Three Visits and the Longzhong Plan

Zhuge Liang farmed in the Longzhong area and composed or sang the Liangfu Song.

The biography names Cui Zhouping and Xu Shu among the friends who recognized Zhuge Liang’s ability.

Xu Shu told Liu Bei that Zhuge Liang could be called on but not summoned; Liu Bei then went to see him, and it took three trips before Zhuge Liang received him.

Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang repeatedly and sought his counsel on how to build a durable political position.

Liu Bei sought Zhuge Liang’s advice through repeated visits, leading to a political and military partnership.

The strategy later called the Longzhong plan proposed balancing Cao Cao in the north and Sun Quan in the east while building strength in Jing and Yi.

Pei Songzhi’s annotation quotes the Wei Lüe, which says Zhuge Liang went north to Fancheng to see Liu Bei himself, and adds that the Jiuzhou Chunqiu says the same. Pei Songzhi answers that Zhuge Liang’s own Chu Shi Biao says Liu Bei humbled himself and visited him three times in his thatched cottage, so Zhuge Liang did not call first — though he finds it strange that the accounts contradict each other so sharply.