Zhou Fang

The chapter's centrepiece and the most theatrical deception in the novel. Governor of Poyang, he offers his submission to Cao Xiu with a memorandum under seven headings on how to break the South Land. When Cao Xiu repeats the rumour of his craftiness, Zhou Fang weeps, seizes a sword from an escort and twice tries to kill himself — and when stopped, cuts off his hair instead and throws it on the ground: 'I have dealt with you with sincerity, Sir, and you joke about it. Now I have cut off the hair, which I inherited from my parents, in order to prove my sincerity.' Rejoices privately when Jia Kui is broken — 'Heaven is good to me' — names Shiding as the place to camp, then rides off with a few dozen men. Sun Quan notices the missing hair at the victory feast and makes him Lord of the Gate Within.