Novel scene
Cao Cao Hunts at Xutian 曹阿瞞許田打圍
About this event
Cao Cao Hunts at Xutian is the scene from the first half of the title of Chapter 20 of the Romance, "Cao Cao Hunts at Xutian; Imperial Uncle Dong Receives an Edict in the Inner Palace." It is the passage in which Cao Cao, hunting at Xutian in attendance on Emperor Xian, shoots a deer with the Son of Heaven's bow and arrows and takes the ministers' cheers of "Long live the emperor" upon himself. The Romance depicts Cao Cao, back in Xudu after subduing Lü Bu, imprisoning the Grand Commandant Yang Biao and killing the Consultant Zhao Yan, who had submitted a memorial impeaching him, and then using a hunt to gauge the mood of the court. Romance, Ch. 20 §8–14
Chen Shou's text has no hunting scene at Xutian. The biography of Man Chong in Records of Wei 26 records that around this time the former Grand Commandant Yang Biao was imprisoned in the jail of Xu County and released on the word of Man Chong, the Prefect of Xu. Records, Wei 26 §3–4
In the Romance
In Chapter 20 of the Romance, Cao Cao, worried that Yang Biao, a relative of Yuan Shu, might collude with the two Yuans from inside and out, has him imprisoned on a false charge and has Man Chong interrogate him, but when Kong Rong remonstrates, he merely strips Yang Biao of office and sends him back to his home. The Consultant Zhao Yan, who impeaches Cao Cao for his high-handedness, is put to death, and when Cheng Yu urges him to seize the moment and do the deeds of a king or hegemon, Cao Cao says that the court still has many ministers who are its arms and legs, and that he will ask the Son of Heaven to go hunting and watch how people move. Romance, Ch. 20 §8–10
Cao Cao, leading a host of a hundred thousand, hunts at Xutian riding side by side with Emperor Xian, only a horse's head apart, and Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei follow with several dozen horsemen. Liu Bei hits a hare, and when Emperor Xian shoots three times at a large deer without hitting it and tells Cao Cao to shoot, Cao Cao takes the Son of Heaven's Baodiaogong bow and golden-tipped arrows and hits the deer. When the ministers and officers see the golden-tipped arrow and, thinking the Son of Heaven has hit it, shout "Long live the emperor," Cao Cao rides out in front of the Son of Heaven and receives their cheers, and he never gives back the Baodiaogong. Romance, Ch. 20 §11–15
When Guan Yu, enraged, raises his blade to cut Cao Cao down, Liu Bei stops him by waving his hand and signaling with his eyes, and later explains his reason: one hesitates to throw something at a rat for fear of breaking the vessels. Back in the palace, Emperor Xian weeps to Empress Fu and laments Cao Cao's insolence, and the Empress's father, Fu Wan, saying that he saw everything that happened when the deer was shot at Xutian, recommends entrusting the matter to the General of Chariots and Cavalry and imperial in-law Dong Cheng. Romance, Ch. 20 §14–19
Where the Romance differs
Why Yang Biao was released: In Chapter 20 of the Romance, Cao Cao, unable to resist Kong Rong's remonstrance, strips Yang Biao of office and sends him back to his home. In the biography of Man Chong in the Records, Xun Yu and Kong Rong asked that Yang Biao not be tortured, but the Prefect of Xu, Man Chong, interrogated him according to the law and then told Cao Cao that if his guilt was not clear, Cao Cao would greatly lose the people's trust, and Cao Cao released Yang Biao that very day. Romance, Ch. 20 §8–9Records, Wei 26 §3–4
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.