Novel scene
Lü Bu Dies at the White Gate Tower 白門樓呂布殞命
About this event
Lü Bu Dies at the White Gate Tower is the scene from the second half of the title of Chapter 19 of the Romance, "Cao Cao Besieges Xiapi; Lü Bu Dies at the White Gate Tower." It is the passage at the end of the Battle of Xiapi in which the captured Lü Bu, Chen Gong, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao are dragged before Cao Cao at the White Gate Tower. The Romance opens this scene with Cao Cao seated on top of the White Gate Tower together with Liu Bei, with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei standing beside them. Romance, Ch. 19 §52
Chen Shou's text also has the same scene. The Biographies of Lü Bu, Zhang Miao and Zang Hong, Records of Wei 7, records that Lü Bu climbed the White Gate Tower and then came down and surrendered, and records the words exchanged between the bound Lü Bu, Cao Cao and Liu Bei and Chen Gong's last answer, and the biography of Zhang Liao in Records of Wei 17 records that Zhang Liao surrendered at the head of his men. Records, Wei 7 §26–29Records, Wei 17 §3
In the Romance
In Chapter 19 of the Romance, when Lü Bu, wound tight in ropes, asks for them to be loosened because they are too tight, Cao Cao replies that one cannot help binding a tiger tightly. When Lü Bu blames Hou Cheng, Wei Xu and Song Xian, who are standing beside him, Song Xian retorts that Lü Bu listened only to his wife and concubines and not to his commanders' plans. Gao Shun says nothing at all and is beheaded. Romance, Ch. 19 §52–53
Chen Gong, brought in by Xu Huang, says that he abandoned Cao Cao because Cao Cao's heart was not upright, and regrets that Lü Bu did not follow his advice. Asked what will become of his old mother and his wife and children, Chen Gong answers that one who rules the realm by filial piety does not harm another man's parents, then goes down from the tower of his own accord and stretches out his neck. Cao Cao sees him off in tears, has his old mother and his wife and children sent to Xudu to be cared for, and buries his body at Xudu. Romance, Ch. 19 §53–56
While Cao Cao has gone down to see Chen Gong off, Lü Bu asks Liu Bei to put in a word for him, and to Cao Cao on his return he says that if Cao Cao were commander-in-chief and he the second in command, it would not be hard to pacify the realm. When Cao Cao looks back at Liu Bei, Liu Bei answers, "Have you not seen what happened with Ding Jianyang and Dong Zhuo?" and Lü Bu reviles him, calling him the least trustworthy of all and bringing up the time he shot the halberd at the camp gate. Cao Cao has Lü Bu strangled and his head displayed. Romance, Ch. 19 §58–59
Zhang Liao, when brought in, rails that it is a pity the fire at Puyang was not big enough to burn Cao Cao to death, and when the enraged Cao Cao is about to cut him down himself, in Chapter 20 Liu Bei seizes his arm and Guan Yu kneels to vouch for Zhang Liao's life with his own. Cao Cao makes Zhang Liao General of the Household and grants him the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. Romance, Ch. 19 §59 · 61–62Romance, Ch. 20 §1–2
Where the Romance differs
Lü Bu's plea: In Chapter 19 of the Romance, Lü Bu proposes that Cao Cao be commander-in-chief and he the second in command. In the biography of Lü Bu in the Records, Lü Bu told Cao Cao that if His Excellency commanded the infantry and let him command the cavalry, it would not be hard to pacify the realm, and Cao Cao looked doubtful. Romance, Ch. 19 §58Records, Wei 7 §27
Chen Gong's family and burial: In Chapter 19 of the Romance, Cao Cao has Chen Gong's old mother and his wife and children sent to Xudu to be cared for, and buries Chen Gong at Xudu in an inner and outer coffin. In the biography of Lü Bu in the Records, Cao Cao summoned Chen Gong's mother and supported her until her death and married off his daughter, while Lü Bu, Chen Gong, Gao Shun and the others were all beheaded, their heads sent to Xu and displayed, and only then buried. Romance, Ch. 19 §55–56Records, Wei 7 §27 · 29
Zhang Liao's surrender: In Chapters 19 and 20 of the Romance, Zhang Liao rails at Cao Cao and is saved by the pleas of Liu Bei and Guan Yu. In the biography of Zhang Liao in the Records, when Cao Cao defeated Lü Bu at Xiapi, Zhang Liao surrendered at the head of his men and was appointed General of the Household and granted the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. Romance, Ch. 19 §61–62Romance, Ch. 20 §1–2Records, Wei 17 §3
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.