Diaochan and the Chain Stratagem

Also called: Diaochan, Beauty trap

A scene invented by a historical novel. It differs from the recorded history.

A scene from chapters 8–9 of the Romance: Wang Yun promises his adopted daughter Diaochan to both Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo, setting them against each other until the jealous Lü Bu kills Dong Zhuo. Diaochan is the novel’s invention.

A scene invented by the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The minister Wang Yun promises the beautiful singer Diaochan to Lü Bu, then presents her to Dong Zhuo instead. Moving between the two, Diaochan stokes Lü Bu’s jealousy, and after Dong Zhuo nearly spears him at the Phoenix Pavilion, Lü Bu sides with Wang Yun and kills Dong Zhuo — a "chain stratagem" linking the two men through a beauty to set them at each other.

The official history mentions only that Lü Bu had a secret affair with one of Dong Zhuo’s maids; the name Diaochan never appears. She later came to be counted among the Four Beauties of ancient China.