The proverb “if the heavens begot Zhou Yu, why would it also beget Zhuge Liang?” 既生瑜, 何生亮 comes from the historical novel Three Kingdoms 三國演義, where the military general Zhou Yu 周瑜 (175-210) from the Wu Kingdom is described as young and ambitious, but he is always being upstaged by the strategist Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 (181-234) who was even more talented. After strategically losing to Zhuge Liang several times, Zhou Yu eventually dies of anger and jealousy. “if the heavens begot Zhou Yu, why would it also beget Zhuge Liang?” is written as his last words on the deathbed. Here, it refers to Liu Kuibi’s feeling of hatred as he (Zhou Yu) loses to Huangfu Shaohua (Zhuge Liang).
Language and Culture Center (LCC) at Duke Kunshan University
