Romance of the Three Kingdoms

The story does not start with CaoCao as the hero - but indeed, the House of Han was in trouble. The Prime Minister at that time was Dong Zhuo 董卓. In the year C.E. 184 There was a peasant uprising, called the Yellow Turbans 黄巾军.

The then Emperor Ling of the House of Han, 漢靈帝 made Dong Zhuo a General and ordered him to to quell the rebels, but Dong Zhuo failed, and was demoted. Subsequently, there was another rebellion and Dong Zhuo was made General once more to deal with that.

In C.E. 189, Emperor Ling of the House of Han died, Dong Zhuo deposed the Crown Prince. Dong Zhuo enthroned another of Emperor Long's son, an 8 year old boy (born C.E. 181), as Emperor Xian of the House of Han 漢獻帝.

Dong Zhuo intimidated the young Emperor, and with his adopted son, Lv Bu, controlled the Court.

The Dukes controlling the other provinces did not approve of Dong Zhuo's actions. One of the more powerful Dukes was Yuan Shao 袁绍 gathered a rebel army to try rid China of Dong Zhou. One of those who joined Yuan Shao's rebel army was a straw shoe seller by the name of Liu Bei.

Liu Bei met up with two other persons, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and the three decided to be sworn brothers.















I remember reading from somewhere how the three met and decided to become sworn brothers, and how they decided for themselves their ranking in the brotherhood.

The peach garden in which they swore brotherhood was in the back of Zhang Fei's farm (he was a pig farmer). I think it was Liu Bei who said that whoever manages to get closest to the "tou" 头 - head of the tree would be declared the eldest. Zhang Fei climbed the highest, while Guan Yu settled for somewhere in the middle. Liu Bei sat at the foot of the tree.

Zhang Fei declared himself the eldest, upon which Liu Bei said Zhang Fei was actually ranked the youngest. The contest was that whoever manages to be closest to the head of the tree would be the eldest and by default the leader - since the tree grows from the ground that is where the head (beginning) is.

And thus it was that Liu Bei became the eldest of the three.

Lv Bu 吕布 the adopted son of Dong Zhuo 董卓, was a strong and handsome warrior. Once, Liu Bei tried to attack the city protected by Lv Bu. Lv Bu came out riding his famous horse, Red Hare 赤兔马 to fight with Liu Bei. Eventually, Liu Bei was on the losing end, so one by one, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei joined the battle.

It took the three of them to beat back Lv Bu, such was his strength and ability. This incident is well known as the battle of Liu, Guan and Zhang against Lv Bu 刘关张三战吕布.









Subsequently, Lv Bu's Red Hare horse went to Guan Yu.

One more point on Lv Bu.  Not only was he tall and good looking, he was also famous for his golden belt, with the clasp in the shape of a tiger's head.  Lv Bu had indeed murdered people and set fire to possessions and houses (as did our three heroes and scores of generals in battles etc.) and because Lv Bu was deemed a bad person, there is now a saying,

杀人方火金腰带 - (those who) murder and arson get golden belts
修桥补路无尸骸 - (those who) repair bridges and roads would not get a decent burial

Because of this saying my parents never approve golden belts to be worn.

Once, Yuan Shu 袁术 sent his General, Ji Ling 纪灵 to attack Liu Bei. Liu Bei sought the help of Lv Bu to fight against Ji Ling. Ji Ling sent food and grains to Lv Bu as gifts so that Lv Bu would not assist Liu Bie.

Lv Bu was in a quandary. If he does nothing, Liu Bei would be conquered and the land would be taken by Yuan Shu - and Lv Bu's territory would be surrounded by Yuan Shu's army - who might just go on to attack Lv Bu. If Lv Bu were to help Liu Bei, he would make an enemy of Yuan Shu and would certainly be attacked by Yuan Shu's army.

Lv Bu decided to hold a banquet for both Liu Bei and Ji Ling. During the banquet, he explained that Liu Bei is his friend, and when his friend is in trouble, he is bound to help. Lv Bu then went on to described himself as a peacemaker, and made a proposal. Calling for his halberd (his weapon) Lv Bu ordered his halberd to be planted 150 paces outside the Yuan Gate 辕门. Lv Bu would then shoot an arrow and attempt to hit one of the prongs of his halberd. If he succeeds, Liu Bei and Ji Ling will both withdraw their troops.

And so it was that Lv Bu shot an arrow at his halberd places 150 paces away from the Yuan Gate and successfully hit a prong of the halberd. With that, both parties withdrew their forces and the battle was averted. This event was know as the Archery at the Yuan Gate 辕门射戟.

This stamp depicted this event.

In the previous posting, in Chapter 4, CaoCao failed in his attempt to assassinate Dong Zhuo, and had to flee.

In this post earlier on, in Chapter 5, Lv Bu's prowess was seen as it took the combined effort of the three sworn brothers (Liu Bie, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei) to beat back Lv Bu.


Chapter Eight

In C.E. 189, the Emperor died. Dong Zhuo deposed the Crown Prince and installed another Prince, an 8 year old boy, as Emperor Xian of the House of Han 漢獻帝.

In C.E. 190 Dong Zhuo moved the capital from LuoYang 洛阳 to ChangAn 长安(present day Xi'an 西安). Dong Zhuo, with a conscript of 250,000 men, built MeiWu City 郿坞城 which lay about 250 miles from ChangAn. MeiWu City was every bit as grand as ChangAn. Dong Zhuo would travel to ChangAn with his army once or twice a month, without a fixed schedule.

The alliance between Lv Bu and Dong Zhuo was strong. A plot was hatched to break this bond - and to achieve this, the Beauty (Honeypot) Trap 美人计* was set. The sacrificial Beauty in this instance was the songstress-maid, Diao Chan 貂蝉**, serving in the household of government official SiTu WangYun 司徒王允.

One night in C.E. 192, SiTu WangYun was strolling in his garden when he saw Diao Chan praying to the moon.*** Upon being questioned, Diao Chan expressed that as a girl with no power or influence, all she can do was to pray for peace. SiTu WangYun then asked Diao Chan if she was willing to sacrifice herself in a plot to topple Dong Zhuo, to which she agreed.

The plan was then set in motion.

SiTu WangYun sent a golden headgear and other presents to Lv Bu. Lv Bu, having received them, paid a visit to Situ WangYun to personally thank him for the presents. During this visit, SiTu WangYun arranged for Diao Chan to serve Lv Bu. Lv Bu was smitten by Diao Chan's beauty, so SiTu WangYun offered Diao Chan to be Lv Bu's wife. Lv Bu was delighted and accepted the offer.

After a few days, taking advantage that Lv Bu was away waging war, SiTu WangYun invited Dong Zhuo to his house. SiTu WangYun had the very same Diao Chan dance for Dong Zhuo, and serve him food and wine. As with Lv Bu, Dong Zhuo was smitten by Diao Chan. SiTu WangYun then had Diao Chan given to Dong Zhuo as Dong Zhuo's personal maid,and had her sent over to Dong Zhuo's house immediately.

When Lv Bu returned from battle, Situ WangYun met up with Lv Bu en-route, and explained that Dong Zhuo, knowing that Diao Chan is to be betrothed to Lv Bu, and personally visited SiTu WangYun's house to escort Diao Chan to Dong Zhuo's home. Lv Bu was not too happy about the turn of events as he could not lay his hands on his bride-to-be.

Back at Dong Zhuo's home, Dong Zhuo was unwell and was attended to by Diao Chan in Dong Zhuo's personal chambers. Lv Bu, hearing that Dong Zhuo, his godfather, was unwell, visited Dong Zhuo. There, he saw Diao Chan in Dong Zhuo's inner chambers. Behind Dong Zhuo's back Diao Chan indicated she was forced there by Dong Zhou, sowing seeds of distrust and anger between the two men.

A few days later, after holding court, the young Emperor Xian detained Dong Zhuo with questions. Lv Bu took this opportunity leave Dong Zhuo behind to go see Diao Chan. Diao Chan then led Lv Bu to the Feng Yi Pavilion in the back garden. There, Diao Chan sobbed and said that Dong Zhuo and forced her to be his maid, and that she loved Lv Bu, and now that she had lived to bid her goodbyes to Lv Bu she was willing to die in front of Lv Bu to express the purity of her love for Lv Bu. Lv Bu naturally consoled her as intimately as he able to do so in public.

At this point, Dong Zhuo returned home to find Lv Bu and Diao Chan in very close proximity and chased Lv Bu out of the house, throwing Lv Bu's famous halbert at him.




Dong Zhuo then chided Diao Chan for seducing Lv Bu. In reply, Diao Chan claimed to be in the garden when Lv Bu came along and forced her to FengYi Pavilion. Dong Zhuo, trying to keep his peace with Lv Bu, offered to give her hand in marriage to Lv Bu, to which Diao Chan said she would rather die than to be passed around as an object. 

With this sequence of events, the time is now ripe. SiTu WangYun took this opportunity to roped in Lv Bu in their plan to depose Dong Zhuo. A letter was sent to Dong Zhuo in MeiWu City, informing him of a court session in ChangAn. When Dong Zhuo arrived at the ChangAn palace, he was met by the ministers, swords drawn, denouncing him for his evil deeds.  Due to Dong Zhuo's armour, the Minister's swords could not kill Dong Zhuo.  Using his halbert, Lv Bu then dispatched Dong Zhuo with a stab to his throat, and thus ending Dong Zhuo's life****.

Dong Zhuo's list of crimes were read out to the cheering public, and Lv Bu left ChangAn for MeiWu City to claim his beautiful Diao Chan.





* This is one of the 36 strategies 三十六计 in the Sun Zi's 孙子 Book of War.

** Diao Chan is one of the four beauties of China. However, unlike the other three, this is a fictitious character.

*** In paintings depicting Diao Chan, she is often portrayed in this setting, praying to the moon.

****  It just occurred to me that both Lv Bu's godfathers died in Lv Bu's hands.  And yes, this scene was reminiscent of Julius Caesar's assassination - but that took place in Rome in B.C.E. 44, more than 200 years ago.  

I saw this bit on the China TV series 2010 and the more I thought about it, the more I realised how deep an insult this was to Lv Bu.




This bit I did not know - but now I do!





Again, I did not know this. I only know of the phrase 沉鱼落雁 but that refers to Xishi 西施. Thanks for the info.

yenchin, you need to post more - I learn so much from you all the time!

LOL Here's the full set:

沉魚：西施 When Xishi washes cloth by the lake, the fish sink deep as they are so mersemized and forget to swim, sinking down.
落雁：王昭君 When Wang ZhaoJun went beyond the borders, the wild geese flying are so dazed by her beauty and forget to fly, fall down.
羞花：楊貴妃/玉環 When Yang GuiFei was in the palace one day she was lonely and touched some flowers, the flowers drooped as if they were shy.
閉月：貂蟬 Diao Chan as above.

This is a clip from the 2010 Three Kingdoms, showing Lv Bu with Diao Chan in Feng Yi Pavilion. They were in rather close proximity, and was seen by Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo was furious that Lv Bu was in such intimacy with Diao Chan, he threw Lv Bu's halbert at him and chased Lv Bu out of his house.