xu shu, a friend of liu bei, advised him to seek the services of zhuge liang
(courtesy name kong ming), who was a great politician as well as a military
strategy and tactics genius. he told liu bei that zhuge liang lived at longzhong, a small town about twenty miles away from xiang yang city.
one day in mid-winter, liu bei, from xin ye his home base,
with his two sworn brothers, and bringing along some gifts and presents,
went to longzhong to visit zhuge liang. liu bei wanted zhuge liang to help
him to establish a administration.
on the way to zhuge liang's cottage they passed through many lotus fields.
they heard the farmers saying a folk song,
"The sky is like a round lid.
The earth is like a chess board.
People are divided into good and bad.
Time-immemoral they fought for glory and fame.
The victors will live in peace and contented
The losers will have miserable and hard lives
In Nan Yang there resides a hermit
Who lives happily with a reclusive life "
after hearing the song liu bei got down from the horse and asked a farmer
who composed the song. he replied,
"mr er long (zhuge liang) composed it."
"where does mr er long live?" asked Liu Bei.
"from the south of this hill to the high ridge is
called er long geng. In front of the ridge there is a cottage.
that is the reclusive place of of mr er long kong ming."
following the direction liu bei obtained from the farmer, the three
brothers proceeded on their way to seek for zhuge liang. after walking for
a few miles they arrived at the cottage where zhuge liang lived.
liu bei knocked at the door. a young male housekeeper opened the door.
liu bei introduced himself and asked if mr zhuge liang was home. the
house-keeper was a bit annoyed. he replied that mr zhuge liang had gone out
early that morning and that he didnt know when he would be back. liu bei then left the cottage.
a few days later, a messenger came with a report saying that zhuge liang was back. liu bei, zhang fei and guan yu went to longzhong amid bitter wind and heavy snow. zhang fei complained ceaselessly about the cold snow and wind, but liu bei was determined to continue. zhang fei then refused to leave without liu bei.
the trio arrived at the cottage and found a young man reading in the hall. unfortunately, the man was zhuge jun, zhuge liang's brother. thus, liu bei once again departed in disappointment.
a few days later, liu bei, guan yu and zhang fei paid a third visit to zhuge liang. when they reached there, the housekeeper told liu bei that zhuge liang was at home but asleep. liu bei waited at the bottom of the stairs, but zhang fei was getting impatient.he wanted to burn the back of the house and see if that would wake zhuge liang up. liu bei told zhang fei to not be rude. after a long time, zhuge liang finally woke up. at first, he didnt want to work for liu bei, but in the end liu bei managed to persuade him. zhuge liang then departed his cottage in longzhong with liu bei, guan yu and zhang fei.
