Ark of the East Wind

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Chapters 48-49

In these chapters, we get the last moments before what I expect will be one of the story's greatest battles. Cao Cao sings a prideful song. Zhou Yu worries that their plans to burn Cao Cao's army will fail. He is worried they will not get a favorable wind, but we learn that Kongming can control the wind. This leads to a fine episode (later to become the Magic card "Borrowing the East Wind").

To summon the east wind, Kongming must build a great structure. Its construction is described in detail, like how Noah's ark, the ark of the covenant, or Solomon's temple are described in the Bible. "It was a structure of some two hundred and forty spans all around . . . along the eastern face were seven blue-green flags for the eastern mansions - Horn, Neck, Root, Room, Heart, Tail, Basket . . . " (p. 853). This goes on. Then, like Aaron or the other early priests in Exodus, Kongming must wear priestly robes to summon the east wind. It's like a biblical event.

By the end of the chapter, we're out of the Bible and back to the Iliad as some of the minor characters get the first attacks in the battle. Here we go!