Wu (Liu Xiu), required all such personal attendants on the imperial family to be eunuchs. The constant attendants were drawn from the Inner Bureau (huangmen or "Yellow Gate" ). See Hans Bielenstein, The Bureaucracy of Han Times (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980).

  11. In Chinese, Yellow Scarves is huang jin. Yellow is the imperial color; the word jin, "a piece of cloth," is the lower element in the graph di, "emperor." Rebels often established a counter-emperor to challenge the one in power. (The Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, was the patron saint of medicine. )

  In Five Agents theory yellow represents earth, which overcomes fire. The mid-Han usurper Wang Mang adopted yellow as his symbolic color, and so did the house of Wei after accepting the abdication of the Han (see chap. 80). The yellow band around the head or hair of the rebels suggests the forbidden "yellow at the top" : "one who imitated the emperor's yellow carriage top and flags... acted unlawfully." T'ung-tsu Ch'ü, Han Social Structure (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1972), p. 68.

  12. a. d. 189-90. The reign title Zhong Ping suggests "North China [the zhongyuan or heartland] is stable." Zhong, "central," also refers to the imperial government.

  13. Jiangjun is usually translated "general" if an honorary title precedes it, "commander" if alone. The thirty-six commands recall the thirty-six imperial districts into which the First Emperor of Qin divided China. In the opening of the Shuihu zhuan, Grand Commandant Hong releases thirty-six spirits from the Hall of Expelling Corruption.

  14. Jing was emperor of the Former Han from 156 to 140 b. c.. Emperor Guang Wu, founder of the Later Han, traced his lineage to Emperor Jing.

  The word xuan means "red mixed with black." The color symbolism suggests a darkened Han virtue. Another possible allusion is to Liu Bang, who had briefly conceived of himself as the Black Emperor, perhaps thinking to be a Qin emperor (Qin's color symbol was black) before deciding to found a new dynasty, the Han.

  Following Xuande's official biography, "Xianzhu zhuan," the TS (p. 4) mentions Xuande's fondness for hounds and horses as well as musical entertainment and fine clothes; see SGZ, p. 871. Mao leaves these details out and adds a phrase of his own, "gentle and generous by nature."

  15. See Appendix III to "Emperor Wu," in Pan Ku [Ban Gu], The History of the Former Han Dynasty, trans. Homer H. Dubs (Baltimore: The Waverly Press, 1938-55), 2: 126-28.

  16. Xiaolian (filial and honest) designates someone whom the district governor has recommended to the court for examination and appointment. One or two recommendations were made annually from each imperial district.

  17. The TS (p. 4) reads: "The uncle reproached him: 'Don't talk nonsense! You'll ruin our whole family! '"

  18. Zheng Xuan was an important annotator of the classics. Lu Zhi was one of the three Imperial Corps commanders dispatched to suppress the Yellow Scarves. Both men were scholars of the Old Text tradition, that is, they favored the Zuo zhuan and its philosophy of moral responsibility and rational relation of cause to effect in history. Opposed to the Old Text tradition was the New Text school, which emphasized prognostication, portents, and mystifying correspondences in interpreting history.

  19. Fei means "to fly" ; yide means "wings [assisting] virtue." De, "virtue," is also part of Xuande's name. The given name, Bei, means "fully endowed" or "qualified."

  20. Qiu Zhengsheng traces Lord Guan's red face to the following Song dynasty legend. After killing a corrupt magistrate and releasing his victims, Lord Guan took refuge in a Taoist temple. A sorceress at the temple had him wash his face in a spring. The water turned his face red, and as a result he could not be identified. See ZHT, p. 47.

  21. Yu means "wings" ; changsheng, "prolonged life," is a Taoist phrase; yunchang is "permanent (or fleeting) as a cloud." The aerial imagery of these names suggests a connection with an anti-dynastic Taoist sect. The term yuhua (endowed with wings) was used by certain late Han sects to denote transcendence.

  22. The PH (p. 11) paints Guan Yu in more revolutionary colors: "Because county officials were greedy and corrupt and cruel to the toiling people, Lord Guan killed the country magistrate and then fled for his life." This was the kind of action taken by members of the Yellow Scarves.

  23. For the reader's convenience the three heroes will be called Xuande, Lord Guan, and Zhang Fei unless the context requires the use of their other names.

  24. Peach blossoms in bloom suggest the ritual time of plighting troth. See Shi jing, ode 6, "Tao yao."

  25. Horse sacrifice may have had non-Han origins. In his commentary to the SJ, Takigawa Kametarō notes: "The Xiongnu killed horses to offer to Heaven; the Rong and Di [peoples] did so too. The Qin followed the custom of the Western Rong [in making such sacrifices]." S], "Feng shan shu," p. 8. The sacrifice of a white horse (baima) is mentioned by Wang Ling, an opponent of Empress Lü's plan to supplant the Liu: "Empress Lü took control of the government [in 187 B. c. ]. She proposed establishing members of her clan as kings and asked the counsel of Prime Minister of the Right Wang Ling. Wang Ling said, 'The Supreme Emperor [Liu Bang] slaughtered a white horse and made a general covenant stating that if anyone who was not a member of the Liu clan became king, the whole empire must attack him. If you now make members of the Lü clan kings, you will violate this binding covenant'" ; see SJ, "Lühou benji," p. 10. In the opening of the Yuan (or early Ming) drama devoted to the formation of the brotherhood, Taoyuan jieyi, the horse is sacrificed to Heaven, the ox to earth. During Luo Guanzhong's lifetime there was an anti-Mongol rebel league called the Red Scarves; this group performed horse and ox sacrifices.

  26. The jin, approximately twenty ounces, consisted of ten liang, or "taels."

  27. During the process of welding and cooling, a wavy damascene pattern may appear on the metal surface of a sword blade. See Joseph Needham, The Development of Iron and Steel Technology in China (London: W. Heffer, 1964), pp. 40-44. Lord Guan's sword is charged with solar (yang) energy; Green Dragon is the name of the eastern quadrant of the sky, from which the natural forces of renewal come each day.

  28. The watches began at sundown and lasted two hours each.

  29. In the TS (p. 8) Cao Cao is called "a real hero" (hao yingxiong) rather than a "leader" (jiang).

  The names Ah Man and Jili are not mentioned in the "Wudi ji," the imperial annal for Cao Ca in the SGZ. The two names are in Pei Songzhi's interlinear citation (SGZ, pp. 1-2) from the Cao Man zhuan, a work ascribed to a man of Wu (the Southland); the same work is the source of the statement that Cao's grandfather, Teng, was a man of the Xiahou clan. Possibly, Ah Man and Jili are his Xiahou names. The "Wudi ji," favorable to Cao Cao, simply says that Cao Song's real origins could not be ascertained (SGZ, p. 1); the Cao Man zhuan is an unfriendly source. This passage of the novel mingles the two sources. Cao Cao's given name, a second tone, is a different word from his surname, Cao, a first tone; the given name means "integrity," but as a verb often means "manipulate." The word Ah means "dear little," and the word Man means "deceive," thus Cao Man means "Cao, the Deceiver." The name Cao Man is used occasionally in the novel.

  30. Mao: "How can a man who deceives his father and uncle not deceive his king? Xuande treats his mother with filial love."

  31. Mao: "Cao Cao enters and exits like the wind."

  32. Mao: "Twice Xuande tried to assist the government forces but had no success. This time he found an unlooked-for battle as he was withdrawing and heading home. This illustrates the narrative principle of surprise [bian]. ''

  33. Mao: "They set out to assist Lu Zhi and ended up saving Dong Zhuo." Readers seeking to explore the novel's techniques of composition and character development will profit from two studies: Andrew Plaks, The Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel (Princeton: Prince
ton University Press, 1987) and Andrew Hing-Bun Lo, "San-kuo-chih yen-i and Shui-hu chuan in the Context of Historiography: An Interpretive Study" (Ph. D. diss., Princeton University, 1981). For a more general introduction, see C. T. Hsia, The Classic Chinese Novel (New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1968).

  CHAPTER 2

  1. Part of the shamanic ritual for summoning demonic powers, unbound hair also suggests defiance of imperial authority. The use of animal offal and excrement to defeat supernatural agents is discussed in Donald Harper, "The Wu Shih Erh Ping Fang: Translation and Prolegomena" (Ph. D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1982).

  2. The titles assumed by the three rebel leaders, General of Heaven, General of the Earth, General of Men, correspond to the three elder lords, the sangong, the Emperor's closest confidants, who were also identified with Heaven, earth, and man. The sangong was more a ceremonial institution than a real force by the end of the Han.

  3. General of Chariots and Cavalry is a military title second only to that of regent-marshal. It is comparable in status to general of the Flying Cavalry, a title first awarded to honor a daring foray into Xiongnu territory. See SJ, "Wei jiangjun piaoji liezhuan." Protector was a provincial appointment at a compensation rate of 2, 000 piculs of grain per month. Typically under the Han the customary chief provincial officer was the imperial inspector at 600 piculs. The protector had relatively independent authority; the imperial inspector was more strictly answerable to the court. Weakening central authority in the last Han reign is reflected in the increasing number of protector appointments over inspector appointments. See n. 8 below.

  4. The founders of two of the three kingdoms, Cao Cao (of Wei, in the north) and Xuande (of Shu, in the west), are introduced in chapter 1. Sun Jian may be regarded as the founder of the third kingdom (Wu, in the south), although it was his son, Sun Quan, who actually became the ruler of the southern kingdom.

  5. Mao: "Despite his ample ability he still needs connections, alas."

  6. The TS (p. 14) attributes this speech to the Emperor.

  7. There are other versions of this well-known scene. In the SGZ ( "Xianzhu zhuan" ) the beating is administered by Xuande himself. In the PH (p. 23-24) Zhang Fei murders the local leadership and then beats the inspector to death in front of Xuande; afterward, the corpse is dismembered.

  8. The appointment of Liu Yu in a. d. 188 as protector of Youzhou is a milestone in Han institutional history, marking the end of the central government's policy of retaining as much military authority as possible and restricting the development of regional and local forces (see Liu Yan's biography in HHS ( "Liu Yan, Yuan Shu, Lü Bu liezhuan" ), pp. 2431-38.

  9. Emperor Ling had entrusted the eunuch Jian Shuo with the task of making Prince Xie, not Prince Bian, the next emperor. In a. d. 188 Ling formed a corps, the Eight Commandants of the West Garden, led by Jian Shuo, to ensure victory over the supporters of Prince Bian.

  10. In his introductory note to chapter 2, Mao contrasts Zhang Fei's impetuosity (with which the chapter opens) to the temporizing of He Jin.

  11. Empress Lü was the wife of Gao Zu (the Supreme Ancestor), founder of the Han, and the first empress dowager of the Han. Her son Hui was the second Han emperor. His first act upon assuming authority was to name her "Queen Mother." On Hui's death she installed her kinsman Lü Hong, king of Hengshan, as emperor (183 b. c. ), but she herself held actual power. On her death her two nephews Lu and Chan took over the government, precipitating a small civil war that ended with the restoration of the Liu line and the destruction of the Lü line. See the annals of Han Gao Zu's empress in the Han shu ( "Di ji," juan 3).

  12. Mao (introductory note): "In the Western or Former Han dynasty, the Empress's relatives constituted a stronger faction than the eunuchs. In the Eastern or Later Han, the reverse was true. In the former case trouble began with Empress Lü's nephews threatening the imperial line, and culminated with the usurpation of Wang Mang. The eunuchs never attained the dominant position they would have in the Later Han. Thus it may be said that the fall of the Western Han was due to the Empress's relatives. In the Eastern Han the Empress's relatives and the eunuchs vied for dominance, alternating in their periods of ascendancy. But as a rule the eunuchs—not the relatives—prevailed, as we see from the death of Dou Wu [see chap. 1] and He Jin. Thus it may be said that the fall of the Eastern Han was due to the eunuchs. Dou Wu lost but his own life; He Jin's death brought down the dynasty. Why? Because he summoned troops from outlying districts."

  CHAPTER 3

  1. In the TS (p. 22), Dong Zhuo's denunciation includes the charge that Zhang Rang has amassed vast holdings of choice farmland near the capital. This charge is also found in the Dian lüe version of the indictment as cited by Pei Songzhi (SGZ, pp. 172-73).

  2. Lu Zhi was one of Xuande's teachers. Falsely accused of passivity in fighting the rebels, he was placed in a cage-cart. Subsequently he was vindicated and restored to his former position (see chap. 1).

  3. This palace was assigned to the Empress; it was also known as the Eastern Palace.

  4. He Jin was her brother as well as her subject.

  5. This ancient royal graveyard dating back to the Zhou dynasty was located north of Luoyang.

  6. Beginning with this paragraph the TS (p. 25) calls the boys "the two emperors" (er di). Mao Zonggang does not let such an expression of divided authority stand, although "two emperors" becomes an important theme later in the epic. Liu Bian's reign as Emperor Shao lasted from May 15 to September 28, 189.

  7. Yuan Shao and Chunyu Qiong were among the eight commandants (see chap. 2, n. 9). Cao Cao, with the title dianjun xiaoyu (commandant for Military Standards), was another of the eight. Though its leader, Jian Shuo, was dead, the corps still had its mission to accomplish.

  8. Wearing a sword on the palace grounds was a capital offense.

  9. The TS has Bingzhou, correctly, according to the SGZ, p. 219.

  10. The name is explained in the PH (p. 26): "The horse is extraordinary, its entire body covered with 'blood spots' that are a fresh red. [Presumably the blood-sweating Dayuan horse; see Arthur Waley," The Heavenly Horses of Ferghana, "History Today 5(1955): 95-103. ] Its mane and tail are like fire. It is called Red Hare Steed [chi tu ma], not for the color red but because it is a horse for hunting [she (to shoot) is almost a rhyme with chi] the hare. If it spies a hare, it stops running and holds its ground without waiting for the rider to apply the reins [presumably allowing a steadier shot]. For this reason they call it Red Hare or Hare Hunter." In chapter 90 a Southern Man leader rides a chi tu horse: the interpretation is uncertain.

  11. A position Cao Cao held.

  CHAPTER 4

  1. The Qin and Former Han title of prime minister (xiangguo or chengxiang) is not a standard one of the late Han. Its restoration by Cao Cao eighteen years later in a. d. 208, coupled with the elimination of the three elder lords (sangong), is a milestone in the history of the imperial bureaucracy. According to Dong Zhuo's biography in the SGZ (p. 174), he acquired the following offices before putting Emperor Xian on the throne: sikong (minister of works, one of the sangong); taiyu (grand commandant, one of the sangong); and he took possession of the instruments of command over the Imperial Tiger Escort. After establishing Emperor Xian, Dong Zhuo had himself elevated to prime minister. Because the office is closer to the sovereign than any other, Cao Cao later assumed it himself.

  2. Mao: "Wine goes most elegantly with poetry. But who would have expected this?"

  3. According to the Xu Hanshu, He Jin (styled Suigao) "from Nanyang, was the elder brother of the Empress by the same father but different mothers. He Jin originally belonged to a butcher's family.... After the father's death, his sister, with the help of the Inner Bureau, entered the ranks of imperial concubines. Preferred by the Emperor, she rose to Empress in Guang He 3 [a. d. 180]. Through her, He Jin received rank and imperial favor. In Zhong Ping 1 [a. d. 184], after the uprisings of the Yellow Scarves, He Jin was appointed regent" ; cited in S
GZ, p. 172.

  4. Hanging enemy heads in this manner was a custom of the northwestern Qiang people, among whom Dong Zhuo was raised.

  5. Mao: "The knife was the perfect gift to give in exchange for the horse. Why did Cao Cao need a special knife to kill Dong Zhuo? He asked for it because he was thinking ahead, and making it a gift may well have been part of his plan all along."

  6. The murder of Lü Boshe is interpreted differently in the Weishu, a text cited in Pei Songzhi's interlinear commentary to the "Wudi ji" : "Convinced that Dong Zhuo would eventually come to ruin, Cao Cao refused appointment [to the Valiant Cavaliers] and fled to his native village. Accompanied by his followers, he passed the home of Lü Boshe. Boshe was not there, and his sons and their friends tried to kidnap Cao Cao and take his horses and goods. Cao stabbed several of them to death" (SGZ, p. 5). The novelist has chosen not to include other significant events of Cao Cao's early years. For example, the Weishu records that he submitted a memorial to Emperor Ling recommending the rehabilitation of the anti-eunuch officials Chen Fan and Dou Wu (SGZ, p. 3), and the SGZ (p. 4) itself says that he blocked a plot to depose Emperor Ling. Nonetheless, some scholars have argued that the novel's portrait of Cao Cao is basically historical. For an example of this view, see Weng Bonian, "San lun Cao Cao" XK (1985) 1: 124-43.

  Mao Zonggang, normally so severe on Cao Cao, makes an interesting defense of his character here: "No reader reaching this episode fails to revile him.... They fail to recognize that Cao excels here too [in saying 'Better to wrong the world than have it wrong me']. Who has not felt this way? Who dares give such feelings voice? The good Confucian gentlemen speak hypocritically when they say, 'Better to be wronged than wrong another. ' Not that it doesn't sound good, but when you examine their conduct every step they take is in secret imitation of Cao Cao's statement. Cao Cao is simply an ambitious and amoral man who said what was in his heart. Such frankness is most refreshing compared to the deceits spoken by the other type. In this sense Cao Cao excels."