Historically, borrowing an arrow from a straw boat happened in the battle between Sun Quan and Cao Cao. Sun Quan went by boat to spy on Cao Cao's military situation. Cao Cao found him and ordered his soldiers to shoot arrows. Sun Quan's boat was shot askew and almost sank, so he turned the boat around and let the arrow continue shooting. In this way, the ship was balanced and Sun Quan set sail. Sun Quan's cleverness made Cao Cao very sigh, leaving a famous saying that "children are like Sun Zhongmou".

Pei Songzhi notes that in the 18th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 13), Cao Cao and Sun Quan confronted ruxu (now a waterway from Chaohu Lake in Chao County, Anhui Province to the Yangtze River). Cao Jun was defeated in the first battle, so he couldn't hold on. One day, Sun Quan broke into the front by canoe from ruxu to observe the deployment of Cao Jun. Sun Quan's canoe went for five or six miles, and the drums were full of music. Cao Cao was suspicious by nature. Seeing that Sun Jun was so powerful, he was afraid of fraud and didn't dare to go to war. He sighed and said, "My son should be like Sun Zhongmou, and Liu Jingsheng's son should be like a dolphin and a dog!" Subsequently, Cao Cao ordered the crossbow to be shot at Wuchuan. Soon, Sun Quan's canoe was in danger of capsizing because there were too many arrows on one side. Sun Quan ordered the bow to be turned around, so that the other side was hit by an arrow again. After a while, all the arrows were laid flat, and Sun Jun returned safely. Cao Cao realized that he had been cheated.