Book
Mengde's New Book 孟德新書
About this item
Mengde's New Book is a military treatise said to have been written by Cao Cao. The book does not appear in Chen Shou's text; the Book of Wei (Weishu), quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary, records that Cao Cao himself wrote military writings of more than 100,000 words and that his generals all followed this new book on campaign. The Romance portrays it as a military treatise in thirteen chapters modelled on the thirteen chapters of the Sunzi, and turns it into a story in which Zhang Song memorizes it at a single reading and mocks it as stolen from the work of an anonymous author of the Warring States period, whereupon Cao Cao has the book torn up and burned. Records, Wei 1 §172Romance, Ch. 60 §11–13 · 16–17
Pei Songzhi's commentary records Cao Cao's military writings by quoting the Book of Wei and Sun Sheng's Miscellaneous Words on Similarities and Differences (Yitong Zayu) in the Annals of Emperor Wu in Records of Wei 1, and the Miscellaneous Records of the Elders of Yi Province (Yibu Qijiu Zaji) in the Biography of the First Sovereign in Records of Shu 2. The Romance records this book under the name "Mengde's New Book" in Chapters 60 and 68. Records, Wei 1 §2 · 172Records, Shu 2 §31Romance, Ch. 60 §11Romance, Ch. 68 §44
In the Records
No book by the name of Mengde's New Book appears in Chen Shou's text. The Book of Wei, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary, says that in commanding troops Cao Cao broadly followed the methods of Sun Wu and Wu Qi but devised unusual stratagems as circumstances required, and records that he himself wrote military writings of more than 100,000 words and that his generals all followed this new book on campaign. It also says that when the time came he gave directions in his own hand, and those who followed his orders won while those who disobeyed his instructions lost. Records, Wei 1 §172
Sun Sheng's Miscellaneous Words on Similarities and Differences, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary at the beginning of the Annals of Emperor Wu, records that Cao Cao read widely and was especially fond of military methods, that he compiled a selection of the military methods of various schools called the Essentials (Jieyao) and annotated the thirteen chapters of Sun Wu, and that both circulated in the world. Records, Wei 1 §2
The Miscellaneous Records of the Elders of Yi Province, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary to the passage on Zhang Song in the Biography of the First Sovereign, records that when Liu Zhang sent Zhang Song to Cao Cao, Cao Cao did not treat him with much courtesy, but the Registrar Yang Xiu thought highly of him; when Yang Xiu showed him the military writings Cao Cao had composed, Zhang Song read them once at a banquet and at once recited them from memory, and Yang Xiu found him all the more remarkable. Records, Shu 2 §31
In the Romance
In Chapter 60 of the Romance, after Liu Zhang's Attendant Officer with Separate Carriage, Zhang Song, has been treated coldly by Cao Cao, the Registrar of the Chancellor's office, Yang Xiu, responds to Zhang Song's disparagement of Cao Cao by offering to show him the Chancellor's great talent, and takes a book out of a chest. Its title is Mengde's New Book; it has thirteen chapters in all, every one on the essentials of using troops, and Yang Xiu says that the Chancellor wrote it in imitation of the thirteen chapters of the Sunzi, drawing on the ancient and adapting it to the present. Romance, Ch. 60 §9–11 · 16
Zhang Song laughs loudly and says that even three-chi-tall children in Shu can recite this book, which was written by an anonymous author of the Warring States period and stolen by Chancellor Cao as his own. When Yang Xiu says it is a book the Chancellor has kept hidden and that has not yet circulated in the world, Zhang Song recites it from beginning to end without a single error. When Yang Xiu reports this, Cao Cao says, "Could it be that the ancients and I happened to agree?" and has the book torn up and burned. Romance, Ch. 60 §12–13 · 16–17
In Chapter 68, Zuo Ci, who appears at a banquet of Cao Cao, King of Wei, catches perch from the Songjiang and presents a golden basin filled with purple-shoot ginger; when Cao Cao puts his hand into the basin, a book titled Mengde's New Book appears inside. Cao Cao opens it and finds not a single character different, and he grows deeply suspicious. Romance, Ch. 68 §42–44
Where the Romance differs
Form of the book: In Chapter 60 of the Romance, Mengde's New Book is a book of thirteen chapters modelled on the thirteen chapters of the Sunzi, and Cao Cao, hearing Zhang Song's mockery, tears it up and burns it. The Book of Wei, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary, says that the military writings Cao Cao composed ran to more than 100,000 words and that his generals all followed this new book, and the Miscellaneous Words on Similarities and Differences records that Cao Cao annotated the thirteen chapters of Sun Wu and passed them on to the world. There is no burning of the book. Romance, Ch. 60 §11 · 17Records, Wei 1 §172 · 2
Zhang Song's recitation: In Chapter 60 of the Romance, Zhang Song recites the book before Yang Xiu and mocks it as stolen from the work of an anonymous author of the Warring States period. The Miscellaneous Records of the Elders of Yi Province, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary, records only that Zhang Song memorized it at a single reading at a banquet and that Yang Xiu found him all the more remarkable; there is no charge of plagiarism. Romance, Ch. 60 §12–13Records, Shu 2 §31
When Zhang Song went: The Romance sends Zhang Song to Xudu in Chapter 60, after Cao Cao has driven off Ma Chao. The Biography of Liu Zhang in Chen Shou's text records that when Zhang Song went to Cao Cao, Cao Cao had already pacified Jing Province and driven out Liu Bei, and so paid him no attention, and that Zhang Song returned after Cao Cao's setback at Chibi and disparaged Cao Cao. Romance, Ch. 60 §2–3Records, Shu 1 §14–15
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.
Ownership history
| Owner | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cao Cao | 211 | Romance 「丞相所撰《孟德新書》」 · 「令扯碎其書燒之」(yy-060:s17) · 「曹操自破馬超回」 |
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.