The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 25
Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 3:51PM The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 25:
Besieged In Tushan, Guan Yu Makes Three Conditions;
Relieved At Baima, Cao Cao Beholds A Marvel.
Listen:
WARNING! THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
In Chapter 25, the great Battle of Guan Du, one of the most titanic clashes between two rulers that China...and perhaps the world...has ever known, begins in earnest. And who would have been able to foresee the way the lineup has changed over the past few chapters.
Liu Bei, having been crushed by Cao Cao in Xu Province, has fled to seek refuge with Yuan Shao, and Guan Yu, sworn brother of Liu Bei, now serves, at least for the time being, the man who did the crushing...
It should probably be no secret by now that the writer of at least this particular version of the novel was pretty heavily biased towards Guan Yu. (I mean, come on. In actual history, it was Sun Jian, and not Guan Yu, that killed Hua Xiong, and possibly Ji Ling was killed by someone else as well, yet Guan Yu is given credit in this version of the novel for being a Giant Killer.)
The author, having gone to so much trouble thus far to build up Guan Yu as a veritable God of War (and he may very well have deserved the title in his own right, without the author's help...) gets to have a field day with Guan Yu now, because with the great Battle of Guan Du as the setting, Guan Yu shines brighter here than in most other places in the novel.
Of all the generals under his command, Yuan Shao esteems the services of his two resident meat-heads, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, above all others. Sure, he's got Zhang He. (whom I personally consider to be a warrior of far greater quality than either Liang or Chou...) Sure, he's got Gao Lan, an able general. Sure, he's got Chunyu Qiong, who in previous years had been a commander of quite some substance (though by this point he's pretty much reduced to a semi-pathetic drunkard...) But no one, and I mean no one, is more valued by Yuan Shao than Yan Liang and Wen Chou. Except for maybe Yuan Shao himself. Yuan Shao was a great Hero in the early stages of the novel, but now that he possesses virtually all the northern part of the Empire, he's developed quite an unhealthy tendency towards hubris...
Perhaps that explains why Yuan Shao is doomed to fail...
Yuan Shao's army, at the outset of Guan Du, outnumbers Cao Cao probably at least five to one. The four Imperial Provinces under his control (Jizhou, Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Qingzhou) are settled and his power there is well consolidated, whereas Cao Cao at this point only really has control of three provinces, (Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou), and the latter, Xuzhou, has only recently been conquered. Yuan Shao has every advantage in the world, it would seem.
But the fatal difference between the two men is that while both men have extremely capable advisors (This may outrage many of the pro-Wei fans out there, but I honestly think that Tian Feng and Ju Shou were the equal of Xun Yu.) But only Cao Cao actually listens to his advisors and followed their sound advice. Yuan Shao, perhaps, is too arrogant at this point to see good solid sense when it is spoken to him.
I have little doubt that, if Yuan Shao had listened to Tian Feng and had taken his advice, Guan Du would have played out far differently, and it would have been Yuan Shao, and not Cao Cao, establishing a new dynasty to succeed the Han...
But he didn't listen to Tian Feng. And the result was that Guan Du proved to be his undoing.
Enjoy this, the twenty fifth chapter in the great Three Kingdoms epic. And thanks for listening!
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