Novel scene
A Prince Dies Weeping at the Ancestral Temple 哭祖廟一王死孝
About this event
This scene is the episode named in the chapter title of Chapter 118 of the Romance, "Weeping at the ancestral temple, a prince dies in filial devotion," the passage at the end of the Conquest of Shu by Wei in which, after Mianzhu falls, the Later Sovereign decides on Qiao Zhou's advice to surrender to Deng Ai, and his fifth son, Liu Chen, Prince of Beidi, unable to prevent it, kills his wife and children, weeps at the temple of Emperor Zhaolie, and takes his own life. Romance, Ch. 118 §1–4 · 9–11
Chen Shou recorded this in the Biography of the Later Sovereign, Records of Shu 3, the Biography of Qiao Zhou, Records of Shu 12, and the Biography of Deng Ai, Records of Wei 28. The Biography of the Later Sovereign says that in the winter of the 6th year of Jingyao (263), on the day of surrender to Deng Ai following Qiao Zhou's plan, Liu Chen, Prince of Beidi, grieving at the fall of the state, first killed his wife and children and then took his own life. Records, Shu 3 §43–46Records, Shu 12 §67–68Records, Wei 28 §72–73
In the Romance
In Chapter 118 of the Romance, when the people of Chengdu flee at the news that Mianzhu has been lost and Zhuge Zhan and his son are dead, the officials propose taking refuge in the seven commanderies of Nanzhong or relying on Wu. The Grandee of Splendid Happiness Qiao Zhou says that the southern Man have never received favors and taking refuge with them would bring disaster, and that to call oneself a subject of Wu and then, when Wei swallows Wu, to do so again would be a double humiliation; if they surrender to Wei, Wei will grant them land as a fief. Romance, Ch. 118 §1–3
When the Later Sovereign is about to surrender, his fifth son Liu Chen, Prince of Beidi, comes out from behind a screen and denounces Qiao Zhou as a pedantic scholar who cares only for his own life, and tearfully pleads that, since Chengdu still has tens of thousands of troops and Jiang Wei's whole army is at Jiange, they should fight with their backs to the city and die together with the altars of state. The Later Sovereign has him pushed out of the palace gate, has the Palace Attendant Zhang Shao, the Commandant Escort of Imperial Equipages Deng Liang and Qiao Zhou carry the letter of surrender Qiao Zhou has written and the jade seal to Deng Ai at the city of Luo (雒城), and has the Grand Coachman Jiang Xian deliver an edict ordering Jiang Wei to surrender. Romance, Ch. 118 §4–8
When it is fixed that the sovereign and his officials will go out and surrender on the first day of the 12th month, Liu Chen enters the palace wearing his sword and tells his wife, Lady Cui, that he will die first and go to see the late emperor. Lady Cui, saying that when a husband dies his wife follows him, dashes her head against a pillar and dies; Liu Chen kills his three sons, takes his wife's head to the temple of Emperor Zhaolie, weeps tears of blood, and cuts his own throat. The next day the Later Sovereign, with the heir apparent, the princes and more than sixty officials, binds his own hands, carries a coffin on a cart, and goes out ten li beyond the north gate to surrender, and Deng Ai unties his bonds and burns the coffin. Romance, Ch. 118 §9–13
Where the Romance differs
Liu Chen's death: In Chapter 118 of the Romance, after being driven out for opposing the surrender, Liu Chen, when his wife Lady Cui first dashes her head against a pillar and dies, kills his three sons, weeps at the temple of Emperor Zhaolie and cuts his own throat. The Biography of the Later Sovereign in the Records states only that on the day of surrender Liu Chen, Prince of Beidi, grieving at the fall of the state, first killed his wife and children and then took his own life; his words against the surrender and the weeping at the temple are not in Chen Shou's text. Romance, Ch. 118 §4–6 · 9–11Records, Shu 3 §46
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.