Novel scene
Zhang Song Confounds Yang Xiu 張永年反難楊修
About this event
Zhang Song Confounds Yang Xiu is the scene of the Chapter 60 title of the Romance, "Zhang Yongnian turns the tables and confounds Yang Xiu." Zhang Song (courtesy name Yongnian), Attendant Officer of Yi Province, having gone to Xuchang as Liu Zhang's envoy and been slighted by Cao Cao, matched words with Yang Xiu, Registrar of the Chancellor's office, and astonished him by memorizing Mengde's New Book, written by Cao Cao, after reading it once. Romance, Ch. 60 §1–3 · 5–13
Chen Shou's main text has no debate with Yang Xiu. The Biographies of the Two Governors Liu in Records of Shu 1 and the Biographies of Pang Tong and Fa Zheng in Records of Shu 7 record that Zhang Song met Cao Cao but was not well received, and on his return urged Liu Zhang to break off relations with Cao Cao. Records, Shu 1 §14–15Records, Shu 7 §15
In the Romance
In Chapter 60 of the Romance, when Zhang Lu set his sights on Xichuan, Zhang Song, Attendant Officer of Yi Province, volunteered to go as envoy and persuade Cao Cao in Xuchang to attack Hanzhong, and secretly drew a map of Xichuan's geography and carried it with him. Cao Cao, grown arrogant after returning from defeating Ma Chao, saw Zhang Song only after three days, and when Zhang Song, a man of mean appearance, retorted that with Sun Quan to the south, Zhang Lu to the north and Liu Bei to the west there could be no peace, Cao Cao flicked his sleeves and went inside. Romance, Ch. 60 §1–4
Yang Xiu, Registrar of the Chancellor's office, who had rebuked Zhang Song from below the steps, invited him to the western study and asked about the land and people of Shu. Zhang Song boasted of Shu, shamed Yang Xiu by asking why a man from a family that had held high office for generations served as a clerk in the Chancellor's office, and disparaged Cao Cao as versed neither in the way of Confucius and Mencius nor in the strategy of Sunzi and Wuzi. When Yang Xiu showed him Mengde's New Book, which Cao Cao had written on the model of Sunzi's thirteen chapters, Zhang Song declared it a book by an anonymous author of the Warring States period that even the children of Shu could recite, and recited it without missing a single character, and Yang Xiu marveled at him as a rare genius of the realm. Romance, Ch. 60 §5–13
Hearing Yang Xiu's account, Cao Cao, wondering whether his book had not unwittingly coincided with the ancients, had it torn up and burned, and the next day reviewed 50,000 guards at the western drill ground to show Zhang Song. When Zhang Song brought up the disasters Cao Cao had suffered at Puyang, Wancheng, Red Cliffs, Huarong, Tong Pass and the Wei River, Cao Cao wanted to behead him, but at the pleas of Yang Xiu and Xun Yu had him beaten with clubs and driven out. Zhang Song gave up his intention of offering Yi Province to Cao Cao and decided to go and see Liu Bei in Jing Province. Romance, Ch. 60 §15–22
Where the Romance differs
When he visited Cao Cao and how it ended: In Chapter 60 of the Romance, Zhang Song went to see Cao Cao, who had returned from defeating Ma Chao, to relieve the threat from Zhang Lu, and was driven out with clubs. In the biography of Liu Zhang in the Records, Zhang Song went to Cao Cao when Cao Cao had already pacified Jing Province and driven off Liu Bei; Cao Cao no longer paid him any regard, so Zhang Song bore a grudge, and when Cao Cao fared badly at Red Cliffs he came back, disparaged Cao Cao and urged Liu Zhang to break with him. Fa Zheng's biography likewise records that Zhang Song returned after meeting Cao Cao in Jing Province. Romance, Ch. 60 §1–3 · 21Records, Shu 1 §14–15Records, Shu 7 §15
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.