Is “Sima Hui recommended Wolong and Young Phoenix to Liu Bei” true?

novel invention

In Chapter 37 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is written that 'Master Water Mirror' Sima Hui strongly recommended 'Wolong and Young Phoenix' to Liu Bei, saying, 'If you obtain one of the two, you can pacify the world.' However, in the main text of the Biography of Zhuge Liang in the Shu section of Records of the Three Kingdoms, it is Xu Shu who recommended Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei ('Xu Shu met the Former Lord, and the Former Lord valued him. Xu Shu said to the Former Lord, 'Zhuge Kongming is the Sleeping Dragon. Would the General like to see him?''), and Sima Hui is not mentioned. In the main text of the Biography of Pang Tong and Fa Zheng in the Shu section of Records of the Three Kingdoms, it is only mentioned that 'Sima Hui of Yingchuan was refined and had the ability to judge people. When Pang Tong was twenty, he went to see Hui... Hui greatly admired him and said that Pang Tong would be the crown of scholars in the southern region.' Sima Hui only appreciated Pang Tong's talent, and there is no record in official history (main text) that he recommended Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei.

Sima Hui

In the novel, Sima Hui recommended Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong to Liu Bei, but in official history, Sima Hui only appreciated Pang Tong and did not recommend the two to Liu Bei.

Sources cited above. Compiled with AI assistance and checked against those sources; for cultural reference.Data & method →

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