The Self-Torture Ruse (fictitious stories 11)

Huang Gai

In the novel, Huang Gai volunteered to pretend to defect over to Cao Cao in order to allow Zhou Yu’s fire plans to succeed. He had a secret agreement with Zhou Yu the night before, and the next morning, Zhou Yu called for an assembly of the warriors of Wu. Huang Gai pretended to challenge and insult Zhou Yu openly. Zhou Yu was ‘furious’ and ordered Huang Gai to be executed, but with some intervention, Zhou Yu decided to spare Huang Gai’s life but had Huang Gai severely flogged. This was to make Huang Gai’s intention to defect over to Cao Cao seem more convincing. In historical records, Huang Gai did feign defection over to Cao Cao but there was no mention of this Self-Torture Ruse.