THE INCIDENT at the GATE: CAO ZHI, the SUCCESSION, and LITERARY FAME by ROBERT JOE CUTTER Cao

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

THE INCIDENT at the GATE: CAO ZHI, the SUCCESSION, and LITERARY FAME by ROBERT JOE CUTTER Cao THE INCIDENT AT THE GATE: CAO ZHI, THE SUCCESSION, AND LITERARY FAME BY ROBERT JOE CUTTER Cao Zhi (192-232) is one of the major poets in Chinese literary history. He has also traditionally been accorded a good deal of sympathy by Chinese scholars. Even today, thanks in part to the enduring, though erroneous belief that the "Poem in Seven Paces" ("Qi bu shi" known so well to Chinese students is from his hand, one frequently encounters a popular perception that Cao was an unfortunate figure. As it turns out, there is reasonable justification for that perception. There is evidence of what has been called "the notoriously harsh treatment of the princes of the blood in Wei times."' Indications of this treatment are seen in Cao's works and in his biography, where it is expressly mentioned near the end, and it was noted again by Chen Shou Mg (233-297), compiler of the Records of the Three Kingdoms (San guo zhi his chapter on the royal princes of Emperor Wu (Cao Cao 155-220) and Emperor Wen (Cao Pi 187-226).2 But Cao Zhi was not always in a precarious position. Had things worked out differently it might have been he rather than his brother Cao Pi who became the first em- peror of the (220-264). This study grew out of an attempt to understand why Cao Zhi, in many ways an appealing figure and one who had at first a special place in the heart of his father Cao Cao, was not designated Cao Cao's successor and finally found himself regarded with a certain amount of suspicion and distrust. It com- prises two parts. The first part deals with an event that I call the incident at the gate. This event either precipitated or exacerbated a falling out between Cao Zhi and Cao Cao. A consideration of the possible reasons behind the incident at the gate in turn leads us into the second part of the study, which concerns Cao Zhi's ambitions and his concept of fame as a path to immortality. 229 1. The Incident at the Gate3 One day, perhaps in the year 217, Cao Zhi did something that got him into serious trouble with his powerful father. Cao Zhi's biography says simply: Cao Zhi once rode his carriage down the speedway (chi opened the major's gate (sima men and went out. Cao Cao was incensed, and the prefect of official carriages (gongju ling was sentenced to death. Thence- forth, he added to the restrictions on the lords, and his favoritism towards Cao Zhi declined daily.4 The gravity of this affair as far as Cao Cao was concerned is fur- ther reflected in three orders (ling fit) that he issued. The first says: "At first I referred to Cao Zhi as the one among all my sons most capable of settling great affairs." The second shows his change of mind: "From the time Cao Zhi, Marquis of Linzi went out without permission, opened the major's gate, and arrived at the Metal Gate ( Jin men it has made me look on this son with different eyes indeed." The third order states in part: "Ever since Cao Zhi opened the major's gate without permission, I have never 5 again trusted any of the lords."5 Precisely what was it in Cao Zhi's acts that so angered Cao Cao? a The answer is to be found in part in Han law. From certain Han dynasty cases we can see that both the use of the speedway and of the major's gates were regulated and that violations of these regulations were punishable offenses. For instance, sometime between 168 and 157 B.C. the Han heir apparent and the King of Liang entered the palace grounds without getting out of their carriage at the major's gate. Zhang Shizhi #$$Z pursued them and would not let them .
Recommended publications
  • Cao Pi (Pages 5-6) ​ 5
    JCC: Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義 Cao Cao Dossier 曹操 Crisis Director: Matthew Owens, Charles Miller Email: [email protected], [email protected] ​ ​ ​ Chair: Harjot Singh Email: [email protected] ​ Table of Contents: 1. Front Page (Page 1) 2. Table of Contents (Page 2) 3. Introduction to the Cao Cao Dossier (Pages 3-4) 4. Cao Pi (Pages 5-6) ​ 5. Cao Zhang (Pages 7-8) ​ 6. Cao Zhi (Pages 9-10) ​ 7. Lady Bian (Page 11) ​ 8. Emperor Xian of Han (Pages 12-13) ​ 9. Empress Fu Shou (Pages 14-15) ​ 10. Cao Ren (Pages 16-17) ​ 11. Cao Hong (Pages 18-19) ​ 12. Xun Yu (Pages 20-21) ​ 13. Sima Yi (Pages 22-23) ​ 14. Zhang Liao (Pages 24-25) ​ 15. Xiahou Yuan (Pages 26-27) ​ 16. Xiahou Dun (Pages 28-29) ​ 17. Yue Jin (Pages 30-31) ​ 18. Dong Zhao (Pages 32-33) ​ 19. Xu Huang (Pages 34-35) ​ 20. Cheng Yu (Pages 36-37) ​ 21. Cai Yan (Page 38) ​ 22. Han Ji (Pages 39-40) ​ 23. Su Ze (Pages 41-42) ​ 24. Works Cited (Pages 43-) Introduction to the Cao Cao Dossier: ​ Most characters within the Court of Cao Cao are either generals, strategists, administrators, or family members. ● Generals lead troops on the battlefield by both developing successful battlefield tactics and using their martial prowess with skills including swordsmanship and archery to duel opposing generals and officers in single combat. They also manage their armies- comprising of troops infantrymen who fight on foot, cavalrymen who fight on horseback, charioteers who fight using horse-drawn chariots, artillerymen who use long-ranged artillery, and sailors and marines who fight using wooden ships- through actions such as recruitment, collection of food and supplies, and training exercises to ensure that their soldiers are well-trained, well-fed, well-armed, and well-supplied.
    [Show full text]
  • THE LAST YEARS 218–220 Liu Bei in Hanzhong 218–219 Guan Yu and Lü Meng 219 Posthumous Emperor 220 the Later History Of
    CHAPTER TEN THE LAST YEARS 218–220 Liu Bei in Hanzhong 218–219 Guan Yu and Lü Meng 219 Posthumous emperor 220 The later history of Cao Wei Chronology 218–2201 218 spring: short-lived rebellion at Xu city Liu Bei sends an army into Hanzhong; driven back by Cao Hong summer: Wuhuan rebellion put down by Cao Cao’s son Zhang; Kebineng of the Xianbi surrenders winter: rebellion in Nanyang 219 spring: Nanyang rebellion put down by Cao Ren Liu Bei defeats Xiahou Yuan at Dingjun Mountain summer: Cao Cao withdraws from Hanzhong; Liu Bei presses east down the Han autumn: Liu Bei proclaims himself King of Hanzhong; Guan Yu attacks north in Jing province, besieges Cao Ren in Fan city rebellion of Wei Feng at Ye city winter: Guan Yu defeated at Fan; Lü Meng seizes Jing province for Sun Quan and destroys Guan Yu 220 spring [15 March]: Cao Cao dies at Luoyang; Cao Pi succeeds him as King of Wei winter [11 December]: Cao Pi takes the imperial title; Cao Cao is given posthumous honour as Martial Emperor of Wei [Wei Wudi] * * * * * 1 The major source for Cao Cao’s activities from 218 to 220 is SGZ 1:50–53. They are presented in chronicle order by ZZTJ 68:2154–74 and 69:2175; deC, Establish Peace, 508–560. 424 chapter ten Chronology from 220 222 Lu Xun defeats the revenge attack of Liu Bei against Sun Quan 226 death of Cao Pi, succeeded by his son Cao Rui 238 death of Cao Rui, succeeded by Cao Fang under the regency of Cao Shuang 249 Sima Yi destroys Cao Shuang and seizes power in the state of Wei for his family 254 Sima Shi deposes Cao Fang, replacing him with Cao Mao 255 Sima Shi succeeded by Sima Zhao 260 Cao Mao killed in a coup d’état; replaced by Cao Huan 264 conquest of Shu-Han 266 Sima Yan takes title as Emperor of Jin 280 conquest of Wu by Jin Liu Bei in Hanzhong 218–219 Even while Cao Cao steadily developed his position with honours, titles and insignia, he continued to proclaim his loyalty to Han and to represent himself as a servant—albeit a most successful and distin- guished one—of the established dynasty.
    [Show full text]
  • Three Kingdoms Unveiling the Story: List of Works
    Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Agreement List of Works Organizers: Tokyo National Museum, Art Exhibitions China, NHK, NHK Promotions Inc., The Asahi Shimbun With the Support of: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, NATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE ADMINISTRATION, July 9 – September 16, 2019 Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Japan With the Sponsorship of: Heiseikan, Tokyo National Museum Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., Notes Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co.,Ltd., MITSUI & CO., LTD. ・Exhibition numbers correspond to the catalogue entry numbers. However, the order of the artworks in the exhibition may not necessarily be the same. With the cooperation of: ・Designation is indicated by a symbol ☆ for Chinese First Grade Cultural Relic. IIDA CITY KAWAMOTO KIHACHIRO PUPPET MUSEUM, ・Works are on view throughout the exhibition period. KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD., ・ Exhibition lineup may change as circumstances require. Missing numbers refer to works that have been pulled from the JAPAN AIRLINES, exhibition. HIKARI Production LTD. No. Designation Title Excavation year / Location or Artist, etc. Period and date of production Ownership Prologue: Legends of the Three Kingdoms Period 1 Guan Yu Ming dynasty, 15th–16th century Xinxiang Museum Zhuge Liang Emerges From the 2 Ming dynasty, 15th century Shanghai Museum Mountains to Serve 3 Narrative Figure Painting By Qiu Ying Ming dynasty, 16th century Shanghai Museum 4 Former Ode on the Red Cliffs By Zhang Ruitu Ming dynasty, dated 1626 Tianjin Museum Illustrated
    [Show full text]
  • Weaponry During the Period of Disunity in Imperial China with a Focus on the Dao
    Weaponry During the Period of Disunity in Imperial China With a focus on the Dao An Interactive Qualifying Project Report Submitted to the Faculty Of the WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE By: Bryan Benson Ryan Coran Alberto Ramirez Date: 04/27/2017 Submitted to: Professor Diana A. Lados Mr. Tom H. Thomsen 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 List of Figures 4 Individual Participation 7 Authorship 8 1. Abstract 10 2. Introduction 11 3. Historical Background 12 3.1 Fall of Han dynasty/ Formation of the Three Kingdoms 12 3.2 Wu 13 3.3 Shu 14 3.4 Wei 16 3.5 Warfare and Relations between the Three Kingdoms 17 3.5.1 Wu and the South 17 3.5.2 Shu-Han 17 3.5.3 Wei and the Sima family 18 3.6 Weaponry: 18 3.6.1 Four traditional weapons (Qiang, Jian, Gun, Dao) 18 3.6.1.1 The Gun 18 3.6.1.2 The Qiang 19 3.6.1.3 The Jian 20 3.6.1.4 The Dao 21 3.7 Rise of the Empire of Western Jin 22 3.7.1 The Beginning of the Western Jin Empire 22 3.7.2 The Reign of Empress Jia 23 3.7.3 The End of the Western Jin Empire 23 3.7.4 Military Structure in the Western Jin 24 3.8 Period of Disunity 24 4. Materials and Manufacturing During the Period of Disunity 25 2 Table of Contents (Cont.) 4.1 Manufacturing of the Dao During the Han Dynasty 25 4.2 Manufacturing of the Dao During the Period of Disunity 26 5.
    [Show full text]
  • MA Thesis Johannahcook 2010.Pdf (970.0Kb)
    Works of Gold and Jade – Cao Zhi (192-232 CE): The Man and His Poetry by Johannah Cook A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand April 2010 i Dedicated to all the poets of China, past and present. ii Acknowledgements I would like to especially thank the University of Otago, New Zealand for awarding me a University of Otago Postgraduate award which greatly aided me in the completion of this project. I‘d also like to thank the Department of languages and Cultures of Otago University for their ongoing support. To my family, to my mother for teaching me to forge ahead along my own path and to my father, who inspired me to think about the world and people from new perspectives To my supervisor, Dr. Xiaohuan Zhao of the University of Otago, for his devotion to scholarship, encouragement and patience. To Professor An Cheng Xian, of Xi‘an International Studies University, China who dedicated much of his time to me helping me to improve my Chinese reading skill and increasing my understanding of contemporary China. And to his colleague, Professor Zhao Shiping for ensuring my teaching timetable did not conflict with my study obligations. To the International Office at Xi‘an Jiaotong University and to Professor Luo for her perseverance in teaching me classical Chinese poetry. To all my friends in China, particularly Cao Xiaoqing for her endless enthusiasm and emotional support and to Professor Pan Xiaolong and all the staff and postgraduate students at the Centre for Chinese Poetry at Anhui Normal University, China.
    [Show full text]
  • New Historic Missions”
    Mulvenon, China Leadership Monitor, No. 27 Chairman Hu and the PLA’s “New Historic Missions” James Mulvenon In a speech delivered on Christmas Eve 2004, Hu Jintao introduced a new set of “historic missions” for the Chinese armed forces. These missions constitute one part of a broader revision of the PLA’s “strategic guiding theory,” derived in large measure from Hu Jintao’s overall ideological guidance on “scientific development.” This paper will examine the timing, content, dissemination, and implementation of the “historic missions,” which is a useful test case of Hu’s relationship with the PLA as reflected in military political work. Summary On 24 December 2004, Hu inaugurated his recent elevation to chairman of the Central Military Commission by unveiling a set of pathbreaking changes in the orientation of the PLA known as the “new historic missions” [新的历史使命]. This paper makes three points: (1) the “new historic missions” are not the centerpiece of Hu’s contribution to military thought, but instead a subordinate manifestation of his “scientific development” concept in the military and part of a much broader revision of the military’s “strategic guiding theory”; (2) the “new historic missions” concept was not immediately adopted within the PLA, but has been slowly propagated through the political work system and has finally achieved universal recognition; and (3) the “new historic missions” now constitutes the primary vehicle for the “post-Taiwan” modernization strategy of the PLA and is therefore a critical linchpin of the party-army
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture
    A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture Edited by Antje Richter LEIDEN | BOSTON For use by the Author only | © 2015 Koninklijke Brill NV Contents Acknowledgements ix List of Illustrations xi Abbreviations xiii About the Contributors xiv Introduction: The Study of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture 1 Antje Richter PART 1 Material Aspects of Chinese Letter Writing Culture 1 Reconstructing the Postal Relay System of the Han Period 17 Y. Edmund Lien 2 Letters as Calligraphy Exemplars: The Long and Eventful Life of Yan Zhenqing’s (709–785) Imperial Commissioner Liu Letter 53 Amy McNair 3 Chinese Decorated Letter Papers 97 Suzanne E. Wright 4 Material and Symbolic Economies: Letters and Gifts in Early Medieval China 135 Xiaofei Tian PART 2 Contemplating the Genre 5 Letters in the Wen xuan 189 David R. Knechtges 6 Between Letter and Testament: Letters of Familial Admonition in Han and Six Dynasties China 239 Antje Richter For use by the Author only | © 2015 Koninklijke Brill NV vi Contents 7 The Space of Separation: The Early Medieval Tradition of Four-Syllable “Presentation and Response” Poetry 276 Zeb Raft 8 Letters and Memorials in the Early Third Century: The Case of Cao Zhi 307 Robert Joe Cutter 9 Liu Xie’s Institutional Mind: Letters, Administrative Documents, and Political Imagination in Fifth- and Sixth-Century China 331 Pablo Ariel Blitstein 10 Bureaucratic Influences on Letters in Middle Period China: Observations from Manuscript Letters and Literati Discourse 363 Lik Hang Tsui PART 3 Diversity of Content and Style section 1 Informal Letters 11 Private Letter Manuscripts from Early Imperial China 403 Enno Giele 12 Su Shi’s Informal Letters in Literature and Life 475 Ronald Egan 13 The Letter as Artifact of Sentiment and Legal Evidence 508 Janet Theiss 14 Infijinite Variations of Writing and Desire: Love Letters in China and Europe 546 Bonnie S.
    [Show full text]
  • Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This Is Episode 116. Last Time, After Seven Tries, Zhuge Liang Had Finally
    Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 116. Last time, after seven tries, Zhuge Liang had finally convinced the Nan Man king Meng Huo to submit. With his mission accomplished, Zhuge Liang headed home, but his army ran into a roadblock at the River Lu (2), where apparently all the spirits of those killed in battle were stirring up trouble and making the river uncrossable. Zhuge Liang asked the locals what could be done about this problem, and they told him, “Just do what we did in the old days: Kill 49 people and offer their heads as a sacrifice, and the spirits will dissipate.” Uh, has anyone thought about the irony of killing people to appease the angry spirits of people who were killed? Anyone? Anyone? No? Well, how about we try not killing anybody this time. Instead of following the gruesome tradition, Zhuge Liang turned not to his executioners, but to his chefs. He asked the army cooks to slaughter some and horses and roll out some dough. They then made a bunch of buns stuffed with beef, lamb, horse meat, and the like. These buns were made to look like human heads, which is just freaky. And Zhuge Liang dubbed them Man Tou. Now that word has stuck through the ages and is now used to refer to Chinese steamed buns, though the present-day incarnation of what’s called Man Tou typically has no filling inside; it’s just all dough. Today, the Chinese buns that have fillings are called a different name, and they don’t look like human heads.
    [Show full text]
  • Epilogues and Conclusions
    474 Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Epilogues and Conclusions Part I: Elegy for a Lost Capital Chronology The Afterlife of Luoyang Part II: What Went Wrong A Failure of Virtue? The Division of China The Difficulty of Reunification Part I: Elegy for a Lost Capital Chronology 220 Cao Cao dies at Luoyang Cao Cao’s son Cao Pi compels Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate and becomes emperor of the Three Kingdoms state of Wei 221 Liu Bei proclaims himself emperor of the true Han dynasty; his state is commonly known as Shu-Han … 222 Liu Bei attacks Sun Quan in Jing province but is heavily defeated 223 Sun Quan makes alliance with Liu Bei against Cao Pi death of Liu Bei, succeeded by his son Liu Shan 229 Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Wu 234 death of Liu Xie the Duke of Shanyang, last sovereign of Later Han, posthumously titled as Emperor Xian 249 Sima Yi kills Cao Shuang and takes power in Wei 263–264 Wei conquers Shu-Han and controls present-day Sichuan 266 Sima Yan compels the abdication of the last ruler of Wei and proclaims the dynasty of Jin 280 The state of Wu surrenders to Jin; China is reunified 300–307 The War of the Eight Princes destroys the military power of Jin 311 Luoyang is captured and destroyed by Shi Le and Liu Yao, generals of Liu Cong the ruler of the Xiongnu state of Han 318 Sima Rui proclaims himself emperor of [Eastern] Jin at Jianye, pres- ent-day Nanjing former capital of Wu © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004325203_014 Epilogues and Conclusions 475 493–528 Luoyang as the capital of Northern Wei 589 Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of Sui, conquers the south and reunites the empire; he establishes his capital at a new Luoyang, on the site of the present-day city The Afterlife of Luoyang Though Cao Cao had his personal headquarters at Ye city, north of the Yellow River in the southwest of present-day Hebei, the territory of Luoyang had served as a staging post for his operations in the northwest and the west, and he went there once again in 219 during the defence against Guan Yu’s attack in Jing province.
    [Show full text]
  • Remaking History: the Shu and Wu Perspectives in the Three Kingdoms Period
    Remaking History: The Shu and Wu Perspectives in the Three Kingdoms Period XIAOFEI TIAN HARVARD UNIVERSITY Of the three powers—Wei, Shu, and Wu—that divided China for the better part of the third century, Wei has received the most attention in the standard literary historical accounts. In a typical book of Chinese literary history in any language, little, if anything, is said about Wu and Shu. This article argues that the consider- ation of the literary production of Shu and Wu is crucial to a fuller picture of the cultural dynamics of the Three Kingdoms period. The three states competed with one another for the claim to political legitimacy and cultural supremacy, and Wu in particular was in a position to contend with Wei in its cultural undertakings, notably in the areas of history writing and ritual music. This article begins with an overview of Shu and Wu literary production, and moves on to a more detailed discussion of Wu’s cultural projects, both of which were intended to assert Wu’s legitimacy and cultural power vis-à-vis Wei and Shu’s claims to cultural and polit- ical orthodoxy. Ultimately, this article implicitly asks the question of how to write literary history when there is scant material from the period under question, and suggests that we perform textual excavations and make use of what we have to try and reconstruct, as best as we can, what once was. A good literary history of the Chinese medieval period, the age of manuscript culture and that of heavy textual losses and transfigurations, should be written with the awareness of the incomplete and imperfect nature of the data we do have, and incorporate the phenomenon of textual losses and transfigurations as well as some reflections on the underlying reasons into its narrative and critical inquiry.
    [Show full text]
  • Officers Faq
    WARRIORS OROCHI OFFICERS FAQ SHU ZHAO YUN: Default. XING CAI: Default. YUE YING: Clear shu stage 2. WEI YAN: Clear shu stage 3. GUAN YU: Clear shu stage 7. ZHANG FEI: Clear shu stage 7. ZHUGE LIANG: Clear shu stage 7. LIU BEI: Clear shu stage 8. JAING WEI: Clear shu stage 2x: succeed in initiating Jiang Wei's plan by luring the two generals to the ambush spot. PANG TONG: Clear wei stage 4. GUAN PING: Clear samurai stage 1. HUANG ZHONG: Clear samurai stage 1. MA CHAO: Clear samurai stage 2x: make sure all the peasants escape and Ma Chao survives, the peasants are ambushed in the area which disenables your map. WU SUN CE: Default. ZHOU YU: Clear wu stage 1. LU MENG: Clear wu stage 3. SUN SHANG XIANG: Clear wu stage 5. ZHOU TAI: Clear wu stage 6. SUN JIAN: Clear wu stage 7. SUN QUAN: Clear wu stage 7. TAISHI CI: Clear wu stage 2. DA QIAO: Clear wu stage 5x: meet Da Qiao at her fort before the enemies does. HUANG GAI: Clear wei stage 5. GAN NING: Clear wei stage 6. XIA QIAO: Clear samurai stage 3. LING TONG: Clear samurai stage 5. LU XUN: Clear samurai stage 3x: escort Lu Xun to the destination. WEI CAO PI: Default. ZHANG LIAO: Default. XU HUANG: Default. XU ZHU: Clear wei stage 1. XIAHOU YAUN: Clear wei stage 4. XIAHOU DUN: Clear wei stage 4. DIAN WEI: Clear wei stage 7. CAO CAO: Clear wei stage 7. ZHEN JI: Clear wei stage 6x: defeat all sorcerers in the six camps and the Imposter Cao Pi as quickly as possible.
    [Show full text]
  • Liu Bei) East-West Reflections
    WHAT IS A WORTHY LIFE? THE THREE KINGDOMS MICHAEL KHOR RESEARCH SUPPORT OFFICE, NTU THREE KINGDOMS • End of Han Dynasty (~400 years) • Eunuchs (administrators) and military struggle for power • Rebellions in various parts of the empire • Opportunists seize control • Old structure collapsing • Turmoil • Those who wants to maintain Han: Wei (Cao Cao) • Those who wanted independence: Wu (Sun Quan) • Those who wanted a “new” Han: Shu (Liu Bei) East-West Reflections • Panta rhei, "everything flows“(Heraclitus) • "Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers.“ • "Everything changes and nothing remains still ... and ... you cannot step twice into the same stream“ • Omnia mutantur: everything changes, nothing perishes • Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis: "Times change, and we change with them“ • Hōjōki : The current of the flowing river does not cease, and yet the water is not the same water as before. Cao Cao LIU BEI SUN QUAN Cao Cao • Often portrayed as a cruel and merciless tyrant • Praised as a brilliant ruler and military genius who treated his subordinates like his family • Though ruthless, he had an eye for talent and cared for his people • Prediction: "You would be a capable minister in peaceful times and an unscrupulous hero in chaotic times.“ • Succeeded by his eldest surviving son Cao Pi • Failed to re-unite China Liu Bei • Loyalty to friends and respect to the talents • Know where to go and how to achieve • Have a rightness and impartial attitude • Be humble to the talented person • Balance between family and friends • Transfer authority to the right person • Have service leadership and righteous character Liu Bei • Provide all the resource and trust • Assign the important job to the right person • Keep improving our personal ability Guan Yu and Zhang Fei • Sworn brothers of Liu Bei • Guan Yu: Highly skilled swordsman.
    [Show full text]