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Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River

From Chapter 46 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats is the story of gathering 100,000 arrows without making a single one. The stage is just before the Battle of Red Cliffs, amid the confrontation across the Yangtze. What was needed was arrows. But what Kongming prepared was not arrows, but boats.

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Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats is the story of gathering 100,000 arrows without making a single one. The stage is just before the Battle of Red Cliffs, amid the confrontation across the Yangtze.
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
What was needed was arrows. But what Kongming prepared was not arrows, but boats. On a foggy night, to bring boats close to the enemy camp — we follow the course of this dangerous gamble. On the first day, Kongming did nothing. On the second day, too, there was no movement. Zhou Yu's side could only wait: let us see his answer in three days.Then, at the fourth watch of the third day, Kongming secretly called Lu Su to the boats: let us go together to fetch the arrows. Astonished, Lu Su asked where they would fetch them from. Kongming did not answer. You will know when we go, he said, and put the boats out. The twenty boats, joined in a line by long ropes, advanced toward the northern bank.That night there was a heavy fog. On the Yangtze the fog was thicker still; face to face, one could not see the other.

The Order for 100,000 Arrows

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
At a council of war one day, Zhou Yu put this to Kongming: in fighting on the water, which weapon matters most? Kongming's answer was the bow and arrows.KongmingOn the great river, arrows take the lead.Zhou Yu said:Zhou YuThe army is now short of arrows.He wanted to ask Kongming to supervise the making of 100,000 arrows. This, too, was public duty, he said.
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Kongming accepted.KongmingIf it is the Commander-in-Chief's charge, I will do my utmost.Asked the deadline, Zhou Yu answered ten days.Zhou YuCan you finish them in ten days?Kongming shook his head: Cao Cao's army was near, and ten days would be too late for the great undertaking. What he proposed himself was three days. In three days he would deliver 100,000 arrows, he said.

The Military Pledge and the Work behind the Scenes

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Zhou Yu pressed him for confirmation: in the army, there are no idle words. Kongming presented a military pledge: if he did not deliver in three days, he would accept a heavy punishment. Documents were exchanged, wine was shared, and the matter was settled for the time being. But inside Zhou Yu, a different calculation was at work: Kongming had leapt into a place of death of his own accord.The craftsmen were to be deliberately slowed, and the materials were not to be assembled.
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Meanwhile, Zhou Yu had Lu Su sound out how things stood with Kongming: could he really make them? When Lu Su visited, Kongming's first words were a complaint: because you said needless things in front of Gongjin, I have taken on another impossible task. There was no way 100,000 arrows could be made in three days. Zijing, help me, he said.

Kongming's Request

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
What Kongming asked for was not arrow-making materials. He asked for twenty boats to be prepared, with thirty soldiers on each boat. Blue cloth curtains were to be hung on the boats, and more than a thousand bundles of straw lined up on both sides. He could not say what they would be used for. On the third day, there would certainly be 100,000 arrows. But Zhou Yu must not learn of this.If he learned of it, the plan would collapse.
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Lu Su promised, and secretly prepared the boats exactly as instructed: blue cloth curtains, bundles of straw, thirty soldiers each. None of them were tools for making arrows. To Zhou Yu, Kongming conveyed only that he needed no arrow bamboo, no feathers, and no glue. Meanwhile Zhou Yu, hearing Lu Su's report, doubted all the more.Without materials, how could 100,000 arrows be made in three days?

Into the Foggy River

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Around the fifth watch, the boats had come near Cao Cao's naval camp. Kongming had the boats lined up with heads to the west and tails to the east, and had drums beaten and war cries raised. Lu Su turned pale: what if Cao's soldiers all came out at once? Kongming laughed and poured wine.In this heavy fog, Cao Cao would never come out, he said. We need only enjoy our wine. When the fog clears, we return.

Cao Cao's Judgment

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
In Cao's camp, hearing the drums and war cries, there was an uproar. Mao Jie and Yu Jin ran in haste to report to Cao Cao. Cao Cao's order was cautious: in the fog, the river cannot be seen; a sudden enemy attack is always accompanied by an ambush. Do not move lightly. Have the navy's archers and crossbowmen loose at random, he said.
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Cao Cao further summoned, from the land camp, 3,000 archers and crossbowmen each under Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. The archers and crossbowmen gathered at the riverbank came to more than 10,000 in total. The arrows loosed from 10,000 bows poured down on the river like rain.

A Rain of Arrows

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
The arrows stuck, one after another, into the bundles of straw lined up on both sides of the boats. The boats' soldiers stayed inside the blue cloth curtains, beating drums and raising their voices all the while. When one side was full of arrows, Kongming had the boats turned around.
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Now with heads to the east and tails to the west, they approached the naval camp and received arrows on the other side. When the sun rose high and the fog began to clear, Kongming had the boats hurried back. The boats' soldiers called out in unison: Chancellor, thank you for the arrows! The boats were light, and the current swift. By the time they had gone more than twenty li, no one could catch them.Cao Cao regretted it afterwards, but it was already too late.

The Reveal

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
On the boat back, Kongming told Lu Su the count: each boat had five or six thousand arrows stuck in it.KongmingTogether, they exceed 100,000.Not half of Jiangdong's strength had been used. Tomorrow it would be their turn to shoot Cao's army with these arrows, he said. The place and time also differ: not Red Cliffs but Ruxu, in the 18th year of Jian'an, 213. The Romance, one may think, refashioned an anecdote of this kind into Kongming's stratagem.
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Looked at in numbers: twenty boats, five or six thousand arrows on each boat. The promise of 100,000 arrows was fulfilled with the enemy's arrows.
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Lu Su asked again:Lu SuHow did you know there would be this heavy fog today?Kongming's answer was the mindset of one who would be a general.KongmingOne who knows neither the patterns of heaven, nor the advantages of the land, nor yin and yang, nor the forms of formations, is a mediocre general.I had read today's heavy fog three days ago. That is why I accepted the three-day deadline, he said. Kongming had also seen through Zhou Yu's aim: both the ten-day deadline and the unassembled materials had been a contrivance to bring a charge against him. Still, life lies with Heaven. Gongjin cannot harm me, he said.

Delivery

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
When the boats reached the bank, the 500 soldiers Zhou Yu had dispatched carried the arrows out. The arrows taken from the boats came to more than 100,000. All were delivered to the tent of the central army. Lu Su returned and told Zhou Yu, leaving nothing out, the whole course of how the arrows were fetched. Greatly astonished, Zhou Yu said with a sigh:
Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
“In divine calculation, I cannot match Kongming.” The 100,000 arrows that were to have been made in order to bury him had been assembled from the enemy's arrows. Kongming did not make arrows. Instead of making them, he made the other side shoot, and borrowed them. The fog cleared. What remained was 100,000 arrows, and Zhou Yu's sigh.

The Difference from the Historical Record

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
Here, let us make the difference from the historical record clear. Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats has no record in the main text of Records of the Three Kingdoms, the historical record. The story of Kongming putting out boats on a foggy night and gathering arrows is a scene the Romance created. A similar story does, however, remain: the account in the Wei Lue quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary.At the battle of Ruxu, the great boat carrying Sun Quan received Cao's army's arrows all over one side. The boat began to tilt under the weight of the arrows, and Sun Quan turned the boat around and had it receive arrows on the other side as well. The arrows balanced out, the boat levelled, and it withdrew just as it was — so the account is told. The Wu Li, however, relates that Cao Cao did not loose arrows, so the accounts are divided as well.

Conclusion

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy River
What is remarkable about Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats is not only the number of arrows gathered. He read, three days in advance, the day the fog would come, and factored in even the enemy's caution. Cao Cao, fearing an ambush, loosed his arrows — and those arrows became, just as they were, the enemy's weapons.

Read the Text

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats is the story of gathering 100,000 arrows without making a single one. The stage is just before the Battle of Red Cliffs, amid the confrontation across the Yangtze. What was needed was arrows. But what Kongming prepared was not arrows, but boats. On a foggy night, to bring boats close to the enemy camp — we follow the course of this dangerous gamble.

The Order for 100,000 Arrows

At a council of war one day, Zhou Yu put this to Kongming: in fighting on the water, which weapon matters most? Kongming's answer was the bow and arrows.

KongmingOn the great river, arrows take the lead.

Zhou Yu said:

Zhou YuThe army is now short of arrows.

He wanted to ask Kongming to supervise the making of 100,000 arrows. This, too, was public duty, he said. Kongming accepted.

KongmingIf it is the Commander-in-Chief's charge, I will do my utmost.

Asked the deadline, Zhou Yu answered ten days.

Zhou YuCan you finish them in ten days?

Kongming shook his head: Cao Cao's army was near, and ten days would be too late for the great undertaking. What he proposed himself was three days. In three days he would deliver 100,000 arrows, he said.

The Military Pledge and the Work behind the Scenes

Zhou Yu pressed him for confirmation: in the army, there are no idle words. Kongming presented a military pledge: if he did not deliver in three days, he would accept a heavy punishment. Documents were exchanged, wine was shared, and the matter was settled for the time being. But inside Zhou Yu, a different calculation was at work: Kongming had leapt into a place of death of his own accord.

The craftsmen were to be deliberately slowed, and the materials were not to be assembled. Meanwhile, Zhou Yu had Lu Su sound out how things stood with Kongming: could he really make them? When Lu Su visited, Kongming's first words were a complaint: because you said needless things in front of Gongjin, I have taken on another impossible task. There was no way 100,000 arrows could be made in three days.

Zijing, help me, he said.

Kongming's Request

What Kongming asked for was not arrow-making materials. He asked for twenty boats to be prepared, with thirty soldiers on each boat. Blue cloth curtains were to be hung on the boats, and more than a thousand bundles of straw lined up on both sides. He could not say what they would be used for. On the third day, there would certainly be 100,000 arrows. But Zhou Yu must not learn of this.

If he learned of it, the plan would collapse. Lu Su promised, and secretly prepared the boats exactly as instructed: blue cloth curtains, bundles of straw, thirty soldiers each. None of them were tools for making arrows. To Zhou Yu, Kongming conveyed only that he needed no arrow bamboo, no feathers, and no glue.

Two Days of Stillness

Meanwhile Zhou Yu, hearing Lu Su's report, doubted all the more: without materials, how could 100,000 arrows be made in three days? On the first day, Kongming did nothing. On the second day, too, there was no movement. Zhou Yu's side could only wait: let us see his answer in three days.

Then, at the fourth watch of the third day, Kongming secretly called Lu Su to the boats: let us go together to fetch the arrows. Astonished, Lu Su asked where they would fetch them from. Kongming did not answer. You will know when we go, he said, and put the boats out.

Into the Foggy River

The twenty boats, joined in a line by long ropes, advanced toward the northern bank. That night there was a heavy fog. On the Yangtze the fog was thicker still; face to face, one could not see the other. Around the fifth watch, the boats had come near Cao Cao's naval camp. Kongming had the boats lined up with heads to the west and tails to the east, and had drums beaten and war cries raised.

Lu Su turned pale: what if Cao's soldiers all came out at once? Kongming laughed and poured wine. In this heavy fog, Cao Cao would never come out, he said. We need only enjoy our wine. When the fog clears, we return.

Cao Cao's Judgment

In Cao's camp, hearing the drums and war cries, there was an uproar. Mao Jie and Yu Jin ran in haste to report to Cao Cao. Cao Cao's order was cautious: in the fog, the river cannot be seen; a sudden enemy attack is always accompanied by an ambush. Do not move lightly. Have the navy's archers and crossbowmen loose at random, he said.

Cao Cao further summoned, from the land camp, 3,000 archers and crossbowmen each under Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. The archers and crossbowmen gathered at the riverbank came to more than 10,000 in total. The arrows loosed from 10,000 bows poured down on the river like rain.

A Rain of Arrows

The arrows stuck, one after another, into the bundles of straw lined up on both sides of the boats. The boats' soldiers stayed inside the blue cloth curtains, beating drums and raising their voices all the while. When one side was full of arrows, Kongming had the boats turned around. Now with heads to the east and tails to the west, they approached the naval camp and received arrows on the other side.

When the sun rose high and the fog began to clear, Kongming had the boats hurried back. The boats' soldiers called out in unison: Chancellor, thank you for the arrows! The boats were light, and the current swift. By the time they had gone more than twenty li, no one could catch them. Cao Cao regretted it afterwards, but it was already too late.

The Reveal

On the boat back, Kongming told Lu Su the count: each boat had five or six thousand arrows stuck in it.

KongmingTogether, they exceed 100,000.

Not half of Jiangdong's strength had been used. Tomorrow it would be their turn to shoot Cao's army with these arrows, he said. Looked at in numbers: twenty boats, five or six thousand arrows on each boat. The promise of 100,000 arrows was fulfilled with the enemy's arrows. Lu Su asked again:

Lu SuHow did you know there would be this heavy fog today?

Kongming's answer was the mindset of one who would be a general.

KongmingOne who knows neither the patterns of heaven, nor the advantages of the land, nor yin and yang, nor the forms of formations, is a mediocre general.

I had read today's heavy fog three days ago. That is why I accepted the three-day deadline, he said. Kongming had also seen through Zhou Yu's aim: both the ten-day deadline and the unassembled materials had been a contrivance to bring a charge against him. Still, life lies with Heaven. Gongjin cannot harm me, he said.

Delivery

When the boats reached the bank, the 500 soldiers Zhou Yu had dispatched carried the arrows out. The arrows taken from the boats came to more than 100,000. All were delivered to the tent of the central army. Lu Su returned and told Zhou Yu, leaving nothing out, the whole course of how the arrows were fetched. Greatly astonished, Zhou Yu said with a sigh:

Zhou YuIn divine calculation, I cannot match Kongming.

The 100,000 arrows that were to have been made in order to bury him had been assembled from the enemy's arrows.

The Difference from the Historical Record

Here, let us make the difference from the historical record clear. Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats has no record in the main text of Records of the Three Kingdoms, the historical record. The story of Kongming putting out boats on a foggy night and gathering arrows is a scene the Romance created. A similar story does, however, remain: the account in the Wei Lue quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary.

At the battle of Ruxu, the great boat carrying Sun Quan received Cao's army's arrows all over one side. The boat began to tilt under the weight of the arrows, and Sun Quan turned the boat around and had it receive arrows on the other side as well. The arrows balanced out, the boat levelled, and it withdrew just as it was — so the account is told. The Wu Li, however, relates that Cao Cao did not loose arrows, so the accounts are divided as well.

The place and time also differ: not Red Cliffs but Ruxu, in the 18th year of Jian'an, 213. The Romance, one may think, refashioned an anecdote of this kind into Kongming's stratagem.

Conclusion

What is remarkable about Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats is not only the number of arrows gathered. He read, three days in advance, the day the fog would come, and factored in even the enemy's caution. Cao Cao, fearing an ambush, loosed his arrows — and those arrows became, just as they were, the enemy's weapons. Kongming did not make arrows. Instead of making them, he made the other side shoot, and borrowed them.

The fog cleared. What remained was 100,000 arrows, and Zhou Yu's sigh.

Sources and Basis

The Source Story

Based on the text of Chapter 46 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, “With a Marvelous Plan Kongming Borrows Arrows; With a Secret Plan Huang Gai Accepts Punishment” (the text collected on Wikisource), with wording also checked against the National Central Library copy held in the National Cultural Memory Bank. The numbers — twenty boats, thirty soldiers on each boat, more than a thousand bundles of straw — are as they stand in the text.

Distinguishing the Romance from the Records

Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats is an invention of the Romance. In the historical record, a similar event is told as a story concerning Sun Quan's boat, and is not treated as Zhuge Liang's stratagem. This article introduces it as a story of the Romance.