| NAME | |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name | 尚广, 尚廣, Shàng Guǎng |
| Nickname | Wu fangshi of the blue-canopy omen |
| Other name | Chuộng Quảng |
| INFORMATION | |
| Birth Place | Unknown |
| Death Reason | Unrecorded. Last seen delivering the Gengzi omen to Sun Hao. |
| CAREER | |
| Allegiance | Eastern Wu (Sun Hao’s court) |
| Battles | Not a combatant. Court milfoil divination, ROTK Ch.120 / fall of Wu 280. |
Biography & Historical Record
Shang Guang (尚广, Chuộng Quảng) was a Wu diviner (术士 / 筮者) summoned by the last Wu emperor Sun Hao (孙皓, Tôn Hạo) to ask whether Wu could take the whole realm. He has no courtesy name, home commandery, or year of birth. Pei Songzhi’s note on the Sanguozhi Wu Shu “Three Later Sovereigns” quotes Gan Bao’s Jin Ji: after Lu Kang crushed Bu Chan, Sun Hao’s ambition swelled; he had Shang Guang milfoil-divine the conquest of the world. The hexagram moved from Tongren (同人) to Yi (颐). Shang Guang answered that it was auspicious: “In a Gengzi year the blue canopy shall enter Luoyang.” Hao therefore neglected government and kept watching the north. The Gengzi year that came was Taikang 1 (280), when Hao entered Luoyang as a captive, not as a conqueror.
Chapter 120 follows that omen almost word for word and nests it in Hao’s other follies. After a remonstrating memorial displeases him, he raises the Zhaoming Palace and drives officials into the hills for timber. He then calls Shang Guang to divine “the matter of taking the realm.” Shang Guang reports a lucky cast: in a Gengzi year the blue canopy will enter Luoyang. Hao, delighted, asks Hua He (华核, Hoa Hạch) where to strike first to avenge Shu. Hua He warns that Chengdu has already fallen and that Sima Yan (司马炎, Tư Mã Viêm) will swallow Wu; to move troops now is “draping hemp on a fire.” Hao nearly has him beheaded, then expels him. Lu Kang (陆抗, Lục Kháng) is sent toward Jiangkou and Xiangyang. The rest of the chapter is Jin’s conquest and Hao’s surrender — the true meaning of the blue canopy.
Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 120 (Old General Du Yu Offers a New Plan; Sun Hao Surrenders and the Three Parts Become One): Shang Guang (尚广, Chuộng Quảng) is summoned as a fangshi to cast milfoil on conquering the world. He tells Sun Hao the cast is lucky and that in a Gengzi year the blue canopy will enter Luoyang. Hao takes this as a mandate to attack Jin, ignores Hua He’s warning, and keeps Ding Feng (丁奉, Đinh Phụng)’s river camps in mind as a ready machine. When Jin finally comes, Hao is sent to Luoyang and seated before Sima Yan — the omen fulfilled as captivity. Shang Guang is not shown recanting or dying; his one speech is the trap.
Shang Guang (尚广, Chuộng Quảng) — Historical & Literary Timeline
Sun Hao orders a world-conquest cast
Gan Bao’s Jin Ji: Shang Guang draws Tongren changing to Yi and says Gengzi / blue canopy / Luoyang.
Same omen in the novel
Hao, busy with the Zhaoming Palace, hears the lucky Gengzi line, scolds Hua He, and dreams of striking north.
Blue canopy enters Luoyang
Wu falls. Sun Hao is taken to Luoyang as Marquis Guiming — the canopy arrives, the conqueror does not.
Key Relationships
Family
- No father, mother, spouse, or children are recorded. Kin unknown — do not invent.
Friends
- No patron other than the emperor who hired him. The relationship with Sun Hao (孙皓, Tôn Hạo) is that of a court fangshi whose pleasing gloss is believed.
Enemies
- Not a battlefield foe. Commentators treat the “lucky” reading as a lethal flattery — or as a true doom spoken in words Hao could not hear.
Other
- Hua He (华核, Hoa Hạch): The official who, in the same audience, tells Hao that attacking Jin is self-immolation and is driven from court.
- Lu Kang (陆抗, Lục Kháng) and Ding Feng (丁奉, Đinh Phụng): The last Wu captains whose river defence Hao neglects while trusting the canopy omen.
- Sima Yan (司马炎, Tư Mã Viêm): The Jin emperor who receives Hao in Luoyang and thereby completes Shang Guang’s line.
In Novel
Chapter 120
- Shang Guang (尚广, Chuộng Quảng): Called as a fangshi after Sun Hao (孙皓, Tôn Hạo) has begun the Zhaoming Palace and sent officials into the hills for timber. Hao orders him to divine “taking the realm.” Shang Guang answers that the cast is lucky: in a Gengzi year the blue canopy shall enter Luoyang. Hao, overjoyed, asks Hua He (华核, Hoa Hạch) where to strike first to avenge Shu. Hua He warns that Chengdu is already lost and that moving troops is like draping hemp on a fire; Hao expels him. Lu Kang (陆抗, Lục Kháng) is pointed at Jiangkou. When Jin conquers Wu, Hao is sent to Luoyang — the blue canopy arrives with a prisoner, not a victor. Shang Guang does not appear at the surrender audience.
In History
Summary
- Shang Guang (尚广, Chuộng Quảng) was the Wu milfoil diviner who told Sun Hao that a Gengzi year would see the blue canopy in Luoyang. The line was historically recorded as a “lucky” gloss on a changing hexagram.
Year: after 272 AD
- Following Lu Kang’s defeat of Bu Chan, Hao ordered Shang Guang to divine unifying the world. Cast: Tongren changing to Yi. Reply: auspicious; Gengzi, blue canopy, Luoyang. Hao stopped reforming government and kept northern ambitions.
Year: 280 AD (Gengzi, Taikang 1)
- Jin extinguished Wu. Hao entered Luoyang as a captive and was made Marquis Guiming — the omen’s second reading.
Historical Record
- Sanguozhi Wu Shu 48 (三嗣主传), Pei note citing Gan Bao Jin Ji. The novel Ch.120 repeats the Gengzi / blue-canopy sentence and places it beside the Zhaoming Palace and Hua He’s expulsion.
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