In the third year of the Jian'an era of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Bei was defeated by Lü Bu. With no other path, he had to seek refuge with Prime Minister Cao Cao, who held the emperor hostage to command the nobles. Cao Cao introduced Liu Bei to Emperor Xian of Han. The emperor ordered a check of the family lineage and learned that Liu Bei was a descendant of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, and even one generation senior to himself. He thus honored Liu Bei as the Imperial Uncle and appointed him General of the Left.
Emperor Xian of Han, frustrated by Cao Cao's control over the court and unable to make decisions on state affairs, felt deeply discontented. One day, he secretly issued an imperial edict to his father-in-law, General of Chariots and Cavalry Dong Cheng. After consulting with a few trusted confidants, Dong Cheng concluded that Liu Bei, known for his loyalty and also being the emperor's uncle, could be a valuable ally. Dong Cheng invited Liu Bei to his home, showed him the secret edict, and Liu Bei readily agreed to join their plan to eliminate Cao Cao.
Liu Bei knew that although Cao Cao had recommended him to Emperor Xian, he was surely suspicious of him. So he adopted a strategy of hiding his ambitions, spending his days planting vegetables in the back garden and personally carrying water to irrigate them. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei did not understand and asked, "Brother, why are you not paying attention to the affairs of the world, but instead planting vegetables?"
Liu Bei said, "Do you think I'm a mere vegetable farmer? I'm making Cao Cao believe I have no grand ambitions, so he'll let down his guard against me!"
One day, Liu Bei was planting vegetables alone in his backyard when two of Cao Cao's generals, Xu Chu and Zhang Mai, suddenly burst in, saying the Chancellor had summoned him. Liu Bei, unsure why Cao Cao wanted to see him, was secretly alarmed. He braced himself and went to the Chancellor's residence to pay his respects. Cao Cao said expressionlessly, "Imperial Uncle Liu, you've been up to quite something at home, haven't you?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei thought Cao Cao had discovered his secret plot with Dong Cheng and turned pale with fear. Just then, Cao Cao added, "You've grown your vegetables quite well!" Only then did Liu Bei breathe a sigh of relief.
Then, Cao Cao invited Liu Bei into a pavilion in the rear garden and said, "I saw the plums in the back garden ripening and recalled last year's campaign against Zhang Xiu, when we lacked water on the road, and I said there was a plum orchard ahead—the incident where the soldiers quenched their thirst by thinking of plums. I've specially prepared some wine and dishes and invited you here to drink and chat."
So, Cao Cao and Liu Bei drank and chatted. As they talked, the conversation turned to the state of the realm and the heroes of the land. Cao Cao said to Liu Bei, "You've traveled far and wide and met many people. Tell me, who are the true heroes under heaven?"
Liu Bei remarked, "Yuan Shu in Huainan commands vast troops and ample supplies, while Yuan Shao in Hebei dominates Jizhou like a crouching tiger—surely these two can be considered the heroes of the realm." Cao Cao laughed and replied, "Yuan Shu is nothing but a skeleton in a tomb, and Yuan Shao, though fond of strategy, lacks decisive action—neither qualifies as a true hero." Liu Bei then mentioned Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Sun Ce of Jiangdong, and others, but Cao Cao shook his head at each. Pressing further, Liu Bei asked, "Then who does the Prime Minister regard as a hero?" Raising his cup and fixing his gaze on Liu Bei, Cao Cao declared, "The heroes of this age are none other than you and I!"
When Liu Bei heard Cao Cao call him a hero, he was so terrified that his soul seemed to leave his body. He shuddered involuntarily, and even the chopsticks in his hand fell to the ground. Just as he was about to pick them up, a sudden clap of thunder rumbled from the dark, cloud-filled sky, startling him so much that his soup spoon also dropped to the floor.
At this critical moment, Liu Bei cleverly used the thunder to pick up his chopsticks and spoon, saying, "The thunder is so frightening that it shook my chopsticks and spoon right out of my hands."
In this way, he managed to conceal his panic over Cao Cao. Soon after, Liu Bei requested permission to intercept Yuan Shu's forces, using this as a pretext to escape. Meanwhile, Dong Cheng and his co-conspirators, their plot exposed, all met with execution.
In the years that followed, Cao Cao launched several campaigns against Liu Bei, but Liu Bei's strength grew steadily as he recruited Zhuge Liang as his advisor, eventually becoming the wise ruler of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period.
Later, the idiom "dropping chopsticks at thunder" came to describe a state of panic and loss of composure.
Source: *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, "Biography of the Former Lord of Shu"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "闻雷失箸" came to describe a state of panic and loss of composure.