The event
Sun Quan and Liu Bei Divide Jing Province
孙刘分荆州（湘水划界）
In 215, with Liu Bei holding Yi province, Sun Quan asked for Jing province; Liu Bei answered that he would hand it over once he had taken Liangzhou. Furious, Sun Quan sent Lü Meng to seize Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang. Liu Bei came to Gong’an and sent Guan Yu to Yiyang, where Lu Su, with ten thousand men, stood against him. Lu Su asked Guan Yu to meet with each side’s troops held a hundred paces back and only the generals attending with single swords, and reproached him: Wu had lent the land when Liu Bei’s army was beaten and had nothing to live on, and now that he held Yi province he would not return it. Lü Meng took two of the commanderies by letter; Lingling held out until its governor Hao Pu yielded, then learned from a letter Lü Meng had kept secret that Liu Bei was already at Gong’an and Guan Yu at Yiyang. When Cao Cao took Hanzhong, Liu Bei made peace, and Jing province was divided along the Xiang River: Jiangxia, Changsha and Guiyang to the east went to Sun Quan, and Nan commandery, Lingling and Wuling to the west went to Liu Bei.
The people
Who took part
Novel vs history
How the novel retells it
Romance of the Three Kingdoms changes parts of this story. These fact-checks show what the records say instead.
Sources
Historical sources
- Historical record三国志 · 吴书九·周瑜鲁肃吕蒙传
When Liu Bei came to see Sun Quan and asked to oversee Jing province, Lu Su was the only one who urged Sun Quan to lend it, so the two could resist Cao Cao together.
- Historical record三国志 · 吴书九·周瑜鲁肃吕蒙传
After the dispute over Jing territories, Sun Quan and Liu Bei’s sides divided the disputed area along the Xiang River.
- Historical record三国志 · 吴书九·周瑜鲁肃吕蒙传
Lu Su met Guan Yu with their officers nearby to argue over the promised return of territory.
- Historical record三国志 · 吴书九·周瑜鲁肃吕蒙传
At Yiyang Lu Su told Guan Yu that Wu had lent the land to Liu Bei’s side because its army was beaten and had nothing to live on; now that Liu Bei held Yi province he had no intention of returning it, and did not even comply when Wu asked only for three commanderies.
- Later annotation三国志 · 裴松之注·吴书九·周瑜鲁肃吕蒙传
Pei Songzhi preserves another version of the conversation; both accounts show Lu Su defending Wu’s position.
- Historical record三国志 · 吴书九·周瑜鲁肃吕蒙传
Sun Quan told Lu Xun that Lu Su’s later advice to lend Liu Bei land was one shortcoming, but not enough to outweigh his two great merits.
- Historical record三国志 · 吴书九·周瑜鲁肃吕蒙传
Sun Quan ordered Lü Meng to take Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang; Lü Meng sent letters to two of them and they yielded, but Hao Pu, the governor of Lingling, held his city and refused.
- Historical record三国志 · 吴书九·周瑜鲁肃吕蒙传
Sun Quan’s letter recalled Lü Meng to help Lu Su at Yiyang, but Lü Meng kept it secret until Hao Pu surrendered, then showed it to him; Hao Pu learned that Liu Bei was already at Gong’an and Guan Yu at Yiyang and was deeply ashamed. Liu Bei then asked for a pact, and Sun Quan sent Hao Pu and the others back, divided the land along the Xiang River, and returned Lingling to Liu Bei.
- Historical record三国志 · 蜀书二·先主传
When Sun Quan sent envoys saying he wanted Jing province now that Liu Bei held Yi province, Liu Bei answered that he would hand it over once he had taken Liangzhou. Sun Quan was furious and sent Lü Meng to seize three commanderies.
- Historical record三国志 · 蜀书二·先主传
When Cao Cao took Hanzhong that year, Liu Bei made peace with Sun Quan and they divided Jing province: Jiangxia, Changsha and Guiyang, to the east, went to Sun Quan, and Nan commandery, Lingling and Wuling, to the west, went to Liu Bei.
- Historical record三国志 · 蜀书六·关张马黄赵传
When Liu Bei took Yi province, Guan Yu was entrusted with overseeing Jing province affairs.