Zigong Saves Lu

The story of Zigong saving Lu is a turbulent saga of shifting circumstances, twists and turns, and brilliant strategies interlocking with exquisite precision. In those days, the states of the Spring and Autumn period stood side by side as their lords vied for supremacy and their courts struggled for power. Ministers of Chu, powerful officials of Wu, and strategists from every corner all had their own agendas and schemes. The calculations, rivalries, and balances of power that shaped the world are all contained in this episode of history. Everything has a beginning and an end. Reading this account in detail in Records of the Grand Historian and comparing it with the Spring and Autumn Annals, Zuo Commentary, Yuejue Book, and Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue has led me to several deeper questions.

First, did Bo Ying, the Queen Dowager of Chu, willingly take her own life, or was there more to her death?

Second, both Wu Zixu and Bo Pi fled Chu for Wu after their families were slaughtered and they had nowhere else to turn. Their backgrounds and circumstances were strikingly similar. Why, then, do historical records describe them so differently, and why have later generations judged them so differently?

Third, this story already features Jin, the predecessor of Han, Zhao, and Wei, as well as Chu and Qi, all of which would later become among the Seven Warring States. What was happening in Qin and Yan at the time, and what were they doing?

Fourth, Fan Li and Wen Zhong were both key figures in Yue’s destruction of Wu. Why did Fan Li resolutely resign and retire after achieving his goal, drifting away without a trace? Was Wen Zhong, who was ultimately sentenced to death by Goujian, truly wronged?

Fifth, the power of Confucianism remained hidden throughout this struggle between states that shaped the world. What role did it play, and how did it influence events?

Sixth, Tian Heng chose a successor, an act people often describe as “putting horns on himself.” Why would a powerful minister willingly do something so unusual, and what was his real motive?

After examining