Novel scene
Longzhong Plan 隆中對
About this event
This dialogue is the scene of the part of the title of Chapter 38 of the Romance that reads "Settling his plan at Longzhong, he divides the realm in three": a dialogue in which Zhuge Liang lays out the state of the realm for Liu Bei, who has come for the third time to his thatched cottage at Longzhong. Zhuge Liang says that Liu Bei cannot cross swords with Cao Cao and that Sun Quan can be used as an ally but not targeted, and urges him to take both Jing Province and Yi Province and then, when there is upheaval in the realm, to advance along two routes. Romance, Ch. 38 §4 · 11–15
Chen Shou recorded this dialogue in the Biography of Zhuge Liang (Records of Shu 5). It says that while Liu Bei was stationed at Xinye, he heeded Xu Shu's words, went three times before he met Zhuge Liang, and sent the others away to ask him for a plan. Neither Chen Shou's text nor the Romance gives the year. The Romance depicts this scene in the first part of Chapter 38. Records, Shu 5 §4–8Romance, Ch. 38 §1 · 11–17
Course of events in the Records
According to the Biography of Zhuge Liang, when the First Sovereign was stationed at Xinye, Xu Shu called Zhuge Liang a Sleeping Dragon and said that the general ought to humble himself and go to see him. The First Sovereign went three times before he met Zhuge Liang, and, sending the others away, asked him for a plan, saying that the Han house was tottering and treacherous ministers had stolen the mandate, and that he himself, shallow in wisdom and strategy, had stumbled and fallen, but that his resolve had not yet ceased. Records, Shu 5 §4–5
Zhuge Liang said that Cao Cao, though inferior to Yuan Shao in reputation and fewer in followers, had in the end defeated him not by the timing of Heaven alone but by the plans of men. He said that Liu Bei could not cross swords with Cao Cao, who now commanded a host of a million and held the Son of Heaven in his grip to give orders to the lords, and that Sun Quan, whose family had held Jiangdong for three generations, could be used as an ally but not targeted. Jing Province, he said, was a land for the use of arms, but its master could not hold it, and Yi Province was a storehouse of Heaven with a thousand li of fertile plains, but Liu Zhang was benighted and weak, with Zhang Lu to his north. Records, Shu 5 §5–7
Zhuge Liang told him to take both Jing Province and Yi Province and hold their natural defenses, make peace with the Rong tribes to the west and pacify the Yi and Yue to the south, form a friendship with Sun Quan abroad and put his government in order at home. When upheaval came to the realm, if he had a senior general lead the troops of Jing Province toward Wan and Luoyang while he himself led the host of Yi Province out to the Qinchuan plain, he could achieve hegemony and revive the Han house. The First Sovereign said it was good, and as his intimacy with Zhuge Liang grew day by day, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were displeased, but the First Sovereign calmed them, saying, "My having Kongming is like a fish having water." Records, Shu 5 §7–8
In the Romance
In Chapter 38 of the Romance, Liu Bei, with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, visited Longzhong for the third time, and met Zhuge Liang after standing below the steps waiting while Zhuge Liang took a nap in his thatched hall. Zhuge Liang demurred, saying that Sima Decao and Xu Yuanzhi had recommended him in error, but when Liu Bei sent his attendants away, drew his seat closer and revealed his aims, he told him his plan. Romance, Ch. 38 §4–8 · 10–11
The Romance's Zhuge Liang discussed Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Jing Province and Yi Province in almost the same words as in Chen Shou's text, then had a page boy bring out a map of the fifty-four districts of Xichuan and hang it in the central hall. He then told Liu Bei to cede the north to Cao Cao to hold the timing of Heaven, cede the south to Sun Quan to hold the advantages of terrain, while the general himself held the harmony of men, and to first take Jing Province as his home, then take Xichuan to found his enterprise, so as to form a tripod-like balance, after which he could aim at the Central Plains. Romance, Ch. 38 §12–16
When Liu Bei said that Liu Biao of Jing Province and Liu Zhang of Yi Province were both kinsmen of the Han house and he could not bear to take their lands, Zhuge Liang replied that observing the heavens at night, he saw that Liu Biao would not live long and that Liu Zhang was not a lord to found a great enterprise. When Liu Bei begged him in tears, Zhuge Liang said he would serve him like a dog or a horse, and the next day, after charging his younger brother Zhuge Jun that he would return to live in seclusion once his work was done, he went back to Xinye with Liu Bei. Romance, Ch. 38 §16 · 19 · 21 · 24
Where the Romance differs
The tripod-like balance: In Chapter 38 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang hung up the map of the fifty-four districts of Xichuan and told Liu Bei to form a tripod-like balance in which Cao Cao, Sun Quan and Liu Bei divided among them the timing of Heaven, the advantages of terrain and the harmony of men, and the Romance comments that from this talk he knew the realm would be divided in three. In Zhuge Liang's answer in the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Chen Shou's text there is no map, no timing of Heaven, advantages of terrain and harmony of men, and no word "tripod"; it stops at taking Jing Province and Yi Province, forming a friendship with Sun Quan, and then advancing along two routes. Romance, Ch. 38 §15–17Records, Shu 5 §6–8
What was said of Jing Province and Yi Province: In Chen Shou's text Zhuge Liang says of Jing Province that "its master cannot hold it," and of Yi Province that Liu Zhang is benighted and weak and that Zhang Lu is to his north. The same passage in Chapter 38 of the Romance says of Jing Province that "none but its rightful master can hold it," and for Yi Province leaves out Zhang Lu and mentions only Liu Zhang. Romance, Ch. 38 §13Records, Shu 5 §6–7
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.