thin king

Good Sunday to all.

This is just one of the many episodes about the great master
in the novel which is one of The Four Chinese Classics.


Zhuge Liang provisioning arrows

In the famous classic Chinese novel, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms,
the North, the West and the East states were always contending for supremacy.
There was a time when the West and East states had to ally to resist the
powerful North state. The East state had a very clever military commander named
ZhouYu, who was often outwitted by the West state mastermind ZhugeLiang. He
lamented, "Oh Heaven, when you made me why do you also made ZhugeLiang?"
And although he needed ZhugeLiang he also feared the presence of him in the
future. So, he kept looking for an opportunity to kill him.

When the North army, headed by the Prime Minister TsaoTsao, was threatening
nearby, ZhouYu asked ZhugeLiang what was the best weapon against the enemy
on water. When ZhugeLiang suggested arrows, which was to his agreement, he
asked whether ZhugeLiang could help him to provision a hundred thousand arrows.
ZhugeLiang answered that he could not disobey the Commander-in-Chief's order.
When ZhugeLiang asked for the deadline, ZhouYu suggested whether ten days
was enough. ZhugeLiang responded that ten days would be too late. When ZhouYu
asked when he could provision the arrows, ZhugeLiang asked for three days
instead. When ZhouYu reminded him not to joke, ZhugeLiang replied that he would
not dare joke with the Commander-in-Chief in time of war, and pledged to commit
it in writing. ZhouYu, secretly delighted, sent for the secretaries, and the
commission was prepared then and there. Then he drank to the success of the
undertaking and pledged to congratulate ZhugeLiang most heartily when it was
accomplished. ZhugeLiang told him to send five hundred soldiers to the river side
on the third day to convey the arrows."

LuSu, adviser to ZhouYu, asked him whether he had been deceitful about the
agreement. He replied that it was ZhugeLiang himself who had asked and signed
his own death warrant by falling into his trap. Later, ZhugeLiang feinted anger at
LuSu for getting him into this mess and asked to be rescued. LuSu made excuses
but, as ZhugeLiang had requested, he would supply twenty vessels, each manned
by thirty soldiers. ZhugeLiang also requested for other things and got LuSu into
sworn secrecy on all these. LuSu kept his secret about the boats, but reported to
ZhouYu on his other activities. ZhouYu, though puzzled, gloated at the easy
handling of his clever scheme. Meanwhile, LuSu secretly prepared what
ZhugeLiang required, while ZhugeLiang himself did nothing.

Towards the second evening, ZhugeLiang secretly got LuSu into action. They
manoeuvred the twenty boats, fastened together by long ropes, over to the north
bank. The night was very foggy along the river, such that they could hardly see one
another. When the small fleet reached TsaoTsao's naval camp ZhugeLiang gave
orders to form a line heading west, and to beat the drums and shout. LuSu was
worried, but ZhugeLiang calmed him down and got him to drink and be merry
instead, saying that the enemy would not dare venture forth in the fog.

When the great noise was heard, the enemy was scared of an ambush. They
dispatched six thousand archers and crossbowmen and ten thousand soldiers to
shoot at the noisy enemy in the river, the arrows falling like rain. Then ZhugeLiang
ordered the boats to turn around heading east, and to go closer in so that more
arrows might hit them. ZhugeLiang ordered the drums to be kept beating till the
sun rose and the fog began to disperse. Then the boats sailed down stream,
bristling with arrows on both sides. The arrows were stuck on the straw dummies
LuSu had prepared according to ZhugeLiang's instruction. As they left, ZhugeLiang
asked all the crew to shout, "We thank you, Sir Prime Minister, for all the arrows!"

LuSu asked ZhugeLiang how he knew there would be a thick fog. He replied, "One
cannot be a leader without knowing the workings of Heaven and the ways of Earth.
One must understand the secret interdependence of the elements, the mystery of
tactics and the value of forces. I calculated three days ago that there would be a
fog today, so I set the limit at three days. ZhouYu gave me ten days but neither
workers nor materials; he found reason enough to put me to death. But my fate
lies with the Supreme, so how could ZhouYu harm me?"

LuSu happily agreed. When the boats arrived, five hundred soldiers were in
readiness to carry the arrows to the tent of the Commander-in-Chief. ZhouYu was
amazed and sighed sadly, "He is better than I. His methods are more than human."
He sent LuSu to find out whether ZhugeLiang was wise to his trick. LuSu found
ZhugeLiang seated in his little craft. ZhugeLiang asked LuSu whether ZhouYu had
sent him to find out whether he was wise to ZhouYu's ruse. LuSu was shocked and
dumbfounded at ZhugeLiang's discernment; still he stayed and listened to the
master. As he was going away, ZhugeLiang cautioned him, "Do not let ZhouYu know
that I know his ruse. If you let him know, he will seek more chances to do me harm."

Have a nice day.
Ronald