Zhuge Liang's Stone Sentinel Maze

Hey everyone, welcome back to the channel and the Zhuge Liang playlist. In this playlist, I cover all aspects of Zhuge Liang and his life, such as his inventions, his quotes, his southern campaign, his long zhong plan, his empty fort strategy, just to name a few. You may find some other channels who cover those topics as well, but I differ with the magical and occult subjects, which very few seem to bring up. I have covered Zhuge Liang borrowing the southeastern winds, and I've covered his seven star ritual. Now it is time to discuss Kongming's famous stone sentinel maze. In this video, I'm going to discuss the maze as mentioned in chapter 84 of the historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Like always, I'm going to be using the novel as my primary source of information. So let's dive in and uncover this mysterious maze. After Liu Bei was defeated at the Battle of Xiaoting, Wu General Liu Xun pursued him, chasing after him towards Baidi Cheng. When Liu Xun arrived at Yufu shore, he suddenly experienced strange and bizarre apparitions. He halts his army and attempts to work out what is happening. We may not advance farther, I suspect an ambush. He sends men to investigate the area. Scouts report that nothing is there, not a soldier or a horse in sight, only 80 to 90 rocks and boulders. The area appears deserted. Arising from the rocks comes a strange ghostly mist. Liu Xun asks the locals, who put them there and why did they look so ghastly? We do not know. This place is called Fish Belly Creek. When Zhuge Liang was going west into the riverlands, he came along here with a lot of soldiers and heaped up the boulders like that on the sandy beach. We have seen vapours rising from the boulders. They seem to come from inside them. The men reported seeing qi, energy, radiating from the stones. Was a ghostly essence haunting the whole area? Very odd indeed. Liu Xun decided to take a closer look at the weird rocks. He noticed they were designed like eight points of the compass, in other words, the Bagua. The men went deeper into the rocks when all of a sudden a terrible wind begins to blow and sand blocked the light of the sky. Dust clouds whirled up and the stones themselves pointed like swords. The rock piles themselves were moving in terrifying patterns. Clearly something otherworldly is going on. We have been fooled by Kongming, cries Liu Xun. Anxious for the safety of his men, he begins to panic. Liu Xun, in a fearful voice, says, I have been caught. It was said the river itself sounded like an attacking army. Just as all hope appears to have been lost, Liu Xun noticed an old man had suddenly appeared. The old man said, does the general wish to go out? I greatly desire that you would pilot me out, oh elder, replied Liu Xun. The old man, carrying a mysterious looking staff, helped navigate the men out of the maze. He had no difficulty in finding his way out. Liu Xun asked the old man, who are you? I am Zhuge Liang's father-in-law. My name is Huang Chen Yong. My son-in-law placed these boulders here as you see them, and he said they represented the Eight Array Maze. They are like eight doors, and according to the scheme they are named Gate of Rest, Gate of Life, Gate of Injury, Gate of Obstruction, Gate of Prospect, Gate of Death, Gate of Surprise, and Gate of Openings. They are capable of infinite mutations, and would be equal to a hundred thousand soldiers. As he was leaving, he told me that if any leader of Wu became mazed in them, I was not to conduct him outside. From a precipice nearby, I saw you, general, enter in at the Gate of Death. As I guessed, you were ignorant of the scheme. I knew you would be entangled, but I am of good disposition and could not bear that you should be entrapped without possibility of escape. So I came to guide you to the Gate of Life. Have you studied this matter, sir? asked Liu Xun. The variations are inexhaustible, and I could not learn them all, said the elder. Liu Xun dismounted his horse, bowed before the old man, and then rode away. The famous poet Du Fu tells the story, saying, Planner of three kingdoms, no small praise, Is his inventor of the Eight Arrays. And for that famous boulders on the river's brim, Firm was set the denouncement of Wu's whim. Liu Xun, deep in thought, said, This Zhuge Liang is well-named the Sleeping Dragon. I am not his equal. So shocked by this, he orders his army to retreat, saying, It is not the rocks that scare me, but I think Cao Pi will use this opportunity to attack. And sure enough, he did. And that is the story of the Stone Sentinel Maze. So what is the maze from a Taoist occult perspective? It's an array of rocks and boulders thought to be conjured by Zhuge Liang. It is based on the concept of the Eight Trigrams of the Bagua. It was located on Yufu Shore by the Yangtze River near present day Chongqing. The ruins of the array are still said to exist to this very day. In folklore, mythology and legend, when the Yangtze River rises in summer, the maze is submerged in water. In autumn, the rocks resurface all intact in their original positions. Spooky indeed. So thank you for watching. Hope you've enjoyed this video. I'll be back soon with more. Take care.