Novel scene
Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage 三顧草廬
About this event
The Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage is the scene of the title of Chapter 37 of the Romance, "Liu Xuande Visits the Thatched Cottage Three Times": the story of Liu Bei, recommended by Xu Shu, going with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei three times to call on Zhuge Liang at Longzhong. The Romance depicts the first two visits as failing to find him, and the part where, on the third visit, Liu Bei meets Zhuge Liang after waiting while he takes a midday nap continues into Chapter 38. Romance, Ch. 37 §13 · 25–26 · 46Romance, Ch. 38 §4–9
In Chen Shou's text, the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5 records that the First Sovereign, on Xu Shu's word, went three times in all before he saw Zhuge Liang, and the three visits to the thatched cottage also appear in Zhuge Liang's Memorial on Dispatching the Troops and in Chen Shou's memorial, both included in the same volume. Records, Shu 5 §4 · 28 · 46
Course of events in the Records
According to the Biography of Zhuge Liang, after his uncle Zhuge Xuan died, Zhuge Liang tilled the fields himself and loved to sing the "Song of Liangfu," and he compared himself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi, but only Cui Zhouping of Boling and Xu Shu of Yingchuan agreed. When the First Sovereign was stationed at Xinye, Xu Shu told him that Zhuge Kongming was a Sleeping Dragon who could be visited but not summoned, and the First Sovereign went to see Zhuge Liang, meeting him only after going three times in all. Records, Shu 5 §3–4
In the Memorial on Dispatching the Troops that he later submitted, Zhuge Liang wrote that he had originally been a commoner in plain cloth, tilling the fields himself in Nanyang and seeking no fame, but that the late emperor, not regarding him as lowly, had humbled himself to visit his thatched cottage three times and consult him on the affairs of the age, and that, moved by this, he had resolved to serve the late emperor. Chen Shou, too, in presenting his compilation of Zhuge Liang's writings, wrote that Liu Bei, General of the Left, visited Zhuge Liang at his thatched cottage three times because Zhuge Liang had extraordinary capacity. Records, Shu 5 §28 · 46
In the Romance
In Chapter 37 of the Romance, after Xu Shu left, Sima Hui came and compared Zhuge Liang to Jiang Ziya and Zhang Zifang, and the next day Liu Bei went to Longzhong with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Hearing the farmers singing a song by Master Sleeping Dragon, he reached the thatched cottage, but the serving boy said the master had gone out that morning and no one knew when he would return, and the man Liu Bei met on the way back was Zhuge Liang's friend Cui Zhouping. Cui Zhouping said that order and disorder always alternate and told him not to go against the Mandate of Heaven. Romance, Ch. 37 §7–11 · 13–17 · 19–22
A few days later, hearing that the Sleeping Dragon had returned, Liu Bei braved a midwinter snowstorm to visit again. The men singing in a wayside tavern were Shi Guangyuan and Meng Gongwei, and the young man reading in the thatched hall was Zhuge Liang's younger brother Zhuge Jun. Liu Bei thawed his frozen brush and left a heartfelt letter, and bowed to an old man coming along on a donkey, taking him for the Sleeping Dragon, but he was Zhuge Liang's father-in-law Huang Chengyan. Romance, Ch. 37 §25–27 · 30–31 · 34–35 · 38–42
In the new spring Liu Bei chose an auspicious day and fasted for three days before setting out again. In Chapter 38, Guan Yu said Zhuge Liang was avoiding him because he had nothing but an empty reputation, and Zhang Fei said he would tie him up with a hemp rope and bring him, but Liu Bei rebuked them, citing Duke Huan of Qi and King Wen of Zhou. Zhuge Liang was at home but taking a nap in the thatched hall, so Liu Bei stood waiting below the steps, and Guan Yu restrained Zhang Fei, who threatened to set fire to the back of the house. On waking, Zhuge Liang recited a poem, "Who will be the first to wake from the great dream?", then put on his cap and robe and came out to receive Liu Bei. Romance, Ch. 37 §46Romance, Ch. 38 §1–8
Where the Romance differs
The first two visits: In Chapter 37 of the Romance, Liu Bei failed to meet Zhuge Liang on the first two visits and met only Cui Zhouping, Shi Guangyuan, Zhuge Jun and Huang Chengyan. The main text of the Biography of Zhuge Liang in the Records says only that he met him after going three times in all, and in the Memorial on Dispatching the Troops Zhuge Liang says that the late emperor visited his thatched cottage three times and consulted him on the affairs of the age. Romance, Ch. 37 §19 · 31 · 35–36 · 42Records, Shu 5 §4 · 28
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's displeasure: In Chapter 38 of the Romance, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei complained before the third visit that the courtesy was excessive, and Zhang Fei even threatened to set fire to the house. In the Biography of Zhuge Liang in the Records, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were displeased when, after the First Sovereign had met Zhuge Liang, their friendship grew closer by the day, and the First Sovereign soothed them by saying it was like a fish having water. Romance, Ch. 38 §1–2 · 6–7Records, Shu 5 §8
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.