How the Novel Tells It #
Chapter 46 has Kongming promise one hundred thousand arrows in three days. He borrows boats from Lu Su and uses straw bundles and night fog to draw arrows from Cao Cao's army, fulfilling the military order.
What the Historical Records Preserve #
Pei Songzhi's annotation to the Ruxu passage in Jian'an 18 of the Biography of the Lord of Wu quotes Wei Lüe: Sun Quan's boat took arrows while inspecting the army, so he turned it to balance its weight by receiving arrows on the other side. Wu Li, quoted in the same place, instead records Cao Cao forbidding indiscriminate bow and crossbow fire. The accounts should not be merged.
What Cannot Be Inferred #
This is not historical confirmation of Zhuge Liang borrowing arrows with straw boats, nor proof that the novel directly adapted this event. Wei Lüe quoted in annotations is not Chen Shou's main text, and Ruxu and Chibi are not the same campaign.
How Shiji Sanguo Tells It #
Specific chapters and excerpts will be checked after final-manuscript QA; no content is invented here. Start with the Work Page to understand the book's identity.
Cite This Page
Shiji Sanguo website, “Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats: Zhuge Liang and Sun Quan Are Not Interchangeable,” data version 2026-09-29.13, updated 2026-09-29.
https://shijisanguo.com/history-vs-romance/borrowing-arrows/
When citing a specific claim, also identify its original source, whether it comes from the main text or a quoted annotation, and your access date. The # beside each section heading links to that passage. This site's synthesis is not the original text of an ancient work.