Book
Bingshu 24pian 兵書二十四篇
About this item
The Bingshu 24pian ("Military Writings in Twenty-Four Chapters") is, in the Romance, the book in twenty-four chapters in which Zhuge Liang set down all he had learned in his life and which he passed to Jiang Wei before his death. In Chapter 104 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang says that the book runs to 104,112 characters in all and contains the methods of the Eight Duties, the Seven Warnings, the Six Fears and the Five Dreads, and that among all the generals only Jiang Wei can inherit it; Jiang Wei weeps, bows and receives it. Romance, Ch. 104 §3–4
In Chen Shou's text, twenty-four chapters with the same number of characters appear as the table of contents of the Collected Works of Master Zhuge (Zhuge Shi Ji) at the end of the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5. Chen Shou writes that, on the orders of the Jin court, he put Zhuge Liang's old records in order, cut out duplications and gathered them by category to compile these twenty-four chapters. The Romance depicts this book in a single passage of Chapter 104. Records, Shu 5 §44–45Romance, Ch. 104 §3
In the Records
At the end of the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5 is the table of contents of the Collected Works of Master Zhuge. It runs to twenty-four chapters — from Opening the Office and Taking the Governorship 1, Expedient Institutions 2, The Southern Campaign 3 and The Northern Expeditions 4, through Military Essentials 12 and Transport 13, the letters to Sun Quan, Zhuge Jin and Meng Da (14–16) and Deposing Li Ping 17, to Military Orders, Parts 1, 2 and 3 (22–24) — totalling 104,112 characters. Records, Shu 5 §44
In the text following the table of contents, Chen Shou reports that while he was Gentleman of Writing (zhuzuo lang) he was ordered, on a memorial from the Director and the Prefect of the Secretariat, to put in order the old records of Zhuge Liang, the former Chancellor of Shu, and that he cut out duplications, gathered the material by category and made it into twenty-four chapters. He says that although some find it strange that Zhuge Liang's writing is not ornate and is overly painstaking, his teachings and surviving words all concern managing affairs and bringing things into order, and his fair and sincere heart shows in his writing; on the 1st day of the 2nd month of the 10th year of Taishi (274) he copied it out and submitted it. Records, Shu 5 §45 · 52–54
The Wei Family Annals (Weishi Chunqiu), quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary to an earlier passage of the Biography of Zhuge Liang, records that Zhuge Liang composed the Eight Duties, the Seven Warnings, the Six Fears and the Five Dreads, all set out in articles and sections, to instruct and exhort his officials. These names are not among the chapter titles of the twenty-four chapters of the Collected Works of Master Zhuge. Records, Shu 5 §42 · 44
In the Romance
In Chapter 104 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang, who has coughed up blood and lain down after Wei Yan trampled out the lamp, tells Jiang Wei, who has come into his tent, that he had meant to recover the Central Plains and restore the house of Han, but since this is Heaven's will he will soon die. He then says that he has already set down all he has learned in his life in a book of twenty-four chapters, 104,112 characters in all, which contains the methods of the Eight Duties, the Seven Warnings, the Six Fears and the Five Dreads; that having looked over all the generals he has found no one to pass it to, and only Jiang Wei can inherit this book; and he urges him not to take it lightly. Jiang Wei weeps, bows and receives it. Romance, Ch. 104 §1 · 3–4
Zhuge Liang then gives Jiang Wei drawings of the method of the Liannu (repeating crossbow), which he has not yet had the chance to use, telling him to build and use it accordingly, and warns him that among the many roads of Shu he must above all be wary of the land of Yinping. Romance, Ch. 104 §4
Where the Romance differs
Author: In Chapter 104 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang himself sets down all he has learned in twenty-four chapters and gives them to Jiang Wei before his death. In the Biography of Zhuge Liang in the Records, Chen Shou, on the orders of the Jin court, gathered Zhuge Liang's old records, cut out duplications, compiled them into twenty-four chapters and submitted them in the 10th year of Taishi (274). The character count, 104,112 in all, is the same in both. Romance, Ch. 104 §3–4Records, Shu 5 §44–45 · 54
The Eight Duties, Seven Warnings, Six Fears and Five Dreads: The Romance says these methods are contained in the twenty-four chapters. The twenty-four chapters in the table of contents of the Collected Works of Master Zhuge include no chapter by these names; it is the Wei Family Annals, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary, that separately records that Zhuge Liang composed them to instruct his officials. Romance, Ch. 104 §3Records, Shu 5 §44 · 42
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.
Ownership history
| Owner | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Zhuge Liang | ~234 | Romance 「吾平生所學，已著書二十四篇…獨汝可傳我書」 |
| Jiang Wei | 234~ | Romance 「獨汝可傳我書」 · 「維哭拜而受」(yy-104:s4) |
Ownership is checked against the source texts (3KDEX) — each entry rests on the passage where the item changes hands. Owners not in the People index are not shown.