8. These light craft had various functions: liaison, communications, rescue, and evacuation of the skeleton crews of the fireboats.
9. The TS (pp. 475-76) has Zhou Yu add, "A better plan would be to ally ourselves with Cao Cao and capture Liu Bei and Kongming." Lu Su protests, "Cao Cao is ten times the problem Liu Bei is. If we don't defeat Cao first, we're done for."
10. Liu Qi, the elder son of Liu Biao, on Kongming's advice, had had himself assigned to Xiakou for his own safety. See chapters 39 and 40.
11. Liu Feng was Liu Xuande's adopted son; see chapter 36.
12. See chapters 25 and 26 on Lord Guan's debt to Cao Cao.
13. In his Sanguo shihua the historian Lü Simian summarizes the historical situation as follows:
The battle at Red Cliffs is the key to the history of the period, for if it had not occurred, or if Cao Cao had won, the empire would have been united and would never have split into three parts. This battle decided the question of unity or division....
Liu Xuande had aspirations to leadership and would not resign himself to playing second fiddle. After he and Cao Cao joined to defeat Lü Bu, he could easily have become an important and respected person in Cao's fold, but he would not do so—and even joined Dong Cheng in opposing Cao Cao.
After Cao Cao defeated him, Xuande threw in his lot with Yuan Shao, and after that with Liu Biao. The possibility of returning to Cao no longer existed.... Even if Xuande had wanted to, Cao Cao would never have accepted him, nor could it have been a sincere submission; so whatever the military situation, Xuande had to oppose Cao Cao to the bitter end.
Sun Qun's situation was altogether different.... His father, Sun Jian, and his brother, Sun Ce, had been allied with Yuan Shu. But Yuan Shu did not know how to reward Sun Ce for his many military achievements, and so Ce decided to conquer the Southland rather than continue serving Yuan Shu.... After Ce made the Southland his sphere of influence, Yuan Shu broke with him. At the time, Cao Cao did not have enough power to aim for the Southland, and since he was already at odds with Yuan Shu, he allied himself with Sun Ce and had the Emperor appoint him General Who Punishes Rebellion [taoni] and enfeoff him lord of Wu [Wu hou], In Jian An 5 [a. d. 200], when Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were locked in struggle, Sun Ce wanted to cross the river in force. But he was killed by Xu Gong's followers [see chap. 29]. According to his biography in the Sanguozhi, the intention of Sun Ce's northern expedition was to attack the capital [Xuchang] and take charge of the Emperor. Another interpretation is that he wanted to defeat Chen Deng, whom Cao Cao had made governor of Guangling in hopes of establishing, through him, control over the Southland. But after Sun Ce's death Cao Cao unwisely transferred Chen Deng to Dongcheng, losing all leverage over the Sun clan.... After Sun Quan succeeded Sun Ce, he attacked the governor of Jiangxia, Huang Zu [loyal to Liu Biao], year after year, finally killing him in a. d. 208. This brought his influence to the southeast section of present-day Hubei [Jiangxia], Farther west he could have... been within striking distance of Jiangling and Xiangyang.
In the same year Cao Cao attacked Liu Biao [Jian An 13, 7th month]. The next month Biao died. His elder son, Liu Qi, replaced Huang Zu as governor of Jiangxia, and Biao's younger son, Zong, was installed as his successor. Who could stop Cao now? His army reached Xinye in the ninth month, and Liu Zong submitted. Xuande had fled from Xinye to Fan, on the north side of the River Han opposite Xiangyang, and went next to Dangyang with a mass of followers.... Cao Cao pursued him to Steepslope. Xuande then went to Xiakou to take refuge with Liu Qi.... Xuande had few options remaining when Sun Quan unexpectedly proposed joining forces against Cao Cao....
Why was Sun Quan determined to resist? And Zhou Yu? And Lu Su? Submission would have won Sun Quan handsome treatment from Cao Cao and spared the empire the catastrophe of division, as Pei Songzhi suggests in his note to Zhang Zhao's biography. Perhaps the answer lies in Lu Su's biography. Once, when Lu Su was thinking of leaving the Southland to return north, Zhou Yu dissuaded him by quoting an old prediction: "Those who replace the Han will come from the southeast." Zhou Yu then introduced Lu Su to Sun Quan. During the interview Su said to Quan, "The house of Han will not revive. Nor can Cao Cao be easily eliminated. Your survival, General, lies in establishing the Southland as one part of a tripartite realm and watching for openings and divisions in the others."
Translated, abridged and adapted from Lü Simian, Sanguo shihua (Shanghai: Kaiming shudian, 1943), pp. 69-77.
CHAPTER 50
1. This famous story is found in Mencius, 4B. 24; but also see Zuo zhuan, "Xianggong," year 14. Lord Guan is described in the TS as an avid student of the Zuo zhuan. See chap. 11 n. 6 and chap. 21 n. 4; see also chap. 25 n. 15.
In the Spring and Autumn period Yugongzhisi was dispatched by the kingdom of Wei to pursue and attack Zizhuoruzi. Both men were expert marksmen. Overtaken by Yugongzhisi, Zizhuoruzi was too ill to take up his bow and defend himself. Yugongzhisi said to him, "Yingongzhituo was my archery instructor, and you were his instructor. I don't have the heart to kill you with the skills that you yourself have passed on to us." So saying, he knocked the heads off his arrows, shot four shafts in each direction, and left.
2. See chapter 25. When Cao Cao had Lord Guan surrounded, Zhang Liao persuaded Lord Guan to submit to Cao by negotiating the "three conditions."
3. Lord Guan's release of Cao Cao is as pivotal to the story of the three brothers as the battle at Red Cliffs is to the historical narrative. Mao's introductory comment: "Some people have raised the question, 'Why did Lord Guan spare Cao Cao at Huarong, when he was so eager to kill Cao Cao on the hunting field [chap. 20]? ' My answer is: Lord Guan wanted to kill Cao Cao at the hunt out of loyalty [but spared him rather than endanger the Emperor]; he spared Cao Cao at Huarong out of honor. If the difference between obedience and disobedience is not observed, there can be no loyalty; and if the difference between favor and injury is not understood, there can be no honor."
Looking at the situation strategically rather than ethically, it may be observed that Kongming had good reason for wanting Cao Cao spared. The rivalry between himself and Zhou Yu had reached the point of attempted murder (reflecting the rivalry between Sun Quan and Liu Xuande for Jingzhou). Cao Cao's death would have left Kongming and Xuande facing a far more powerful Zhou Yu. Cao Cao alive could inhibit the Southland's eagerness to dispose of ephemeral allies and assume control of Jingzhou. Moreover, preserving Cao Cao's relationship with Lord Guan kept a little door open to a Liu-Cao reconciliation.
CHAPTER 51
1. The You is a relatively small river (jiang) that meets the Yangzi at right angles from the west, slightly below the point at which the Yangzi turns south at Jiangling. The town there, still in northern hands, is called Youjiangkou or Youkou (kou means "juncture" ). Since Liu Bei will be based there and laying his claim to the whole province, at the end of this chapter the town's name becomes Jingzhou in the Chinese text. In chapter 53 Youjiangkou is renamed Gong'an. For the sake of simplicity the town is usually called Gong'an in this translation; Jiangling is called Nanjun because it is the seat of Nanjun district; "Jingzhou" normally refers to the province.
2. The TS (p. 491) adds: "As the ancients said, 'The empire belongs to no one man but to all in the empire. '" This is the third of the six times the lines occur in the TS and are dropped from the Mao edition.
3. Mao (introductory note): "Xuande resented Kongming's allowing the south to attack Jingzhou first. Lu Su resented Zhou Yu's allowing Xuande to attack Jingzhou second. [And yet] Xuande refused to seize Jingzhou from either Liu Biao or Liu Zong, and Lu Su had no wish to see Xuande or Kongming killed."
4. Mao (introductory note): "Lü Bu opened the gates to Puyang to deceive Cao Cao [see chap. 12], Cao Ren opened the gates to Nanjun to deceive Zhou Yu. These deceptions are similar, but Cao Cao was lured into the city and burned; Zhou Yu was lured into the city and shot. Lü Bu's deception was created by a false surrender; Cao Ren's by a false evacuation. So there is that difference. Now, the man Lü B
u sent to convey his surrender finally made a genuine submission; and Cao Ren's evacuation proved in the end to be genuine, too. So there is a similarity within the difference. Truly ingenious incidents, ingenious writing!"
5. Mao (introductory note): " When a man of learning looks at the battle for Nanjun, he can only sigh at the uncertainties of warfare. After Cao Cao's great defeat at Red Cliffs he left a plan in the hands of Cao Ren, which caused Zhou Yu to be seriously wounded at Nanjun after his victory.
Eighty-three legions of northerners could not overcome Zhou Yu, but a single Cao Ren succeeded. The southern armies on the river and in the Black Forest never tasted defeat—until the battle for Nanjun. This is extraordinary. And what is even more remarkable is that from the vantage of previous events, the shooting of Huang Gai was a small frustration in a major victory; and the shooting of Zhou Yu was similarly a small check after a big win. But from the vantage of succeeding events, Cao Cao's outwitting of Zhou Yu was a small victory after a major loss, while Cao Ren's loss of Nanjun was a major frustration after a minor victory. Such is the difficulty of anticipating outcomes: how can those who practice warfare give up after defeat or be complacent after victory? "
Cao Ren held out in Nanjun for one year. His evacuation occurred in the first month of a. d. 210.
CHAPTER 52
1. Mao: "For Xuande, reconciliation with Cao Cao became unthinkable the day he received the secret decree from Emperor Xian. But for the Southland leaders the possibility of Xuande's reconciling with Cao Cao is always of concern."
2. As mentioned before, the "nine imperial districts [jun]" of Jingzhou amount to seven according to the HHS: Nanyang, Nanjun, and Jiangxia are the three northern districts (i. e., above the Great River); Lingling and Wuling to the west, Guiyang and Changsha to the east, are the four southern districts. However, the TS annotator (p. 510), in accordance with a later Southland reorganization, lists nine jun: Jiangyang, Hanyang, Baling, Xiangyang, Jiangxia, Wuling, Guiyang, Lingling, and Changsha.
3. Mao: "Liu Biao was a mortal enemy of the Southland [since killing Sun Quan's father, Sun Jian], But Kongming can use Liu Biao as an expedient pretext to defer giving Jingzhou to the Southland because the Southland had earlier sent Lu Su to Jingzhou on a condolence call after the death of Liu Biao."
4. Yi Ji was the man who had warned Xuande to flee the banquet in Xiangyang, thus saving his life. See chapter 34.
5. Mao (introductory note): "Ma Liang's advice to place Liu Qi in charge of Jingzhou shows that many remembered [Qi's late father] Liu Biao and had chosen to follow Cao Cao only under duress. Thus, had Xuande seized control of the province that Biao entrusted to him, he would have lost the people's allegiance.... His reluctance to seize power was no miscalculation."
6. Lingling city was about two hundred kilometers south of Wuling; Wuling about sixty kilometers south of Nanjun. Wuling thus seems to have been closer. The boundary between Jingzhou and Yangzhou (the Han court's name for the Southland) was somewhat east of the Xiang River, and so Sun Quan would have been most likely to contest the conquest of Changsha and Guiyang, two districts lying in part to the east of the Xiang. When, in a. d. 215, Liu Bei and Sun Quan divided Jingzhou between them, the Xiang River became the boundary.
7. The TS (p. 500) dates this to Jian An 14, first month (a. d. 209).
8. Chinese with the same surname, though unrelated, are wont to say that they belonged to the same family five hundred years past.
9. Regarding Xuande's completion of the conquest of Jingzhou, Mao makes the following comment in his introductory note: "Everyone seems to remember that Zhou Yu's battles with Cao Ren enabled Kongming to capture the three northern districts of Jingzhou province. They forget that Sun Quan's battle at Hefei enabled Kongming to capture the four southern districts of the province."
At this point in the narrative, Cao Cao must hold Hefei to the east and the line west to Lujiang or be pushed north of the River Huai; on the west, he will enlarge his part of Jingzhou province, establishing new districts west of Nanyang to counter any threats from Ma Teng. On the north, Sun Quan seeks to capture Hefei; on the south, he will extend his hold to include Jiaozhou (in a. d. 210).
CHAPTER 53
1. Mao (introductory note): "The author's method of composition is ingenious. Wei Yan's surrender of Changsha echoes an earlier incident while laying the basis for a later one. And Wei Yan's killing of Han Xuan echoes his struggle with Wen Ping at Xiangyang [chap. 41]. At Changsha, Kongming wants Wei Yan executed. Kongming's foresight will be borne out [in chap. 105 after Kongming's death] when Wei Yan betrays the kingdom of Shu-Han. In the sweep of the whole narrative, notwithstanding the complexity of men and events, the author ingeniously balances foreshadowings and fulfillments.... Truly, he conceived this work with immense calculation." Wei Yan becomes a principal character after Kongming's death.
2. It was from Gong'an, at the junction (kou) of the Yangzi and You rivers, that Xuande launched the attack on Nanjun, which eventually led to the conquest of Jingzhou province.
3. The region east of Dongting Lake.
4. Meng Ben and Xia Yu were formidable warriors of the Warring States period.
CHAPTER 54
1. For the fourth time Mao Zonggang has excised the thematic phrase that appears in the TS (p. 514): "Since time immemorial the empire has belonged to no one man but to all in the empire."
2. Mao Zonggang has cut off the final phrase in the TS: "Are you trying to improve your position at another's expense?" Mao's slight alterations in this section and below tend to weaken the reader's sympathy for Lu Su's position and allay suspicion of Xuande's motives.
3. This speech runs differently in the TS: "... you will forfeit your credibility before the world, and I will [die without] hope of a decent burial...."
4. From the Shi jing, ode 1, "Guan ju."
5. Qiao was the father-in-law of Sun Quan's elder brother, Sun Ce, and Zhou Yu.
6. Mao: "Now we see the beauty of Kongming's sending five hundred guards: too few to defend Xuande, too many to serve as the groom's wedding party."
7. In the PH, the mother is a part of the conspiracy.
8. The temple's name is the conventional translation of amrita, the "a-mortal" medicine of Nirvana.
9. Literally, the earmarks of the dragon and phoenix and the heavenly sun.
CHAPTER 55
1. Feb. 12, a. d. 210; the first day of the new year in the lunar calendar is the first day of spring.
2. According to the biography of Fa Zheng in the SGZ (p. 960), Lady Sun serves her brother as a spy; she does not side with Liu Bei. However, in the PH and in the Yuan drama Liang junshi ge jiang douzhi, Lady Sun is loyal to her husband. See Liu Zhijian, Sanguo yanyi xinlun (Chongqing: Chongqing chubanshe, 1985), pp. 97-100.
3. The remainder of this paragraph, including the verse, are not in the TS. The place-name Liulangpu (bridegroom Liu shorepoint) is an obvious anachronism.
4. Mao (introductory note): "How great was Kongming's ingenuity! He 'borrows' Sun Quan's mother and Zhou Yu's father-in-law to help him arrange Xuande's wedding. Then he 'borrows' Sun Quan's sister, Lady Sun, to help Xuande return to Jingzhou. Having borrowed the help of these three people, what's wrong with his borrowing Jingzhou for a time?"
CHAPTER 56
1. Xuchang had been the Han capital since Cao Cao brought Emperor Xian there. Historically, it was called Xu or Xudu until Cao Pi, Cao Cao's son, changed the name after the end of the Han dynasty. See chapter 14, n. 9.
2. Mao: "Cao Cao had resented Xuande's acquisition of Xuzhou, but he arranged nonetheless for the Emperor to appoint Xuande protector of the province, his purpose being to turn Lü Bu against Xuande. In this instance Sun Quan resents Xuande's acquisition of Jingzhou, but petitions the Emperor to make Xuande protector of the province, his purpose being to turn Cao Cao against Xuande. These machinations have much in common."
3. Shu is the traditional name for the western region (roughly modern Sichuan) that Xuande will soon move to
, just as Wu is the traditional name for the southern kingdom. Xichuan or "western rivers" is the geographic name for the region, just as Jiangdong or Jiangnan, "east or south of the Yangzi," is the geographic name for the southern region. As a Han province, the region was called Yizhou. Generally this translation uses "Riverlands" for Shu, Xichuan, and Yizhou. Silk of exceptional quality was produced there (or brought through there from India).
4. Analects, 8. 20: "Though King Wen [of Zhou] held two-thirds of a realm divided into three, he submissively served the reigning house of Shang. Zhou's virtue may be called ultimate." King Wen's son, King Wu, conquered the Shang by force and founded the Zhou house.
5. The source for this important speech (which the TS cites more fully) is the Wei Wu gushi under the twelfth month of Jian An 15 (a. d. 211). Both versions of Three Kingdoms, however, omit Cao's reference to his early exploits against the eunuchs and to the powerful gentry opponents who forced him to retire lest his family come to harm (a hint of this is retained in chap. 1). Also cut from this version is a series of historical allusions to upholders of the house of Zhou, allusions Cao Cao makes to bolster his claim to being a loyal servant of the Han with no ambition to create his own dynasty. Finally, both Three Kingdoms texts omit Cao's final relinquishment of three counties of twenty thousand households as his personal demesne, reserving only Wuping with ten thousand households, a measure Cao took to reduce criticism. See SGZ, pp. 32-34. In the following year the main portion of Cao's holdings went to his sons, and his son Cao Pi was made vice prime minister.
6. Mao: "The project, first mentioned in chapter 34 and finished only now, must have caused unimaginable hardship to the people as well as great financial injury. Cao Cao's edifice may be compared to the palace complex at Mei that Dong Zhuo built."
7. I. e., Jingzhou territory. Mao (introductory note): "Sun Quan recommends Liu Bei as protector of Jingzhou not in order to ally with Bei, but rather to make Cao Cao attack Bei out of fear and suspicion.... Cao Cao appoints Zhou Yu governor of Nanjun not out of fear of Zhou Yu, but rather out of fear of Liu Bei. He hopes that Zhou will attack Liu Bei.... Nominally giving Zhou Yu what Liu Bei possesses, Cao really wants to recover Jingzhou for himself; and the Southland memorial petitioning that Liu Bei be appointed protector actually has the same end in view."
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