Description "Though we were not born on the same day, we vow to die on the same day. Should we ever betray loyalty or forget kindness, may Heaven look upon our hearts and strike us down together!" This is the famous Oath of the Peach Garden, in which three men swore to become sworn brothers. Liu Bei, a descendant of the Han royal house with a rightful claim, became the eldest; Guan Yu, backed by his martial prowess, became the second; and Zhang Fei, with his wealth, became the third. Isn't it remarkable that men with no blood ties would vow to live and die together on the foundation of trust alone? In an age when the phrase "every man for himself" has become a common refrain, the Oath of the Peach Garden almost sounds romantic. Yet even today, we speak of companies forming a "peach garden oath" when they join forces for a greater purpose. Perhaps, no matter how times change, trusting others and keeping one's own word is still more effective than shouldering everything alone. Whether now or in the past, it seems that going together lets you go further than going alone. Even short of becoming sworn brothers, having relationships built on trust is one of life's greatest assets. — From "The Crumbling Han Dynasty and the Meeting of Three Brothers" The reason the Romance of the Three Kingdoms unfolds as a contest among many heroes stems from this背景. (...) The central government was so weak that it was easy for men like Dong Zhuo to break half-free of imperial control, build their own armies, and grow their power. Whenever a suitable pretext or opportunity arose, they fought one another, seizing land and expanding their territories. With the emperor a mere figurehead, ambition drove them to build strength and seize real power. This spectacle of many figures establishing themselves across the land and vying for dominance is called "gunung halgeo" (群雄割據), meaning "many heroes carving up the realm." After Dong Zhuo's death, heroes from every region—Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, and others—openly nursed ambitions and competed fiercely, and this chaotic period came to be known as "the age of rival warlords." The already weakened Han dynasty splintered further among regional powers. — From "A Realm Without a Master: The Age of Rival Warlords" Zhuge Liang's strategy for unifying the realm was, first, to divide it into three parts. Until then, Liu Bei had thought only of fighting for the Han imperial house. To him, Cao Cao and Sun Quan were enemies to be overthrown—there was only victory or defeat in facing them. But Zhuge Liang advised him to cede the north to Cao Cao and the east to Sun Quan. Rather than fighting them immediately, Liu Bei should first secure Jing and Yi provinces, then ally with Sun Quan to stand against Cao Cao. (...) This was the famous "Strategy of the Three Divisions of the Realm." At the time, Liu Bei had virtually no power base. Zhuge Liang gave him a vision and mapped out a roadmap. Indeed, in time, Cao Cao's Wei rose in the Central Plains, Sun Quan's Wu in the Jiangdong region, and Liu Bei's Shu in Yi Province, ushering in the Three Kingdoms era. Zhuge Liang had already envisioned this outcome. — From "Zhuge Liang, the Sleeping Dragon Who Would Deliver the Realm" The flames rode the southeast wind and spread in an instant. The dark sky turned as bright as midday from the blaze. Cao Cao's soldiers descended into chaos. Since the ships were chained together, fire leapt swiftly from one vessel to the next, and with every ship bound fast, there was nowhere to flee. Amid the chaos, Huang Gai's ships, loaded with oil and firewood, crashed into one another again and again, and the inferno spread from the river to the camps on land. The Yangtze around Red Cliffs blazed like one enormous flame. Thus, Cao Cao's army of 800,000 was consumed by the waters of Red Cliffs. To achieve this single victory, Zhou Yu's forces had devoted immense care to preparing their strategy. The fire attack devised by Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, Huang Gai's feigned surrender, Pang Tong's scheme to chain the ships together, and the wind that shifted direction exactly as Zhuge Liang had predicted—all these stratagems combined to drive the mighty Cao Cao into a desperate corner. Cao Cao fled with what few soldiers remained. But even then, he could not escape the pursuit led by Sun Quan's generals, Lü Meng, Gan Ning, and Ling Tong...