Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Now, the Prince of Hanzhong heard that Guan Gong and his son had been slain. He collapsed to the ground weeping. His ministers and officers rushed to revive him, and only after some time did he regain consciousness. They helped him into the inner palace. Kongming exhorted him, saying, "Let Your Highness grieve less. Since ancient times it has been said: 'Life and death are decreed by fate.' Lord Guan was by nature proud and self-assured, and so this calamity has befallen him. Your Highness should take care of your honored person and bide your time to avenge this wrong." Xuande said, "When I took oath with my two sworn brothers, Guan and Zhang, in the Peach Garden, we swore to live and die together. Now that Yunchang is gone, how could I enjoy wealth and rank alone?" Before he had finished speaking, Guan Xing was seen approaching, wailing with grief. When Xuande saw him, he let out a great cry and again collapsed to the ground in tears. The officials revived him. In a single day he would faint from grief five or three times; for three days he took neither water nor food, but only wept without ceasing. His tears soaked his robes and left stains like blood. Kongming and the other ministers repeatedly urged him to restrain his sorrow. Xuande declared, "I and Eastern Wu shall not share the same sun and moon!" Kongming said, "I hear that Eastern Wu sent Lord Guan's head to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao buried him with the rites befitting a prince or marquis." Xuande asked, "What was his intention?" Kongming replied, "This was Eastern Wu's scheme to shift the blame onto Cao Cao. But Cao Cao saw through their plot, so he buried Lord Guan with generous rites, to turn Your Highness's resentment toward Wu." Xuande said, "I shall at once lead my army to punish Wu and wipe away this hatred!" Kongming remonstrated, saying, "That cannot be done. At present, Wu wishes us to attack Wei, and Wei wishes us to attack Wu. Each harbors treacherous designs, watching for a gap to exploit. Your Highness should keep your troops in place and observe mourning for Lord Guan. Wait until Wu and Wei fall out with each other, then strike when the moment is right." The ministers again and again urged him to reconsider. Only then did Xuande consent to take food. He issued an edict that all officers and soldiers throughout Sichuan should go into mourning. The Prince of Hanzhong personally went out of the southern gate to summon the spirit and perform the burial rites, weeping the whole day long.

Now, Cao Cao was in Luoyang. Ever since he had buried Lord Guan, every night when he closed his eyes he would see Lord Guan. Cao Cao was greatly alarmed and frightened, and he asked his ministers about it. The ministers said, "The old palace halls in Luoyang are full of evil spirits. You should build a new hall to dwell in." Cao Cao said, "I wish to erect a hall, to be called the Hall of Founding Beginnings. My only regret is that I lack a skilled craftsman." Jia Xu said, "There is a man in Luoyang named Su Yue, a fine craftsman of the most ingenious mind." Cao Cao summoned him and ordered him to draw up plans. Su Yue drew a design for a nine-hall structure with front and rear corridors, galleries, and pavilions, and presented it to Cao Cao. Cao Cao examined it and said, "Your design suits my wishes very well, but I fear there is no suitable timber for the beams." Su Yue said, "Thirty li from the city there is a pool called Leaping Dragon Pool. Before it stands a shrine called the Leaping Dragon Shrine. Beside the shrine there is a great pear tree, over ten zhang tall, fit to serve as the beam for the Hall of Founding Beginnings."

Cao Cao was overjoyed and immediately ordered workmen to go and fell the tree. The next day they returned and reported that the tree could not be sawn apart nor could axes bite into it—it could not be cut down. Cao Cao refused to believe it. He personally led several hundred horsemen to the Leaping Dragon Shrine, dismounted, and looked up at the tree. It stood majestic as a canopy, its top piercing the clouds, without a single crooked joint. Cao Cao ordered it cut. Several village elders came forward to remonstrate, saying, "This tree has stood for several hundred years. A divine being often dwells upon it. I fear it should not be felled." Cao Cao flew into a rage and said, "In all my travels across the length and breadth of the land these forty years and more, from the Son of Heaven down to the common folk, none have failed to fear me. What manner of spirit dares defy my will!" With that, he drew his sword and struck the tree himself. There was a ringing sound, and blood spattered over his person. Cao Cao was struck with terror. He threw down his sword, mounted his horse, and returned to the palace. That night, in the second watch, Cao Cao could not sleep in peace. He sat in the hall, dozing against a armrest. Suddenly he saw a man with disheeled hair, wielding a sword, dressed in black, come straight up to him and, pointing at him, cried out, "I am the Spirit of the Pear Tree! You planned to build the Hall of Founding Beginnings with the intent of usurping the throne, and now you come to fell my sacred tree! I know your allotted span is spent, and I have come to slay you!" Cao Cao was greatly frightened and shouted, "Where are my guards?" The man in black raised his sword to strike Cao Cao. Cao Cao let out a great cry and suddenly awoke. His head and brain ached unbearably. He issued an urgent decree to seek skilled physicians far and wide, but none could cure him. All the ministers were filled with anxiety.

Hua Xin came forward and reported, "Does Your Majesty know of the divine physician Hua Tuo?" Cao Cao said, "The one who treated Zhou Tai of Jiangdong?" Hua Xin said, "The same." Cao Cao said, "I have heard his name, but I do not know his skill." Hua Xin said, "Hua Tuo, styled Yuanhua, is a man of Qiao Commandery in the kingdom of Pei. His medical skill is so wondrous that it is rarely matched in this world. When a patient comes to him, whether by medicine, by needles, or by moxibustion, he cures them at once. If the ailment lies in the five organs or the six viscera and medicine cannot reach it, he administers a numbing potion to make the patient fall into a deathlike stupor. Then he opens the abdomen with a sharp scalpel and washes the organs with medicinal broth. The patient feels no pain at all. When the washing is done, he sews the opening with medicated thread and applies a poultice. In one month, or twenty days, the patient recovers. Such is his miraculous skill. One day, Hua Tuo was walking along the road when he heard a man groaning. He said, 'This is an illness where food cannot pass down.' He questioned the man and found it was so. Hua Tuo told him to drink three sheng of garlic and pickle juice, and the man vomited up a snake two or three chi long, after which he could eat and drink again. Chen Deng, the Grand Administrator of Guangling, suffered from a troubled heart, a flushed face, and could not eat or drink. He sought Hua Tuo's treatment. Hua Tuo gave him medicine to drink, and he vomited up three sheng of insects, all with red heads that wriggled at both ends. Chen Deng asked the reason. Hua Tuo said, 'This is from eating too much fish and raw meat, which has produced this poison. Though you are cured today, in three years it will return, and then nothing can save you.' In the end, Chen Deng died three years later, as predicted. Again, there was a man who had a tumor grow between his eyebrows, itching unbearably. He asked Hua Tuo to examine it. Hua Tuo said, 'There is a flying creature inside.' Everyone laughed at this. Hua Tuo cut it open with a knife, and a yellow finch flew out. The patient was cured at once. Another man had been bitten on the toe by a dog, and two lumps of flesh grew there—one painful, one itching, both unbearable. Hua Tuo said, 'The painful one contains ten needles; the itching one contains two black and white stones.' No one believed him. Hua Tuo cut them open, and it was exactly as he had said. This man is truly of the lineage of Bian Que and Cang Gong. He now resides in Jincheng, not far from here. Why does Your Majesty not summon him?"

Cao Cao immediately dispatched a messenger with all possible speed to summon Hua Tuo into the palace and ordered him to take his pulse and examine his illness. Hua Tuo said, "Your Majesty's headache arose from a disorder of the wind. The root of the disease lies within the skull, where phlegm caused by the wind cannot be expelled. It is useless to take medicines and potions—they cannot cure it. I have a method: first drink a numbing potion, then use a sharp axe to split open the skull, extract the wind-phlegm, and only then can the root be removed." Cao Cao flew into a rage and said, "You mean to kill me!" Hua Tuo said, "Has not Your Majesty heard how Lord Guan was struck by a poisoned arrow, wounding his right arm? I scraped the bone to draw out the poison, and Lord Guan showed not the least sign of fear. Now Your Majesty's ailment is a minor matter—why so much suspicion?" Cao Cao said, "An arm can be scraped, but how can a skull be split open? You must be on close terms with Lord Guan and wish to use this opportunity to avenge him!" He ordered his attendants to seize Hua Tuo and throw him into prison, where he was to be interrogated under torture. Jia Xu remonstrated, saying, "A physician of such excellence is rarely matched in this age. He should not be discarded." Cao Cao snapped, "This man seeks to take advantage of the moment to do me harm—he is no different from Ji Ping!" He urgently ordered the torture to continue.

While Hua Tuo languished in prison, there was a prison warden surnamed Wu, whom everyone called "Warden Wu." This man daily offered Hua Tuo wine and food. Hua Tuo, moved by his kindness, said to him, "I shall soon die. I regret that my *Qingnang Shu* has not been passed on to the world. Grateful for your generous regard, I have nothing to repay you with. I shall write a letter which you may send to my home, and have them bring the *Qingnang Shu* to you as a gift, so that my art may live on through you." Warden Wu was overjoyed and said, "If I obtain this book, I shall quit my post and heal the sick throughout the land, to spread the master's virtue." Hua Tuo then wrote the letter and gave it to Warden Wu. Warden Wu went all the way to Jincheng, obtained the *Qingnang Shu* from Hua Tuo's wife, and returned to the prison, where he handed it to Hua Tuo. After examining it and finding it in order, Hua Tuo at once presented the book to Warden Wu. Warden Wu took it home and stored it away. Ten days later, Hua Tuo died in prison. Warden Wu purchased a coffin and prepared the body for burial, then resigned his post and went home, wishing to take out the *Qingnang Shu* and study it. He found his wife in the very act of burning the book. Warden Wu was greatly alarmed and rushed to snatch it away, but the entire work had already been destroyed—only one or two leaves remained. Warden Wu railed furiously at his wife. His wife said, "Even if you learned to match Hua Tuo's miraculous skill, you would only end up dying in a prison cell. What use would it be?" Warden Wu sighed in resignation and said no more. Thus the *Qingnang Shu* was never transmitted to the world. What survived were only minor methods for castrating chickens and pigs, recorded on the one or two leaves that escaped the flames. A later poet lamented:

Hua Tuo's immortal art surpassed that of Bian Que,

His divine perception pierced walls as though they were nothing.

In sorrow that the man perished and the book was lost as well,

No later generation ever saw the *Qingnang* again.

Now it must be told that after Cao Cao put Hua Tuo to death, his illness grew worse, and he was further troubled by affairs in Wu and Shu. Just as he was brooding over this, a courtier suddenly reported that Eastern Wu had sent an envoy with a letter. Cao Cao took the letter and opened it. It read in substance:

Your subject Sun Quan has long known that Heaven's Mandate has passed to Your Majesty. I humbly hope that you will soon ascend the throne with full imperial dignity and dispatch generals to destroy Liu Bei and sweep clear the two Chuan regions. Thereupon I shall lead all my subordinates in surrendering our lands and submitting to you.

When Cao Cao finished reading, he laughed aloud and showed it to his ministers, saying, "This fellow wants to put me on a furnace!" Palace Attendant Chen Qun and others memorialized, saying, "The House of Han has long been in decline. Your Royal Highness's virtue is towering, and all living creatures look up to you. Now Sun Quan declares himself your subject and submits to your mandate—this is the response of Heaven and man, the accord of all omens and voices. Your Majesty should comply with Heaven and follow the people, and soon assume the imperial dignity." Cao Cao smiled and said, "I have served the Han for many years. Though I have rendered some benefit to the people, my rank has already reached that of King, and my title and honor are at their utmost—how dare I entertain further ambitions? If Heaven's Mandate rests with me, then let me be the King Wen of Zhou." Sima Yi said, "Now that Sun Quan has declared himself a subject and submitted, Your Majesty may grant him a noble title and fief, and command him to oppose Liu Bei." Cao Cao followed this advice and memorialized the throne to enfeoff Sun Quan as General of Agitation Cavalry, Marquis of Nanchang, and Governor of Jing Province. An envoy bearing the patent of appointment was dispatched that very day to Eastern Wu.

Cao Cao's illness took a sudden turn for the worse. One night he dreamed of three horses feeding from the same trough. When dawn broke, he asked Jia Xu, "I once dreamed of three horses sharing a trough and suspected it portended trouble from Ma Teng and his sons. Now Ma Teng is dead, and last night I again dreamed of three horses sharing a trough. What good or ill does it foretell?" Jia Xu said, "A horse of fortune is an auspicious omen. Fortune returns to the Cao family—why should Your Majesty suspect it?" Cao Cao therefore thought no more of it. A later poet wrote:

The matter of three horses sharing a trough was cause for doubt,

Yet none knew that the foundation of Jin had already been planted.

Cao Man, for all all his cunning and his schemes,

Could not recognize the one who would shape the court—Sima Shi.

That night Cao Cao lay in his bedchamber. By the third watch, he felt his head swimming and his vision blur. He rose and lay down across a desk. Suddenly a sound like rending silk echoed through the palace hall. Cao Cao started up in alarm and looked about, and beheld Empress Fu, Lady Dong, the two princes, and Fu Wan, Dong Cheng, and more than twenty others, all covered in blood, standing within a gloomy cloud. Faintly he could hear the sound of voices demanding his life. Cao Cao hastily drew his sword and slashed at the air. Suddenly a tremendous crash shook the hall and brought down the southwest corner of the palace. Cao Cao fell in a faint upon the floor. His attendants rushed to his side and carried him to another palace to recuperate. The next night he heard the ceaseless sound of men and women weeping outside the hall. At dawn Cao Cao summoned his ministers and said, "For more than thirty years I have been amid battles and campaigns, and I have never placed faith in strange or supernatural matters. Why should this happen now?" The ministers memorialized, "Your Majesty should command Daoist priests to perform offerings and rites of atonement." Cao Cao sighed and said, "The sage said, 'He who has offended against Heaven has nowhere to pray.' My allotted span from Heaven is already exhausted—how can it be saved?" And so he refused to permit the rites.

The following day, Cao Cao felt a rush of qi surging upward and his vision failed. He hastily summoned Xiahou Dun for counsel. As Dun approached the palace gate, he suddenly saw Empress Fu, Consort Dong, the two princes, Fu Wan, and Dong Cheng standing amidst dark clouds. Dun was so terrified that he collapsed in a faint. His attendants carried him out, and from that day he fell ill. Cao Cao summoned Cao Hong, Chen Qun, Jia Xu, and Sima Yi to his bedside and entrusted his final affairs to them. Cao Hong and the others bowed their heads to the ground and said, "Your Majesty, take good care of your precious person. In a few days you will surely recover completely."

Cao Cao said, "I have campaigned across the world for more than thirty years. All the heroes have been destroyed—only Sun Quan in Jiangdong and Liu Bei in Xishu remain unconquered. Now I am gravely ill and can no longer speak with you all. I entrust my family affairs to you. My eldest son Cao Ang, born of Lady Liu, unfortunately died young at Wan City. Now Lady Bian has borne me four sons: Pi, Zhang, Zhi, and Xiong. My third son Zhi, whom I have always loved, is flashy and lacking in sincerity, given to drinking and dissipation—therefore I will not name him as heir. My second son Cao Zhang is brave but lacks strategy. My fourth son Cao Xiong is chronically ill and unlikely to survive. Only my eldest son Cao Pi, who is earnest, respectful, and diligent, may carry on my legacy. You must assist him."

Cao Hong and the others tearfully received his orders and withdrew. Cao Cao instructed his attendants to bring out the famous incense he had stored over the years and distribute it to his various concubines, saying, "After I die, you must diligently practice your needlework and make many silk shoes. By selling them, you can earn money to support yourselves." He further ordered that his concubines reside mostly in the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, where offerings should be made daily, with female musicians performing music and presenting food. He also left instructions that seventy-two decoy tombs be erected outside the city walls of Wucheng in Zhangde Prefecture, so that future generations would not know his true burial place, for fear it might be dug up. Having finished these instructions, he let out a long sigh, and tears streamed down his face like rain. In a moment, his breath ceased and he died. He was sixty-six years old. It was the first month of spring in the twenty-fifth year of the Jian'an era. A later poet composed a "Song of Ye" lamenting Cao Cao:

In Ye, by the waters of Ye and the waters of Zhang,

Surely an extraordinary man arose here.

Heroic schemes, refined pursuits, and literary heart—

As lord and subject, as brothers, and as father and son.

A hero never harbors a common man's thoughts;

How could his comings and goings follow what others see?

The author of merit and the author of blame are not two men;

To leave a stench or to leave a fragrance comes from one and the same person.

His writing had spirit, his dominion had force—

How could he have been reduced to mediocrity?

He built his terrace spanning the waters, rivaling Mount Taihang,

Where spirit and the logic of power rose and fell together.

How could such a man not rebel?

If not a hegemon in small matters, then a king in great ones!

The king and hegemon were reduced to the cries of children,

Helpless amid injustice.

He knew full well that the curtained tent availed nothing,

Yet his distribution of incense cannot be called heartless.

Alas! The ancients acted with purpose in matters great and small—

Both solitude and splendor held meaning.

The scholar lightly judges the man within the tomb,

But the man within the tomb laughs at the scholar's breath!

Now, when Cao Cao died, all the civil and military officials observed mourning rites. Messengers were dispatched to inform Cao Pi the heir apparent, Cao Zhang the Marquis of Yanling, Cao Zhi the Marquis of Linzi, and Cao Xiong the Marquis of Xiaohuai. The officials encased Cao Coffin in a gold inner coffin and silver outer coffin and by night bore the coffin swiftly to the city of Ye. When Cao Pi learned of his father's death, he wailed aloud. He led all the officials, high and low, ten li out of the city to prostrate themselves along the road and receive the coffin into the city, where it was placed in a side hall. The officials donned mourning garments and gathered to weep in the hall. Suddenly a man stepped forward from among them and said, "I ask the heir apparent to cease his grief and instead discuss important matters." The crowd looked and saw it was Sima Fu, a Gentleman-in-waiting. Sima Fu said, "Since the King of Wei has passed away, all under heaven is shaken. A new king should be established at once to settle the hearts of the people. Why merely weep?" The officials said, "The heir apparent should succeed, but without an imperial edict, how can this be done rashly?" Chen Jiao, the Minister of War, said, "The king has died away from the capital. If favored sons are made heirs in private, conflict will arise among them, and the state will be endangered." He then drew his sword and cut off his sleeve, declaring sternly, "Today we must ask the heir apparent to take the throne. Any official who disagrees will be treated as this sleeve!" The officials were filled with dread. Suddenly it was reported that Hua Xin had galloped from Xuchang. All were greatly startled. In a moment Hua Xin entered. The officials asked the reason for his coming. Hua Xin said, "Now that the King of Wei has died and all under heaven is shaken, why not quickly ask the heir apparent to take the throne?" The officials said, "It is precisely because we have not yet received an imperial edict that we have been discussing establishing the heir apparent as king by the compassionate decree of the Queen Mother, Lady Bian." Hua Xin said, "I have already obtained the imperial edict from the Emperor of Han." All leaped for joy and offered their congratulations. Hua Xin drew the edict from within his robes and read it aloud. It turned out that Hua Xin had flattered the Wei cause and so drafted this edict, coercing Emperor Xian into issuing it. The Emperor had no choice but to comply, and so the edict was issued, naming Cao Pi as King of Wei, Chancellor, and Governor of Jizhou. Cao Pi ascended the throne that very day and received the obeisance and homage of all the officials, high and low.

Just as the celebratory banquet was underway, it was suddenly reported that Cao Zhang, the Marquis of Yanling, had arrived from Chang'an leading an army of one hundred thousand men. Cao Pi was greatly alarmed and asked his officials, "My little brother with the yellow beard has always been fierce by nature and is deeply skilled in martial arts. Now he has come from afar with an army—he must be contending with me for the throne. What shall I do?" Suddenly a person at the foot of the steps stepped forward and said, "I request to go and see the Marquis of Yanling. With a few words I shall dissuade him." All said, "No one but this great officer can resolve this calamity." Indeed:

Observe the affair of Cao Pi and Cao Zhan—

It nearly became the struggle of Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang.

Who this person was will be told in the next chapter.