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Jiang Gan

Courtesy nameZiyi

The Envoy Who Stole a Letter and Was Outwitted

Masters of the Iconic Scene · Small Roles, Famous Names

EnvoyOutsmarting Oneself

Who they are

A staff adviser of Cao Cao’s and an old townsman of Zhou Yu, sent to Wu to talk Zhou Yu into surrender — only to fall into Zhou Yu’s counter-scheme; "Jiang Gan steals the letter" became a classic case of "cleverness undone by cleverness." The episode is chiefly the artistic embellishment of the Romance; the histories do record Jiang Gan visiting Zhou Yu, but the stolen letter is mostly the novelist’s device.

Primary sourcesLuo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (the "stolen letter" is a novel invention; the histories record only that Jiang Gan visited Zhou Yu)

Key stories

Falling for the Stolen Letter

When Jiang Gan crossed the river to persuade Zhou Yu and failed, Zhou Yu turned it against him: feigning drunken sleep, he deliberately let Jiang Gan "steal a look" at a forged letter showing Cai Mao and Zhang Yun (Cao Cao’s naval commanders) in treasonous contact. Jiang Gan fled back to Cao’s camp overnight to present the "proof," and Cao Cao in fury executed his two commanders skilled in naval war — this scheme of estrangement cleared away Cao’s greatest naval advantage before Red Cliffs.

Relationships

Serves

🦅Cao Cao

Nemesis

🔥Zhou Yu　Sent to persuade, outwitted instead

Echoes today

Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.

"Jiang Gan steals the letter"Now a byword for acting clever only to be used and undone — the Chinese image of the "foolish envoy."

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