The great trend of the world is this. What has long been divided must unite, and what has long been united must divide. That is how this story begins.
The seven states at the end of Zhou were united under Qin. When Qin fell, Chu and Han fought, and the world was united under Han. Now that Han is about to divide again. The book says the disorder began under Emperors Huan and Ling.
Both emperors trusted the eunuchs. The general Dou Wu and the grand tutor Chen Fan planned to get rid of them, but the plan leaked and they were killed instead. After that nothing stood in the eunuchs’ way inside the palace. Strange things kept happening in the sky as well. A great blue snake fell from a palace beam, the ground shook at Luoyang, and a hen turned into a cock.
When the emperor asked why, Cai Yong wrote that it came from eunuchs and palace women meddling in government. The eunuchs read his letter in secret and drove him to the countryside on a made-up charge. At that time ten eunuchs formed a faction and were called the Ten Attendants, and the emperor called one of them, Zhang Rang, Father.
The Yellow Sky Shall Rise
In Julu commandery lived three brothers, Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang.
The eldest, Zhang Jiao, was a scholar who had failed the examinations. Gathering herbs in the mountains, he meets an old man with green eyes and a child’s face, who gives him three books. The old man tells him to use this book, the Art of Great Peace, to save the world on heaven’s behalf, and adds that if he ever turns his heart to other ends he will surely be punished. When Zhang Jiao asks his name, the old man says he is the Old Immortal Nanhua, and vanishes in a gust of clear wind.
In the first month of the first year of Zhongping, a plague spreads. Zhang Jiao hands out water in which charms have been burned, cures the sick, and calls himself the Great Worthy and Good Teacher. His disciples pass five hundred and his followers grow every day, until he sets up thirty-six districts. A large district held over ten thousand people, a small one six or seven thousand.
Then he spreads a saying. The blue sky is dead, and the yellow sky shall rise. In the year Jiazi the world will have great fortune. In eight provinces, household after household wrote the two characters for Jiazi in white earth on their front gates.
The plot leaked from within. Zhang Jiao had arranged a day with a eunuch inside the palace, but the disciple carrying the letter ran to the authorities instead. When he hears his plan is out, Zhang Jiao raises his army that very night. Four or five hundred thousand common people tied yellow cloths round their heads and followed him, and the government troops melted away at the mere rumour of them.
Liu Yan, governor of You Province, posts a call for volunteers. It reaches Zhuo County.
The Boy Under the Mulberry
In Zhuo County there lived a man who did not much care for reading books.
He was generous by nature and spoke little, and he did not let joy or anger show on his face. He had great ambitions and loved to make friends with the heroes of the world. He stood seven feet five inches tall, his ears hung down to his shoulders, and his arms reached below his knees. It was said that when he turned his eyes he could see his own ears.
His surname was Liu, his given name Bei, his courtesy name Xuande. He was a descendant of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, a son of Emperor Jing of Han, but his family had lost its title long ago. He lost his father young, served his mother with great devotion, and made his living selling sandals and weaving mats.
To the southeast of his house stood a mulberry tree more than fifty feet tall. From a distance it looked round and thick like a carriage canopy, and a fortune teller said a person of high rank would come from this house.
As a boy Liu Bei played under that tree with the village children, and once he said, when I become emperor I will ride under a canopy like this. His uncle Liu Yuanqi did not take the words lightly, and from then on he always helped his poor nephew’s household.
At fifteen his mother sent him away to study. He served Zheng Xuan and Lu Zhi as his teachers and became friends with Gongsun Zan. On the day Liu Yan’s notice went up, he was twenty-eight. He reads the notice to the end, and then he lets out a long sigh.
The Man Who Scolded a Sigh
Behind him someone speaks in a loud voice. A real man who does not put his strength into serving his country, why is he sighing?
He turns and sees a man eight feet tall, with a head like a leopard’s, round staring eyes, a swallow’s jaw and a tiger’s whiskers. His voice was like thunder. He introduces himself as Zhang Fei, courtesy name Yide. His family had lived in Zhuo for generations, he said, he owned a good deal of land, and he sold wine and slaughtered pigs. Like Liu Bei, he loved to make friends with the heroes of the world.
Liu Bei answers. I am a kinsman of the Han house and my name is Liu Bei. I want to fight the Yellow Turbans and bring peace to the people, but my strength is not enough, and so I sighed.
Zhang Fei says he has a fair amount of wealth, and proposes that they gather the young men of the village and take on this great task together. Liu Bei is overjoyed, and the two go into the village tavern.
As they drink, a huge man pushes a cart up to the tavern door and leaves it there. As soon as he sits down he tells the waiter to bring wine quickly. He was in a hurry, he said, to get into the city and join the army.
He was nine feet tall and his beard was two feet long. His face was red as a ripe jujube, his eyes were the eyes of a red phoenix, and his brows were like sleeping silkworms. Liu Bei invites him to sit with them and asks his name.
He is Guan Yu, courtesy name Yunchang, from Xieliang in Hedong. Back home, he said, he had killed a strongman who used his power to trample people, and he had been wandering for five or six years since. He had heard that men were being gathered here to fight the rebels and had come on purpose.
Liu Bei tells him what he means to do, and Guan Yu is overjoyed too. The three go together to Zhang Fei’s farm to talk over the great task.
A Black Ox and a White Horse
Zhang Fei says, behind my farm there is a peach garden, and the blossoms are at their height. Tomorrow let us make our vow before heaven and earth in that garden and become brothers, the three of us. Once our hearts and strength are one, we can plan great things. Liu Bei and Guan Yu answer with one voice that this would be good.
The next day they set out a black ox and a white horse as an offering in the peach garden. The three burn incense, bow twice, and speak the words of the oath together.
We, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, though of different surnames, have now become brothers, and with one heart and one strength we will rescue those in hardship and help those in danger. Above we will repay the state, and below we will bring peace to the people.
不求同年同月同日生 但願同年同月同日死
bu qiu tong nian tong yue tong ri sheng, dan yuan tong nian tong yue tong ri si
We do not ask to have been born in the same year, the same month, on the same day. We only ask to die in the same year, the same month, on the same day. (Chapter 1)
The oath closes with two sentences. May heaven and earth look down on this heart, and if any of us betrays his duty and forgets kindness, may heaven and men together put him to death.
When the bows are done, the other two honour Liu Bei as eldest brother, Guan Yu comes next, and Zhang Fei becomes the youngest. They kill an ox and set out wine, gather more than three hundred bold young men of the village, and drink their fill in the peach garden that day.
The next day they ready their weapons and find they have no horses to ride. Just as they are worrying over this, two travellers drive a herd of horses onto the farm. They are Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, great merchants of Zhongshan who took horses north to sell every year. Bandits had blocked their road and they were on their way back.
Liu Bei sets out a feast and tells them he means to fight the rebels and bring peace to the people. The two merchants are delighted. They give him fifty good horses, and add five hundred taels of gold and silver and a thousand catties of iron.
From that iron a skilled smith makes weapons. Liu Bei takes a pair of swords that form a set. Guan Yu takes a green dragon crescent blade weighing eighty-two catties, and Zhang Fei a spear eighteen feet long.
The three lead more than five hundred young men to Liu Yan. When Liu Bei speaks of his family line, Liu Yan is overjoyed and takes him as his nephew.
The First Blade
Within a few days, the Yellow Turban general Cheng Yuanzhi marches on Zhuo with fifty thousand men.
Liu Yan gives the three five hundred men to meet him. The two armies face each other below Mount Daxing. The rebels all wear their hair loose and have yellow cloths bound across their foreheads. Liu Bei stands in the middle, with Guan Yu on his left and Zhang Fei on his right. He raises his whip and shouts. Rebels who have betrayed the state, why have you not surrendered already?
Cheng Yuanzhi sends out his lieutenant Deng Mao. Zhang Fei’s spear knocks Deng Mao from his horse, and Cheng Yuanzhi, charging in with his blade swinging, falls to Guan Yu’s blade. Having lost their general, the rebels turn their spears around and flee, and those who surrendered were past counting.
The next day the governor of Qing Province writes that his city is surrounded by rebels and begs for help. Liu Bei offers to go. This time the rebels are many and his troops are few, and he cannot win, so he falls back thirty li.
Liu Bei says to his two brothers, the rebels are many and we are few. We can only win with a force they do not expect.
He gives Guan Yu and Zhang Fei a thousand men each and hides them on either side of a hill. The next day Liu Bei engages and then pretends to retreat, and the rebels give chase in high spirits. The moment they cross the ridge the gongs sound, and the two hidden forces and Liu Bei’s own men, turning back, strike all at once. The siege of Qing Province is lifted.
Liu Bei does not go home. Hearing that his old teacher Lu Zhi is fighting Zhang Jiao at Guangzong, he takes his five hundred men there. Lu Zhi is glad to have him, and sends him on to Yingchuan, where Zhang Jiao’s two brothers are holding out, to see how things stand.
The General of the Red Banners
At Yingchuan the government commanders Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun decide to set fire to the rebels, who have camped in thick grass.
That night a great wind blows. After the second watch the flames go up, and the rebels scatter in every direction without saddling their horses or putting on armour. Near dawn Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao gather what is left of their men and break out along the road.
An army carrying red banners blocks their way. The general at its head is seven feet tall, with narrow eyes and a long beard. He is Cao Cao, Commandant of Cavalry, courtesy name Mengde.
Cao Cao’s father Cao Song had been born a Xiahou, and took the name Cao when he was adopted by the eunuch Cao Teng. The young Cao Cao loved hunting, song and dance, and was full of schemes.
When his uncle kept telling his father about his wild ways, Cao Cao came up with a scheme. Whenever he saw his uncle coming, he would fall to the ground on purpose and act as if he had had a stroke. His alarmed uncle would call his father, and when the father ran over, the son was perfectly well. Cao Cao says, I have never had any such illness. My uncle dislikes me, and that is why he says so. After that his father stopped listening to the uncle.
He goes to Xu Shao, a man famous for judging people, and asks, what kind of man am I? Xu Shao does not answer. When he asks again, Xu Shao says, in a well-ordered age you would be an able minister. In an age of chaos you would be a crafty hero.
Cao Cao was delighted to hear it.
At twenty he took office and became commandant of the north district of Luoyang. He hung a dozen or so staves painted in five colours at the four city gates. Anyone who broke the rules was beaten, however powerful. When the uncle of Jian Shuo, a eunuch of great influence in the palace, was caught walking at night with a sword, Cao Cao had him beaten with those staves too. After that no one inside or outside the city broke the law.
That Cao Cao now blocks the fleeing Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao and wins a great victory. By the time Liu Bei, seeing the fire and hearing the shouts, rushes over, the fighting is already over.
The Word for No Rank
Huangfu Song tells Liu Bei to go back to Guangzong and help Lu Zhi. Halfway back, Liu Bei meets a prisoner’s cart surrounded by soldiers. The prisoner inside is Lu Zhi.
Liu Bei all but tumbles from his horse and asks what has happened.
Lu Zhi says, the eunuch Zuo Feng came from court to inspect us and asked for a bribe. I told him we were short even of grain, so where would I find money to give him? Zuo Feng held a grudge and reported that I only built my walls high and would not fight. The court was furious, and sent Dong Zhuo to take over my army and bring me back.
The moment he hears this, Zhang Fei flies into a rage and says he will cut down the escort and free Lu Zhi. Liu Bei stops him quickly. The court will have its own just judgement. How can you act so rashly? The soldiers close round Lu Zhi and go on their way.
Guan Yu says, General Lu has been taken and someone else commands his army, so if we go there we will have no one to rely on. It would be better to go back to Zhuo for now. Liu Bei takes his advice.
Before two days have passed, a great shout rises from behind a hill. The three ride up a rise and see government troops badly beaten and fleeing, and behind them yellow cloths covering hills and fields as they surge forward. On the banner, written large, are the words General of Heaven. It is Zhang Jiao.
The three lead their men in. Zhang Jiao’s army, chasing the government troops, is thrown into confusion and flees more than fifty li. The commander of the fleeing troops was Dong Zhuo, who had come to take Lu Zhi’s place. The three rescue Dong Zhuo and return to his camp.
Dong Zhuo asks, what office do you hold now?
Liu Bei answers, none. The word means a man who holds no post at all. Dong Zhuo looks down on them deeply and does not treat them with courtesy.
Outside the tent Zhang Fei flies into a rage. We fought in person and shed our blood to save that fellow, and he is this rude to us. Unless I kill him my anger will never go. He takes up his blade and starts back into the tent.
Liu Bei and Guan Yu quickly stop him. That man is an official appointed by the court. How can you kill him at will?
Zhang Fei says, if I do not kill him, we will end up taking orders under him, and I truly cannot stand it. You two brothers stay here. I am going somewhere else.
Liu Bei says, the three of us swore by our duty to share life and death, so how can we be parted? Better that we all go somewhere else together.
Zhang Fei says that would ease his anger a little. That night the three lead their men away to Zhu Jun, another government commander. Zhu Jun receives them warmly.
Today, Brothers Without Blood
Many things tie people together in this chapter.
There is blood. Liu Bei introduced himself as a kinsman of the Han house to Zhang Fei when they first met, and to Liu Yan when he first saw him. Liu Yan heard it and took him as his nephew. There is money. Without the fifty horses and the thousand catties of iron from the two merchants, the three would have walked to war without horses.
There are titles. Dong Zhuo asked the men who had saved his life for their rank before anything else, and when he heard they had none he gave them no courtesy.
And there is the oath in the peach garden.
It was that oath that made the three leave Dong Zhuo’s camp. In two days Liu Bei stopped Zhang Fei’s blade twice. Once he gave the court’s just judgement as his reason, and once the promise to share life and death. The first time Zhang Fei put his blade away. The second time all three set off together.
The oath is sworn only once in this story. After that there are those who keep it, those who betray it, and those who keep it and lose something else.
This series follows moments like that for fifty chapters. On one side there is duty. An oath, a kindness received, a cause that must be upheld. On the other side there is gain. Life, land and position. Someone chooses one of them, and someone pays the price.
One thing should be said in advance. This book is not a history but a novel written on top of history. In chapters where it differs from the historical record, the Terms step points it out separately, and the first such place is this peach garden.
Do you remember the day you first met someone who wanted the same thing you did?