Book
Bazhentu 八陣圖
About this item
The Bazhentu (Eight Formations Diagram) is what Zhuge Liang created by developing the art of war. Chen Shou's text says only that he made the Bazhentu and that it captured all the essentials. In Chapter 84 of the Romance, the Bazhentu is the name of a stone formation that Zhuge Liang laid out by arranging stones on the sandbank of Yufu Inlet on his way into Xichuan; Lu Xun, pursuing Liu Bei after winning the Battle of Xiaoting, loses his way inside it and gets out under the guidance of Zhuge Liang's father-in-law Huang Chengyan. Records, Shu 5 §42Romance, Ch. 84 §42–47
Chen Shou's text mentions the Bazhentu once, in the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5. The Romance includes the stone Bazhentu in Chapter 84 and, in Chapter 104, Yuan Zhen's poem praising "the majestic Bazhentu," and in Chapters 99, 113 and 117 it describes the "method of the Eight Formations" used by the troops of Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei. Records, Shu 5 §42Romance, Ch. 84 §45Romance, Ch. 104 §18–19Romance, Ch. 99 §44Romance, Ch. 113 §30Romance, Ch. 117 §33
In the Records
In the passage following Zhuge Liang's death in camp in the 8th month of the 12th year of Jianxing (234), the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5 of Chen Shou's text records that he was by nature gifted at ingenious invention, that the improvement of the repeating crossbow and the wooden oxen and gliding horses all came from his ideas, and that, developing the art of war, he made the Bazhentu, which is said to have captured all the essentials. Chen Shou does not record what the Bazhentu looked like or where it was laid out. Records, Shu 5 §38 · 42
In the Romance
In Chapter 84 of the Romance, Lu Xun, having won a great victory, leads his victorious troops west in pursuit of Liu Bei, and short of Kui Pass he sees a killing aura rising to the sky from a place where the hills meet the river. When his scouts report that there are no men or horses, only eighty or ninety heaps of jumbled stones by the river, he summons local people and asks them. They answer that this place is Yufu Inlet, that Zhuge Liang, on his way into Xichuan, brought his troops here and laid out a formation by arranging stones on the sandbank, and that ever since a cloud-like vapor has constantly risen from it. Romance, Ch. 84 §40–43
Laughing that it is merely a trick to bewitch people, Lu Xun leads a few riders into the stone formation, but as he tries to leave, a violent wind suddenly rises, sand and stones fly, and he loses his way. Then an old man appears and, leaning on his staff, walks out of the stone formation without hindrance and brings Lu Xun up onto the hillside. The old man says that he is Zhuge Liang's father-in-law Huang Chengyan, that the name of this stone formation is the Bazhentu, and that its eight gates, following the eight gates of Dunjia such as the Gate of Rest, the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death, change endlessly every day and every hour, making it a match for 100,000 elite troops. When Zhuge Liang left, he had told him not to lead out any great general of Eastern Wu who later lost his way inside the formation, but seeing Lu Xun enter by the Gate of Death, he could not bear to leave him and led him out by the Gate of Life. Romance, Ch. 84 §43–46
When Lu Xun asks whether he has ever studied this formation, Huang Chengyan says that its changes are endless and it cannot be learned. The Romance then gives Du Fu's poem: "His deeds overshadowed the land divided in three; his fame was made by the Bazhentu." Returning to camp, Lu Xun sighs that Kongming is truly a Sleeping Dragon and withdraws his troops, saying that it is not because he fears the stone formation but because Cao Pi of Wei will take the opportunity to attack. Romance, Ch. 84 §47–48
The Romance mentions the Eight Formations many more times afterward. In Chapter 99 Zhuge Liang drills his troops daily and has them master the method of the Eight Formations; in Chapter 104, after Zhuge Liang's death, Yuan Zhen's poem praises him: "Stern and proud, the Memorial on Dispatching the Troops; majestic, the Bazhentu." In Chapter 113 Jiang Wei deploys his troops according to Marquis Wu's method of the Eight Formations and contends with Deng Ai in formations, and in Chapter 117 at Mianzhu the Shu army deploys in the Eight Formations. Romance, Ch. 99 §44Romance, Ch. 104 §18–19Romance, Ch. 113 §30–31Romance, Ch. 117 §33
Where the Romance differs
What the Bazhentu was: In Chapter 84 of the Romance, the Bazhentu is a stone formation laid out with heaps of stones on the sandbank of Yufu Inlet, whose eight gates change endlessly and trap Lu Xun. The Records say only, in Zhuge Liang's own biography, that he developed the art of war and made the Bazhentu, and record neither Yufu Inlet nor a formation laid out with stones. Romance, Ch. 84 §42 · 45–46Records, Shu 5 §42
Why Lu Xun stopped the pursuit: In Chapter 84 of the Romance, after being trapped in the stone formation and getting out under Huang Chengyan's guidance, Lu Xun withdraws his troops, anticipating an attack by Cao Pi. In the Biography of Lu Xun in the Records, when Liu Bei stayed at Baidicheng, Xu Sheng, Pan Zhang and others asked to attack again, but Lu Xun, together with Zhu Ran and Luo Tong, said that since Cao Pi was massing a great army they should go back, and soon afterward the Wei army did indeed come out. There is no story of a stone formation. Romance, Ch. 84 §44–48Records, Wu 13 §28
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.