Hex Mark (Dílú 的盧), or Hex Mark Horse (Dílúmǎ 的盧馬) was a horse in possession of Liu Bei 劉備, who used it to escape followers of Liu Biao 劉表 who plotted against him.
Biography[]
The Wei-Jin shiyu contains a passage about Liu Bei using Hex Mark. Pei Songzhi included this passage in his annotations to Liu Bei's biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms. The passage reads:
- “《世語》曰：備屯樊城，劉表禮焉，憚其為人，不甚信用。曾請備宴會，蒯越、蔡瑁欲因會取備，備覺之，偽如厠，潛遁出。所乘馬名的盧，騎的盧走，墮襄陽城西檀溪水中，溺不得出。備急曰：「的盧：今日厄矣，可努力！」的盧乃一踊三丈，遂得過，乘桴渡河，中流而追者至，以表意謝之，曰：「何去之速乎！」”[1]
- “The Shiyu says: Liu Bei lived in Fancheng and Liu Biao 劉表 treated him very well. But Liu Biao was a person who never trusted people much so he invited Liu Bei to a dinner party. Kuai Yue 蒯越 and Cai Mao 蔡瑁 wanted to use this occasion to capture Liu Bei. Liu Bei found out, excused himself, and left on his horse named Hex Mark (dílú 的盧). To the west of Xiangyang 襄阳, there was a river called the Tan 檀 river, where Liu Bei was trapped. Liu Bei shouted, ‘Hex Mark, danger has come, you have to try your best’. The horse jumped up three zhang and cleared the river. The pursuing troops arrived and shouted, ‘Why did you leave so quickly?’”
The Jin dynasty historian Sun Sheng 孫盛 comments that this story is fiction.
See also[]
Art gallery[]
Notes[]
Fact vs. Fiction[]
Historically...
- ...Hex Mark was not known as a horse that brought disaster to its owner.
- ...Hex Mark did not once belong to the fictional Zhang Wu.
- ...Pang Tong did not ride Hex Mark when he was killed during the campaign to take Yi province.
References[]
- ↑ Pei Songzhi. Annotations to "Book of Shu 02," Records of the Three Kingdoms.
Sources[]
- Chen Shou 陳壽 (233–297). Sanguo zhi 三國志 "Records of the Three Kingdoms", with official commentary compiled by Pei Songzhi 裴松之 (372-451).