Writing
Memorial on Dispatching the Troops 出師表
About this item
The Memorial on Dispatching the Troops is the document Zhuge Liang submitted to the Later Sovereign in the 5th year of Jianxing (227) as he set out with the armies to garrison Hanzhong in the north. It opens by saying that the late emperor passed away before his founding enterprise was half complete, that the realm is divided in three and Yi Province is exhausted, and that this is a moment on which survival hangs; it tells the sovereign to consult Guo Youzhi, Fei Yi and Dong Yun on palace affairs and Xiang Chong on military affairs, looks back on how the late emperor visited him three times when he was tilling the fields in Nanyang, and then vows to pacify the Central Plains in the north. Records, Shu 5 §24 · 26 · 28–29
Chen Shou includes the whole text in the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5, saying that Zhuge Liang submitted a memorial as he was about to set out, but he does not use the name Memorial on Dispatching the Troops. The Romance depicts Zhuge Liang presenting this text as the "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops" in Chapter 91, and in Chapter 97 calls a second memorial the Memorial on Dispatching the Troops as well. Records, Shu 5 §24Romance, Ch. 91 §32Romance, Ch. 97 §8
In the Records
The Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5 records that Zhuge Liang, who had campaigned in the south in the spring of the 3rd year of Jianxing (225), pacified it all by autumn and was training his troops while awaiting a great campaign, submitted a memorial in the 5th year (227) as he was about to set out with the armies to garrison Hanzhong in the north, and it reproduces the text in full. Records, Shu 5 §24
The text begins by saying that the late emperor passed away midway before his founding enterprise was half complete, and that with the realm divided in three and Yi Province exhausted, this is truly a critical moment on which survival hangs. It goes on to ask His Majesty to open his ears widely and not to belittle himself rashly, and, since the palace and the Chancellor's office are one body, not to apply different standards of reward and punishment; it tells him to consult the Palace Attendants and Gentlemen Attendants Guo Youzhi, Fei Yi and Dong Yun on palace affairs and General Xiang Chong on military affairs. It states that drawing close to worthy ministers and keeping petty men at a distance was why the Former Han flourished, and the reverse was why the Later Han declined, and that the late emperor always lamented the affairs of Emperors Huan and Ling. Records, Shu 5 §24–27
Zhuge Liang recalls that he was originally a commoner tilling the fields himself in Nanyang, but the late emperor came three times to his thatched cottage to ask him about the affairs of the age, and that twenty-one years have passed since he took up his charge amid a defeated army as the state was overturned. Because the late emperor entrusted him with the great task on his deathbed, he crossed the Lu River in the 5th month and went deep into barren lands; now that the south is pacified and weapons and armour are sufficient, he will lead the three armies north, pacify the Central Plains, restore the house of Han and return to the old capital. The text asks that, if he fails, he be punished for his crime and that it be reported to the spirit of the late emperor, and it ends by saying that now, about to depart far away, he weeps before this memorial and does not know what he is saying. Zhuge Liang then set out and garrisoned Mianyang. Records, Shu 5 §28–31
Pei Songzhi's commentary appended after the events of the 6th year of Jianxing (228), when Shu was defeated at Jieting, quotes the Annals of Han and Jin (Han Jin Chunqiu) and reproduces another memorial that Zhuge Liang submitted in the 11th month of that year. Of this text, which begins with the late emperor's concern that Han and the rebels cannot both stand and ends by saying that he will bow down and exert all his strength until death, the commentary states that it is not in the Collected Works of Zhuge Liang but comes from Zhang Yan's Silent Records (Mo Ji). Records, Shu 5 §32–34
In the Romance
In Chapter 91 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang, having heard that Sima Yi has lost his post through a ruse to sow discord and gone home, steps out from the ranks at the Later Sovereign's morning court the next day and presents a Memorial on Dispatching the Troops. The Romance gives the full text of the memorial. The Later Sovereign worries that if the Chancellor-Father, just back from the southern campaign, attacks the north again, he will wear himself out in body and mind, and Qiao Zhou cites the heavens to dissuade him, but Zhuge Liang does not listen. Romance, Ch. 91 §31–32 · 39–40
Zhuge Liang leaves Guo Youzhi, Dong Yun and Fei Yi behind as Palace Attendants in charge of palace affairs and Xiang Chong as grand general in charge of the imperial guard, then assigns the duties of Wei Yan and the other generals and sets the army's departure for the bingyin day of the 3rd month, in the spring of the 5th year of Jianxing. The Later Sovereign leads the officials out ten li beyond the north gate to see him off. Romance, Ch. 91 §40–43 · 47
In Chapter 97, when Zhuge Liang moves to attack Wei again after Zhao Yun's death, Yang Yi arrives bearing the Chancellor's Memorial on Dispatching the Troops and presents it. On reading this memorial, which begins by saying that Han and the rebels cannot both stand and ends by vowing to bow down and give his all until death, the Later Sovereign is delighted and approves the campaign. In Chapter 104, after Zhuge Liang's death, a poem by Bai Letian (Bai Juyi) quoted in the Romance says: "The former and latter Memorials on Dispatching the Troops remain; read them once, and tears wet your collar." Romance, Ch. 97 §7–8 · 14–15Romance, Ch. 104 §17
Where the Romance differs
The scene of submission: In Chapter 91 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang steps out from the ranks at the Later Sovereign's morning court to present the Memorial on Dispatching the Troops, the Later Sovereign worries about the Chancellor-Father's toil, and Qiao Zhou cites the heavens to dissuade him. The Biography of Zhuge Liang in the Records says that he submitted the memorial as he was about to set out to garrison Hanzhong in the 5th year of Jianxing (227), and that he set out soon afterwards and garrisoned Mianyang. Romance, Ch. 91 §32 · 39–40Records, Shu 5 §24 · 31
The name of the text: The Romance calls this text the "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops", and Bai Letian's poem also speaks of "the former and latter Memorials on Dispatching the Troops". Chen Shou's text says only that he "submitted a memorial" and does not use the name Memorial on Dispatching the Troops. Romance, Ch. 91 §32Romance, Ch. 104 §17Records, Shu 5 §24
The second memorial: In Chapter 97 of the Romance, the Later Sovereign reads a second Memorial on Dispatching the Troops brought by Yang Yi and approves the campaign. This text is not in Chen Shou's main text; the Annals of Han and Jin, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary, gives it as a memorial Zhuge Liang submitted in the 11th month of the 6th year of Jianxing (228), and Pei Songzhi notes that it is not in the Collected Works of Zhuge Liang and comes from Zhang Yan's Silent Records. Romance, Ch. 97 §8 · 15Records, Shu 5 §32–34
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.