Kong Ming’s prayer for the eastern wind is the Red Cliffs episode in which a military plan depends on a change in the weather—and Kong Ming’s apparent ability to bring it about. Zhou Yu’s intended fire attack on Cao Cao’s navy requires a southeasterly wind; Kong Ming recognizes the problem, promises to summon one through ritual, and escapes Zhou Yu’s hostility once the wind arrives. The episode makes the weather both a practical condition of battle and the occasion for a contest over knowledge, power, and trust.

The tactical problem

Zhou Yu’s collapse alarms the southern forces, who face a million-strong army advancing under Cao Cao. Lu Su hurries to tell Kong Ming of the crisis. Kong Ming says he can cure Zhou Yu, then visits him and draws out the real source of his distress: Zhou Yu’s plan is to defeat Cao Cao with fire, but he fears that the wind will not blow from the east. Kong Ming’s diagnosis of Zhou Yu’s anxiety is also a disclosure that he understands the military plan and its missing condition.

Kong Ming proposes building a special altar on Nanping Mountain and says he can produce a southeasterly wind lasting three days and nights. Zhou Yu agrees and, once his sickness has lifted, orders that Kong Ming be given what he needs. His cooperation is urgent and conditional: the ritual is commissioned because the fire strategy needs the wind, not because the rivalry between the two commanders has been resolved.

The Altar of the Seven Stars

Kong Ming travels with five hundred workers and one hundred and twenty banner carriers. With Lu Su, he oversees construction on Nanping Mountain, selecting a site for its feng shui and having red earth brought there. The altar is two hundred and forty feet in circumference and nine feet high, divided into three levels of three feet each. Its scale and carefully arranged symbols turn a military request into a conspicuous ritual undertaking.

The lowest level bears the symbols of the twenty-eight constellations: the green dragon to the east, the black turtle to the north, the white tiger to the west, and the red bird to the south. The second level carries the symbols of the sixty-four hexagrams. Four men in Daoist costume occupy the top level: one holds a feather-topped pole, another a pole marked with the seven stars, and the remaining two carry a sword and an incense burner. These prescribed objects and positions give the ceremony a visible structure, while the poles also serve to indicate the wind’s direction.

When the preparations are complete, Kong Ming fasts and bathes, then climbs the altar barefoot, his hair falling over his shoulders. He tells Lu Su that he will do his best and asks him not to blame him if the attempt fails. He lights incense, sprinkles water, and prays silently, then rests. He repeats the process three times, but at first nothing happens. The narrative thus makes the promised result uncertain even after the elaborate preparations: the ritual is performed, yet the required sign has not appeared.

The wind and the turn in the alliance

At the camp, Zhou Yu, Lu Su, and the others wait. Messengers alert Sun Quan to the plan and request reinforcements. The fire ships are already prepared, loaded with kindling soaked in fish oil and covered with sulphur, saltpetre, and other materials intended to catch fire. Sun Quan’s fleet waits offshore, but the wind still does not rise. The delay sharpens the dependence of the operation on a natural condition that the assembled forces cannot simply command by ordinary means.

During the third watch, the wind begins to blow; within minutes, a full southeasterly is underway. Instead of treating Kong Ming’s success as a reason to preserve their cooperation, Zhou Yu interprets it as evidence that Kong Ming’s powers make him dangerous. He summons Ding Feng and Xu Sheng and orders them to go to Nanping Mountain by land and river, respectively, and bring back Kong Ming’s head. The wind that enables the attack therefore also precipitates a new threat: Kong Ming has supplied what Zhou Yu needed, but his apparent command of the conditions of victory intensifies Zhou Yu’s fear and rivalry.

Escape from Nanping Mountain

Ding Feng and his cavalry reach the mountain first but find no sign of Kong Ming. After learning that Kong Ming has gone, Ding Feng descends and meets Xu Sheng, who has arrived by boat. They hear that Kong Ming has already set sail in a small vessel sent under Zhao Zilong’s command. The pursuit begins over both land and water, but Kong Ming’s departure has turned the route of escape into another test of timing and judgment.

Xu Sheng orders every sail raised and calls for Kong Ming to return to see the commander. Kong Ming answers that he is returning to Xiakou and that he and Zhou Yu will meet again. He says he knew Zhou Yu would not want him to live, which is why Zhao Zilong came to collect him. Xu Sheng continues after the boat, confident that his faster vessel will overtake it. Zhao Zilong stands, nocks an arrow, identifies himself, and explains that he has orders to bring the adviser home. He also notes that killing Xu Sheng would damage the relationship between the two leaders, then demonstrates his skill by cutting the rope that holds up the main sail. As the disabled vessel swings round, Kong Ming and Zhao Zilong’s boat disappears from sight.

Aftermath and narrative significance

Xu Sheng returns to Zhou Yu without Kong Ming. Lu Su calms the situation by urging Zhou Yu to wait until after Cao Cao has been defeated before dealing with Kong Ming. The episode ends with the immediate threat postponed, not settled: the attack on Cao Cao is now ready to proceed, while the rivalry within the southern alliance remains active.

The episode’s sequence binds ritual and military calculation together. The altar is not detached from the battle: its construction is organized around the direction and duration of the wind, while the fire ships and waiting fleet establish the practical stakes. Yet the story does not present the ritual as a simple instrument of cooperation. Kong Ming’s success makes him more valuable to the alliance and, in Zhou Yu’s eyes, more dangerous; Zhao Zilong’s intervention then turns the struggle over the wind into a narrow escape by boat. The episode’s central reversal is that the condition that enables the planned attack also exposes the fragility of the partnership required to carry it out.