SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

Zhang Lu

  • The Reckoning of Fan Ju [Warring States]

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    Rob

    Following the counsel of his chancellor Zhang Lu – formerly Fan Ju of Wei – King Zhaoxiang of Qin launched a campaign against Han and Wei, executing the doctrine of “Ally with the Distant, Attack the Nearby”.

  • Fan Ju’s rise [Warring States]

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    Rob

    In the turbulent Warring States period, Fan Ju (later known as Zhang Lu) was a talented but lowly retainer in the household of Xu Gu, a minister of Wei. When King Xiang of Qi – newly restored after Tian Dan’s miraculous fire-bull victory – resented Wei for aiding Yan in the earlier invasion of…

  • Chapter 60. Zhang Song offers the map [Three Kingdoms]

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    Rob

    Chapter 60 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms marks a decisive turning point in the novel’s geopolitical arc. With Cao Cao dominant in the north and Sun Quan entrenched in the east, the vast, fertile province of Yizhou (modern Sichuan) becomes the final prize for aspiring hegemonies.

  • The Map Unbestowed [Three Kingdoms]

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    Juan

    Before the formal tripartite division of China into Wei, Shu, and Wu, Cao Cao stood closer than ever to unifying the empire – including the fertile and defensible province of Yizhou (modern Sichuan).

  • The Battle for Hanzhong [Three Kingdoms]

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    Juan

    When Cao Cao learned that Liu Bei had taken control of Yizhou (Yi Province, modern Sichuan), he realized that unifying the empire would be impossible without securing the strategic corridor of Hanzhong, which lay directly north of Yizhou.

  • How Liu Bei seized Yizhou? [Three Kingdoms]

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    Juan

    In 211 CE, news reached Liu Zhang, governor of Yizhou (modern Sichuan province), that Cao Cao planned to march through Guanzhong to attack Hanzhong – the northern gateway to Yizhou.

  • Sowing Discord [Three Kingdoms]

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    Juan

    The Guanxi (Guanzhong and Liangzhou) region had long been under the control of two powerful warlords: Ma Teng and Han Sui. Ma Teng, a descendant of the famed Eastern Han general Ma Yuan, commanded deep loyalty among the frontier troops.

  • Why Sun Ce should not kill Yu Ji? [Three Kingdoms]

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    Juan

    Sun Ce’s execution of the revered Daoist healer Yu Ji is often remembered in Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a tale of supernatural retribution—but historically, it was a grave political miscalculation rooted in impulsiveness, insecurity, and a failure to understand soft power. Far from eliminating a threat, Sun Ce’s public killing of Yu…

  • Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf Stratagem [Three Kingdoms]

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    Juan

    To eliminate the threat posed by Liu Bei and Lü Bu’s control of Xuzhou, Cao Cao adopted a step-by-step strategy proposed by Xun Yu. First, he used the “Feeding Two Tigers to Fight” stratagem, petitioning the court to appoint Liu Bei as Governor of Xuzhou while secretly ordering him to execute Lü Bu. This…