Politics
Sun–Liu territorial dispute 借荊州
About this event
The episode in which Liu Bei is said to have borrowed the territory of Jing Province from Sun Quan after the Battle of Red Cliffs, and the dispute the two houses waged over that land, are known as the Sun–Liu territorial dispute, or Jie Jingzhou ("borrowing Jing Province"). In the Records, when Liu Bei came to Jingkou and asked to be given command of Jing Province, Lu Su alone advised lending it to him, and after Liu Bei had taken Yi Province, Sun Quan demanded the three commanderies of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang and set his troops in motion. The dispute came to a temporary halt in the 20th year of Jian'an (215), when Jing Province was divided with the Xiang River as the border. Records, Wu 9 §47 · 50–52Records, Shu 2 §35
The Romance depicts this as a document to "borrow Jing Province for the time being": after Liu Qi dies, Liu Bei writes a document promising to return it once he has taken Xichuan, and Zhuge Liang and Lu Su sign as guarantors. After that Lu Su and Zhuge Jin come again and again to reclaim it, leading to the scene in which Guan Yu goes to a feast with a single blade. Romance, Ch. 54 §5–10Romance, Ch. 56 §27–35Romance, Ch. 66 §1–28
Course of events in the Records
After Red Cliffs, Sun Quan made Zhou Yu Administrator of Nan Commandery, while Liu Bei recommended Liu Qi as Inspector of Jing Province by memorial and took the four southern commanderies. When Liu Qi died of illness, the people acclaimed Liu Bei as Governor of Jing Province and had him govern from Gong'an, and Sun Quan, growing somewhat wary, gave him his sister in marriage to strengthen their friendship. Liu Bei went to Jingkou to meet Sun Quan and deepen their ties. Records, Wu 2 §15Records, Shu 2 §24
According to Lu Su's biography, when Liu Bei came to Jingkou to see Sun Quan and asked to be given command of Jing Province, Lu Su alone advised lending it to him so that they could resist Cao Cao together. When Cao Cao heard that Sun Quan had given Liu Bei land to serve as his foundation, he dropped the brush he was writing with. Zhou Yu, on the contrary, submitted a memorial saying that Liu Bei should be moved to Wu and separated from Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and that carving off land to give him a base would be like a flood dragon obtaining clouds and rain; but Sun Quan did not accept it, saying that with Cao Cao in the north he had to gather heroes widely. Records, Wu 9 §47 · 19–20
After Zhou Yu died, Lu Su took over his troops, was stationed first at Jiangling and then moved to Lukou, and Cheng Pu became Administrator of Nan Commandery. Cheng Pu's biography records that when Sun Quan divided Jing Province and gave a share to Liu Bei, Cheng Pu went back to take charge of Jiangxia. Thereafter suspicion and disputes often arose on the border between Lu Su and his neighbor Guan Yu, but Lu Su always calmed them with goodwill. Records, Wu 9 §48 · 50Records, Wu 10 §6
In the 20th year of Jian'an, after Liu Bei had taken Yi Province, Sun Quan sent Zhuge Jin to demand the commanderies of Jing Province. Liu Bei replied that he was planning to take Liang Province and would hand over all of Jing Province once it was pacified, and Sun Quan said that this was borrowing without returning and dragging out the years with empty words. When Sun Quan appointed officials to the three southern commanderies, Guan Yu drove them all out; Sun Quan, in a great rage, had Lü Meng attack Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang with 20,000 troops and sent Lu Su to hold off Guan Yu. Liu Bei, too, came down to Gong'an with 50,000 troops and sent Guan Yu to Yiyang. Records, Wu 2 §19–20Records, Shu 2 §35
Facing Guan Yu at Yiyang, Lu Su invited him to a meeting: both sides kept their troops and horses a hundred paces away, and only the generals met, each carrying a single blade. Lu Su reproached Guan Yu, saying that his state had lent the land to Guan Yu's house because they had been defeated, had come from afar and had nothing to rely on, yet now, having taken Yi Province, they had no intention of returning it and would not comply even when only three commanderies were asked for. When a man in the company said that land belongs only to those who have virtue, Lu Su raised his voice and rebuked him, and Guan Yu rose holding his blade, said that this was a matter of state and asked what this man could know of it, and sent him out with a glance. Records, Wu 9 §50–52
Meanwhile Lü Meng received the surrender of Changsha and Guiyang and tricked Hao Pu, Administrator of Lingling, into surrendering. Just then Cao Cao entered Hanzhong, and Liu Bei, fearing he might lose Yi Province, sent an envoy to seek peace; the land east of Jiangxia, Changsha and Guiyang was assigned to Sun Quan and the land west of Nan Commandery, Lingling and Wuling to Liu Bei, with the Xiang River as the border. Lingling was returned together with Hao Pu. Later, discussing Zhou Yu, Lu Su and Lü Meng with Lu Xun, Sun Quan said that Lu Su's advice to lend land to Liu Bei was one shortcoming but did not detract from his two strengths. Records, Wu 2 §20–21Records, Wu 9 §75 · 52 · 90–91
In the Romance
In Chapter 54 of the Romance, when Liu Qi died, Lu Su came to offer condolences and pressed the promise that Jing Province would be returned once the young lord died. Zhuge Liang countered that it was only right for Liu Bei, the Imperial Uncle, to inherit the estate of his elder brother Liu Biao, and that he also had merit from Red Cliffs; but then, out of regard for Lu Su's position, he had Liu Bei write a document stating that he would borrow Jing Province for the time being as a base and return it once he had taken Xichuan from Liu Zhang. Zhuge Liang and Lu Su signed as guarantors, and Zhou Yu stamped his feet, saying that it was called borrowing but was really a way of holding on. Romance, Ch. 54 §3–10
In Chapter 56, when Sun Quan sent Lu Su again at the request of Zhou Yu, who held Nan Commandery, Liu Bei wept loudly as Zhuge Liang had planned, and Zhuge Liang asked for more time, saying that attacking Liu Zhang, a member of the same clan, would bring reproach, while returning Jing Province would leave Liu Bei nowhere to stay. Lu Su had no choice but to go back. Romance, Ch. 56 §27–35
In Chapters 65 and 66, after Liu Bei had taken Xichuan, Sun Quan pretended to imprison Zhuge Jin's household and sent him to Chengdu. Liu Bei gave him a letter promising to return the three commanderies of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang first, but Guan Yu refused and also drove out the officials Sun Quan had sent. At Lukou Lu Su invited Guan Yu to a feast and pressed him over the loan he had guaranteed, but Guan Yu, blade in hand, seized Lu Su, dragged him to the riverbank and left by boat ("Guan Yu Attends the Feast with a Single Blade"). Romance, Ch. 65 §56Romance, Ch. 66 §1–28
In Chapter 67, when Cao Cao seized Dongchuan, Liu Bei sent Yi Ji to return the three commanderies of Jiangxia, Changsha and Guiyang and to have Sun Quan attack Hefei. In Chapter 77, after Lü Meng had taken Jing Province, Sun Quan said that Lu Su's advice to lend Jing Province to Liu Bei had been his one shortcoming. Romance, Ch. 67 §32–36Romance, Ch. 77 §25
Where the Romance differs
How it was borrowed: In Chapter 54 of the Romance, when Lu Su came to reclaim the land after Liu Qi's death, Zhuge Liang had Liu Bei write a document promising its return once Xichuan was taken, and Lu Su stood guarantor. Lu Su's biography in the Records says only that when Liu Bei came to Jingkou and asked to be given command of Jing Province, Lu Su advised lending it; there is no document or guarantee. The condition Liu Bei put forward for its return, after he had taken Yi Province, was "once Liang Province is pacified." Romance, Ch. 54 §6–8Records, Wu 9 §47Records, Wu 2 §19
The single-blade meeting: In Chapter 66 of the Romance, Lu Su invited Guan Yu to a feast at Lukou with troops lying in ambush, and Guan Yu, blade in hand, seized Lu Su and got away. In the Records it was an occasion on which Lu Su, with the two armies facing each other at Yiyang, summoned Guan Yu and reproached him; the man who said the land belonged to the virtuous is not named, whereas in the Romance it is Zhou Cang who says it. Romance, Ch. 66 §14–27Records, Wu 9 §50–52
The fate of the three commanderies: In Chapter 67 of the Romance, Liu Bei sent Yi Ji and returned Jiangxia, Changsha and Guiyang of his own accord. In the Records, after Lü Meng had taken Changsha, Guiyang and Lingling by force, peace was made when Cao Cao entered Hanzhong; with the Xiang River as the border, Sun Quan kept Jiangxia, Changsha and Guiyang, and Lingling was returned to Liu Bei. The Romance has neither Lü Meng's attack on the three commanderies nor Hao Pu's surrender. Romance, Ch. 67 §32–36Records, Wu 2 §20–21Records, Wu 9 §75
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.