Authors: Luo Guanzhong
But the Emperor interceded. “This is my idea and Zhang Hua agrees with me. There is no need to argue.”
Just at this moment Du Yu’s memorial arrived, which also recommended speedy advance. The ruler of Jin, with no more doubts, commanded his army to launch a general offensive against Wu.
The royal mandate duly reached the Jin camps and the army pressed forward by land and water in great pomp. The men of Wu made no defense, but surrendered at the mere sight of Jin flags.
When Sun Hao heard this, he turned pale with fright, and his courtiers said, “What is to be done? Here the northern army comes nearer every day and our men just give in without fighting.”
“But why do they not fight?” asked the Emperor.
The courtiers replied, “Today’s calamity is caused by the eunuch Cen Hun. Slay him and we ourselves will go out and fight to the death.”
“How can a eunuch harm a state?” cried the Emperor.
“Have we not seen what Huang Hao did to Shu?” shouted the courtiers in chorus.
Moved by sudden fury, the courtiers rushed into the palace, found the wretched object of their hate and slew him, some even tasting his palpitating flesh.
Then Tao Jun volunteered, “All my warships are small, but give me large vessels and 20,000 men and I can defeat the enemy.”
His request was granted, and the royal guards were placed under Tao Jun’s command to oppose the enemy upstream, while another naval force under Zhang Xiang went downstream. But, contrary to their expectations, a heavy northwesterly wind suddenly came on, blowing the flags lying face down in the ships, and the men would not embark, but fled in all directions. Only Zhang Xiang and a few score of his men remained to face the enemy.
Meanwhile, the Jin general Wang Jun set sail down the river. After passing Three Hills, the sailing master of his squadron appealed to him: “The ships cannot move, for the wind is too strong and the current too swift. Let us wait till the wind has diminished a little.”
But Wang Jun was enraged and, drawing his sword, he cried, “I’m going to capture the Stone City now. How can you talk about stopping?”
So instead of pausing he ordered an advance in full force, accompanied by rolling of drums. Presently Zhang Xiang came to offer surrender.
“If you are sincere in your submission,” said Wang Jun. “Lead the way in the attack and win merit for yourself.”
Zhang Xiang consented. He returned to his own ship and sailed directly to the capital city, where he had the gates opened and allowed the Jin army to enter.
When the ruler of Wu heard that his enemies had actually entered the city he wished to put an end to his life, but two of his officials said, “Your Majesty, why not imitate Liu Shan, now Duke of Anle?”
Sun Hao took their advice and, following the ritual that befitted a yielding ruler, with hands tied behind his back and a coffin standing beside, he led his courtiers before Wang Jun’s army to offer submission. He was graciously received. The general himself loosened his bonds and had the coffin burned. The vanquished ruler was treated with the courtesy due to a prince.
A poet of the Tang Dynasty lamented over this surrender:
As Jin’s fabled warships sailed from Yizhou downstream,
Gone sadly were the days of the kingly rule of Jingling.
Thousands of iron chains sank to the bottom of the stream;
A sea of white flags appeared above the Stone City.
Often I think of bygone days and sigh,
Unmoved, the hills still lie beside the cold currents.
While I am homeless on the earth’s broad breast,
Where grim old forts stand gray beneath the sky.
So ended Wu’s days as an independent kingdom. And the empire of Jin absorbed all its four provinces, forty-three districts, and three hundred and thirteen towns; 523,000 households, 32,000 officials, 230,000 soldiers, and 2,300,000 inhabitants; 2,800,000 measures of grain and over 5,000 ships and boats; and 5,000 or more palace ladies.
Having secured Jin’s rule in the south, Wang Jun issued a proclamation to allay the fears of the people and sealed the treasuries and storehouses. By the following day, Tao Jun’s force melted away without striking a blow. Then arrived more troops led by the Jin generals Sima Zhou and Wang Rong, who were greatly elated at Wang Jun’s success.
The following day Du Yu also arrived and the victory was celebrated with great feasting and rewards for the soldiers. The granaries were opened and grain issued to the people, who were henceforth pacified.
Only one city, Jianping, under Prefect Wu Yan, stood firm against the invaders. Later, however, he also surrendered when he heard of the fall of the Kingdom of Wu.
Wang Jun sent a memorial to report the victory. On receiving the happy tidings of the conquest of the south, the Jin ruler and his courtiers congratulated each other and drank toasts.
At the banquet, the Emperor honored the memory of the late Yang Hu. Raising his wine cup, and in a voice charged with emotions, he said tearfully, “We owe our success today to General Yang. How I regret he is not here to share our rejoicing!”
Sun Xiu, a general of cavalry from Wu, went away from the court and wept, facing the south. “In the old days, our forebear Sun Ce founded this kingdom in his prime, when he was but a lieutenant officer. Now Sun Hao had the heritage of the whole of the south and yet he abandoned it. Alas, ye blue heavens, what manner of man is he?”
In the meantime the victors marched homeward to Luoyang, taking with them the Wu ruler Sun Hao to present him before the Jin emperor. Sun Hao ascended the audience hall and prostrated himself.
The Emperor asked him to take a seat, saying, “I have long prepared this seat for you.”
“Your servant also prepared a seat for Your Majesty in the south,” responded Sun Hao.
The Emperor laughed loudly.
Then Jia Chong turned to Sun Hao and asked, “I have heard that when you were in the south you used to gouge out people’s eyes and flay their faces; what crimes were so punished?”
“Slayers of one’s princes were punished in these ways, so were evil and disloyal people.”
Jia Chong was silenced, feeling greatly ashamed.
Sun Hao was created Marquis of Guiming and his sons and grandsons received posts in the palace. Noble titles were conferred upon all his former officials who had followed him in surrendering. As the late prime minister of Wu, Zhang Ti, had perished on the field, his descendants received similar titles. The victorious general Wang Jun was rewarded with the title, General–Pillar of the State. And the other officers also received rewards and ranks.
So ended the division of the land into three kingdoms, which were reunited into one empire under the rule of Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty. That is what is meant by “Unity succeeds division and division follows unity. One is bound to be replaced by the other after a long span of time. This is the way of things in the world.”
The last emperors of the three kingdoms in time all died natural deaths: Liu Shan of Shu died in the seventh year of the Jin reign period Tai Shi (
A.D.
271); Cao Huan of Wei, in the first year of Tai An (
A.D.
302); and Sun Hao of Wu, in the fourth year of Tai Kang (
A.D.
283).
A poet has summarized the history of these troubled years in the poem below:
It was the dawning of a glorious day
When Liu Bang entered Xianyang, sword in hand.
Then Guang-Wu the imperial rule was restored
Like a golden bird soaring to the sky.
Alas, Prince Xian succeeded in full time
And saw the setting of the sun of power!
He Jin, the tactless, fell beneath the blows
Of palace minions. Dong Zhuo the tyrant
Then ruled the court. And Wang Yun devised
A plan and triumphed in slaying the rebel.
But Li and Guo lit up the flame of war
And brigands swarmed like ants through all the land.
Then rose ambitious lords from every side.
The Suns carved out their land east of the Yangtze;
The Yuans strove to make Henan their own.
Liu Yan and son seized the west of Ba and Shu;
His kinsman Liu Biao laid hold of Jing and Xiang.
Zhang Yan and Zhang Lu in turn held Nanzheng by force;
Ma Teng and Han Sui defended Xiliang,
Each of three others seized upon a fief.
Tao Qian, Zhang Xiu, and Gongsun Zan, the bold.
But above all Cao Cao the strong
Became prime minister, and to his side,
Drew many able men. He swayed the court
And held all the feudal lords in his hand;
By force of arms he controlled the north
Against all rivals. Of imperial stock
Was born Liu Bei, who with sworn brothers two
Pledged an oath that the Hans should be restored.
He wandered homeless east and west for years,
With few officers and a meager force.
How sincere were his three visits to Nanyang,
To see the Sleeping Dragon, who foretold
The split of the empire into three states.
“Take Jingzhou first and then Shu,” he advised,
“A fitting base to build an empire on.”
Alas! Liu ruled there only three short years,
Sadly he left his son to Kongming’s care.
To reunite the empire under Han
Six times Kongming led his men to Qishan,
But the days of Han had come to an end.
One midnight his star fell into the vale.
Jiang Wei struggled alone with all his might
But his nine efforts against the north were in vain.
Zhong Hui and Deng Ai advanced by two routes
And thus fell Han’s last stronghold to Wei.
Five sons of Cao sat on the dragon throne,
Soon Sima snatched the scepter from Cao Huan.
Before the Altar of Abdication mist rose;
Beneath the Stone City no waves lapped.
The former rulers of Wei, Shu, and Wu
Became Dukes Chenliu, Guiming, and Anle.
All down the ages rings the note of change,
For fate so rules it—none escapes its sway.
The kingdoms three have vanished as a dream,
Pondering o’er this we can only grieve.
*
The ancient Chinese measured time by a sixty-year cycle. The year of
geng-zi
is the thirty-seventh year in the cycle. This is the year
A.D.
280 by the western calendar.
About the Authors
Ron Iverson
first visited China in 1984 as the personal representative of the Mayor of Chicago as part of a Sister Cities program. For the past 30 years he has continued to regularly visit China and has founded joint business ventures with Chinese partners and taught Business Strategy at Tongji University in Shanghai. He also personally arranged the first ever exhibition of Forbidden City artifacts from the palace Museum in Beijing to tour the US.
Early in his visits to China, Iverson discovered
The Three Kingdoms
and came to realize the enormous cultural significance the Chinese people place in the book. Believing that one needed to be familiar with the principles revealed in the book in order to find business or political success in China, and being dissatisfied with existing translations, Iverson decided to fund and edit a new translation aimed towards delivering the thrill of a contemporary novel while imparting understanding of a key aspect of Chinese culture.
Yu Sumei
is a professor of English at East China Normal University. She has translated several English language books into Chinese and is the first native Chinese speaker to translate
The Three Kingdoms
into English. She invested a total of two years into working on this new translation of
The Three Kingdoms
, spending the time on sabbatical in New York with her daughter, who typed the translation out as she completed it.
The Tuttle Story
“Books to Span the East and West”
Many people are surprised when they learn that the world’s largest publisher of books on Asia had its humble beginnings in the tiny American state of Vermont. The company’s founder, Charles Tuttle, came from a New England family steeped in publishing, and his first love was books—especially old and rare editions.
Tuttle’s father was a noted antiquarian dealer in Rutland, Vermont. Young Charles honed his knowledge of the trade working in the family bookstore, and later in the rare books section of Columbia University Library. His passion for beautiful books—old and new—never wavered throughout his long career as a bookseller and publisher.
After graduating from Harvard, Tuttle enlisted in the military and in 1945 was sent to Tokyo to work on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff. He was tasked with helping to revive the Japanese publishing industry, which had been utterly devastated by the war. When his tour of duty was completed, he left the military, married a talented and beautiful singer, Reiko Chiba, and in 1948 began several successful business ventures.
To his astonishment, Tuttle discovered that postwar Tokyo was actually a book-lover’s paradise. He befriended dealers in the Kanda district and began supplying rare Japanese editions to American libraries. He also imported American books to sell to the thousands of GIs stationed in Japan. By 1949, Tuttle’s business was thriving, and he opened Tokyo’s very first English-language bookstore in the Takashimaya Department Store in Ginza, to great success. Two years later, he began publishing books to fulfill the growing interest of foreigners in all things Asian.
Though a westerner, Tuttle was hugely instrumental in bringing a knowledge of Japan and Asia to a world hungry for information about the East. By the time of his death in 1993, he had published over 6,000 books on Asian culture, history and art—a legacy honored by Emperor Hirohito in 1983 with the “Order of the Sacred Treasure,” the highest honor Japan can bestow upon non-Japanese.
The Tuttle company today maintains an active backlist of some 1,500 titles, many of which have been continuously in print since the 1950s and 1960s—a great testament to Charles Tuttle’s skill as a publisher. More than 60 years after its founding, Tuttle Publishing is more active today than at any time in its history, still inspired by Charles Tuttle’s core mission—to publish fine books to span the East and West and provide a greater understanding of each.