Please invite Zhuge Liang down from the altar---Commentary on the "Collected Works of Zhuge Liang"

Author: None
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Publish Date: 2006-08-01
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Chapter 3: Critiquing Yang Yang's Advice to Zhuge Liang
Yang Yang was a subordinate of Zhuge Liang, and there is a passage about him in The Collected Works of Zhuge Liang—Yang Yang said, "Governance has its proper structure; the higher and lower should not interfere with each other. Let me use a household as an analogy for Your Excellency. Suppose there is a person who assigns slaves to till the fields, maids to manage the kitchen, chickens to crow at dawn, dogs to bark at thieves, oxen to carry heavy loads, and horses to travel long distances. Private affairs are not neglected, and all needs are met. The master can relax, eat, and drink in comfort. Suddenly, he decides to personally take on all these tasks himself, entrusting nothing to others, exhausting his physical strength on trivial matters, and becoming weary both in body and mind, achieving nothing in the end. Is it because his wisdom is inferior to that of slaves, maids, chickens, or dogs? It is because he has lost the way of a household head. Therefore, the ancients called those who sat to deliberate policies the 'Three Dukes,' and those who acted and implemented policies were the scholar-officials. For example, Bing Ji did not inquire about a man who died on the roadside but worried about a cow's heatstroke. Chen Ping refused to know the details of grain and money matters, saying they had their own stewards. He truly understood the proper boundaries of his role. Now, Your Excellency governs, yet you personally examine ledgers, sweating all day—does that not tire you?" According to Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Romance of the Three Kingdoms): "Zhuge Liang wept and said, 'I know this, but I bear the heavy responsibility of the late Emperor’s trust in me. I only fear that others may not be as dedicated as I am!'"
Critique: Look! Is Zhuge Liang truly a great talent? Can he accomplish great deeds? By this time, Zhuge Liang was already at Wuzhangyuan, facing Sima Yi in battle, yet he still personally handled these trivial matters. Does he still have the energy to devise strategies to defeat the enemy? He does not even trust his subordinates to do their jobs—whom can he trust then? Who relies on him to get things done? Is Zhuge Liang's heart too narrow? Where is his "wisdom"? It is people like this who are commanding the army against a formidable enemy in the mountains and rivers—what hope is there for him to win? "Zhuge Liang wept," why did Zhuge Liang weep? People weep when their hearts are wounded, but who wounded Zhuge Liang's heart? What could have wounded his heart? No one wounded Zhuge Liang's heart—were it not for himself, who placed himself in these trivial tasks, sweating all day, weary in body and mind, truly derailing the great cause! By the time he reached Wuzhangyuan, was it not too late to regret? How could he not be heartbroken? How could he not shed tears? It seemed he had realized that Wuzhangyuan might be his end! No hope, no light, a lifetime of military campaigns, yet about to achieve nothing! The merciless reality, the merciless Wuzhangyuan, lay before him—how could he not be heartbroken? How could he not shed tears? Yet he was forced to listen to a subordinate, a mere slave, enumerate and advise him like this. He had been stubborn and self-willed his entire life—who dared to say such things to him? "How could he not know?" But knowing and being unable to act led to this day! How could he not be heartbroken? How could he not shed tears? "A true man does not shed tears lightly." Had Zhuge Liang, who often compared himself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi, ever wept like Guan or Yue? Had he ever seen Sima Yi weep? Yet Zhuge Liang wept while presenting the Memorial of the Master Leaving for the Campaign, wept when executing Ma Su in remembrance of the late Emperor, wept when receiving the "trust of the childless," wept when feigning a eulogy for Zhou Yu but truly wept, wept when Zhao Yun died, wept when Zhang Bao died, wept in the grand tent before his subordinates—was Zhuge Liang truly a woman?
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