Commentary
In the fourteenth-century Chinese novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” strategist Zhuge Liang leads an army south to suppress a Nanman rebellion. Rebel king Meng Huo is captured seven times. Each time he is captured, Zhuge Liang releases him, hoping mercy and demonstrated superiority will secure genuine loyalty. But each time, Meng Huo returns to fight, forging new alliances and bringing tougher forces—including the rattan-armored soldiers of King Wutugu, whose oil-soaked armor resists ordinary weapons.
Finally, only decisive force remains. Zhuge Liang lures the enemy into the narrow Coiled Serpent Valley. Pre-planted mines and oil ignite; the valley becomes an inferno. Tens of thousands burn alive. Watching from a hilltop as smoke and the stench of burning flesh fill the air, Zhuge Liang weeps and sighs:…