Liu Bei [ 劉備 - 一代梟雄 ]
The founder of the Shu Kingdom. He sold fans and shoes for living before joining
the army to stop to Yellow Scarf Rebellion (黃巾之亂). He swore brotherhood with
Guan Yu (關羽) and Zhang Fei (張飛).
His force was very weak at the early time and he had served Gongsun Zan (公孫瓚),
Cao Cao (曹操), Yuan Shao (袁紹) and
Liu Biao (劉表). He was called by people the Imperial Uncle (皇叔) because he
was the uncle of Han's Emperor Xian (漢獻帝), but who knows if this was true. His force became
stronger after the joining of Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮) in 207. A year later Cao Cao attacked the
South land and Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang to Wu to make an alliance. The two forces combined
together and defeated Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Wall (赤壁之戰). After this battle
Cao Cao had to take a deep breath while Liu Bei started to gain more
territories. He conquered the Jing State (荊州) and then eventually the Yi State
(益州). A year after Cao Pi's (曹丕) seize of the Han
Dynasty's throne (221), Liu Bei called himself the Emperor of Shu Han (蜀漢), as
the continuation of the Han Dynasty. In 222, he attacked Wu to get the Jing State
back (Guan Yu lost the state to Wu and was killed in 219), but was defeated by
Lu Xun (陸遜). He retreated back to Bo Di (白帝), where he fell ill and died the year
after at the age of 63. Before he died Liu Bei gave the total power of Shu to Zhuge Liang and
expected him to help the heir Liu Chan (劉禪) in the future.
Liu Chan [ 劉禪 - 樂不思蜀, 扶不起的阿斗 ]
Liu Bei's (劉備) eldest son who lacked the talents to rule
the kingdom. He became the second emperor of Shu at the
age of 17. He paid much respect to the prime minister,
Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮). However, when Zhuge Liang was not
at the capital, the only people he trusted were the
eunuchs. Many times Zhuge Liang had to retreat from
the Northern Campaigns because Liu Chan listened to the
eunuchs saying that Zhuge Liang has the ambition to
take over the throne. After the great prime minister
died, the successor Jiang Wei (姜維) had even more Northern
Campaigns, nine. He also failed because of the same
reason plus the weakened Shu could not provide more
resources. In 263 Liu Chan surrendered to Wei. Shu Kingdom
only lasted for 42 years.
Guan Yu [ 關羽 - 信義著素, 卻大意失荊州 ]
The sworn brother of Liu Bei (劉備) and Zhang Fei (張飛). He was a
great general who was unbeatable in battlefields. He was
once captured by Cao Cao (曹操)
and was treated like a nobleman. However Guan Yu still
remembered the oath of the Peach Garden and finally he
went back to his old master. When Liu Bei conquered both
Jing State (荊州) and Yi State (益州), Guan Yu was named
the top of the Five Tiger Generals. He was also ordered
to guard Jing State. He guarded there for more than ten
years. The tragic flaw Guan Yu had was that he was too
proud and it led to the loss of Jing State. He was
captured by Sun Quan (孫權)
along with Guan Pin (關平). The father and son were executed.
Zhang Fei [ 張飛 - 環眼猛將, 嗜酒如命 ]
The youngest of the sworn brothers. He was a great
one-on-one fighter. Although he was well known for his
lacking of strategies in battles, but he surprised
Liu Bei (劉備) many times by
using tactics during battles. Along with Guan
Yu (關羽), Zhao Yun (趙雲), Ma Chao (馬超), and Huang
Zhong (黃忠), they were named the Five Tiger
Generals. After Guan Yu was killed by Sun Quan (孫權), Liu Bei
attacked Wu seeking for taking Jing State (荊州) back and the revenge
for Guan Yu, Zhang Fei was assassinated by his own generals.
He was 55.
Zhuge Liang [ 諸葛亮 - 鞠躬盡悴, 死而後已 ]
Also know as "Hidden Dragon (伏龍)" or "Sleeping Dragon
(臥龍)". One of the most outstanding politician during
the RTK era. Kong Ming was visited by the unfortunate
Liu Bei (劉備) three times and
finally agreed to join him in 207. At that time he already
predicted the land will be divided into three parts.
One year later Cao Cao (曹操) attacked the South land. Liu
Bei was defeated although Kong Ming burned the enemy
twice resulting in the loss of Cao Cao's 200,000 soldiers.
Then Kong Ming was sent to Wu to make an alliance with Sun Quan (孫權).
Later the two forces joined and defeated Cao Cao at
Red
Cliff (赤壁). After the battle Kong Ming helped his master to
take control of Jing State (荊州) and Yi State (益州). After Liu Bei
died in 223, Kong Ming had to run the whole kingdom himself.
He attacked Wei six times seeking for the restoration
of the Han Dynasty. He never accomplish due to the
weakness of Shu such as the population and food, but
the main reason was the idiotic emperor Liu Chan (劉禪). The
really tired Kong Ming fell ill and died during the sixth
Northern Campaign. He was 54. The Kingdom of Shu was
getting weaker and weaker after his death and eventually taken
over by Wei 30 years later.
Zhao Yun [ 趙 雲 - 一身是膽 ]
A general with courage, intelligence, and loyalty. He had served
Yuan Shao (袁紹) and Gongsun Zan (公孫瓚) before joining
Liu Bei's (劉備) army. Zhao Yun saved his
master's son Liu Chan (劉禪) twice. The first was
from Cao Cao's (曹操) force. He struck
into the enemies alone himself, saved the young child who was only 2,
and returned to his master. The other time was from the Wu navy force.
Also, he had been a bodyguard of Liu Bei, and
Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮) for many times. Liu Bei titled him as one of
Shu's Five Tiger Generals. Zhao Yun also fought in Zhuge Liang's
first Northern Campaign at the age of 70, cutting down five generals of
Wei in a row, father and four sons. Liu Bei complimented him, "Truly, the man is
brave all through."
Recently a visitor wrote me about Zhao Yun's age and asked me to change
the year of his birth because he should not be that old. I am sorry I can't do that, because I
did not make the years up. I read through several books before I put
down the years. Zhao Yun was said to be a young general when he first
appeared in the novel, chapter 7, but the novel NEVER mentions
his age until chapter 92, when Deng Zhi (鄧芝) says, "For a man of
seventy years, you are unique and wonderful...." That year was 227 A.D.
That was the ONLY clue in the novel to determine his age. Of course,
in every single RTK games made by KOEI, Zhao Yu always gets the most
handsome portrait, if not more handsome than Lu Bu (呂布). This makes
us think that Zhao Yun should be a young man, but surely he was the
second oldest among the Five Tiger Generals. Yes, he was older than Liu
Bei (劉備) also. Okay, he was said to be "young" in chapter 7
(193 A.D.), and so he should not be 70 in the year 227, BUT there was
no age mentioned in that chapter. Cao Hong (曹洪) was described by Cao
Cao (曹操) as "young and impetuous" in chapter 58, and Cao Hong had to
be in his 30's or 40's at that time (211 A.D.). There is no proof
saying that Zhao Yun is a younger general. I have to stay with the year
I already have, because it is from the sources I have.
Xu Shu 走馬薦諸葛
A great friend of Zhuge Liang's (諸葛亮).
When Xu Shu was young, he killed a person to revenge his friend. Later
his friends rescued him from the prison, and he changed his name to
Shan Fu (單福). From that point on he started studying diligently. One
of his teachers was Sima Hui (司馬徽), who told him to join the Imperial Uncle (皇叔), therefore Xu Shu
became Liu Bei's first "official" advisor. After one great victory over
Cao Cao's (曹操) right-hand-man Cao Ren
(曹仁), Cheng Yu (程昱) wrote a fake
letter saying that the mother of Xu Shu will be executed if her son
won't come soon, and Xu Shu had to leave Liu Bei and join Cao Cao.
Before he left, he introduced the Hidden Dragon
(伏龍) and the Blooming Phoenix (鳳雛) to Liu Bei and told him
their real names. The mother was shocked when she saw her son, after
discovering what happened, she taunted at her son and then committed
suicide. Xu Shu fell in deep sorrow and swore that he will never
introduce a single tactic to Cao Cao. At the Battle of Red
Wall (赤壁之戰), he discovered the chained ships would lead to a big
fire-attack by the allied Liu Bei and Wu, but he didn't tell Cao Cao,
and the Cao army was crushed.
Ma Chao [ 馬 超 - 神威天將軍 ]
One of Shu's Five Tiger Generals. Ma Chao was the descendant of early
Latter Han's famous general Ma Yuan (馬援) and he was Ma
Teng's (馬騰) eldest son. After Ma Teng was lured to the capital and
murdered by Cao Cao (曹操), Ma Chao
allied with Han Sui (韓遂) and attacked Cao Cao. Once Cao Cao had to
cut his beard and throw away his robe in order to escape from Ma Chao.
Ma Chao almost capture Cao Cao twice but his foe was saved by Cao Hong
(曹洪) and Xu Chu (許褚). Although Ma Chao overpowered Cao Cao, but Han
Sui surrendered to Cao later on and Ma Chao was then defeated. He fled
to serve Zhang Lu (張魯), who sent him to attack Liu Bei
(劉備). Liu Bei loved Ma Chao's skills and used Zhuge Liang's
(諸葛亮) strategy which made Ma Chao join the Liu army. Ma Chao then
attack Yi State (益州) and Liu Zhang (劉璋) surrendered. Later when Liu
Bei attacked Cao Cao's Han Zhong (漢中), Ma Chao fought in battles and Cao
Cao had to give up that region.
Huang Zhong [ 黃 忠 - 老當益壯 ]
The famous old general who was also one of the Five Tiger Generals of
the Shu Kingdom. Huang Zhong first served Liu Biao (劉表), after Liu
Biao died, he served Han Xuan (韓玄). When Liu Bei
(劉備) attacked Han Xuan, Huang Zhong was ordered to fight against
Guan Yu (關羽), they fought for three days and
there was no winner or loser. Because of this Han Xuan thought Huang
Zhong was a traitor and ordered his immediate death. Right before the
execution Wei Yan (魏延) ran in, killed the executioner, and then killed
Han Xuan. Wei Yan brought Han Xuan's head and surrendered to Guan Yu.
Huang Zhong first refused to surrender, but after he saw how well Liu
Bei treated him, he decided to fight for the new master. The old man gave much
effort during the taking of Yi State (益州), and the battles against
Cao Cao (曹操) at Han Zhong (漢中). He
even cut down Cao Cao's brother-like general Xiahou Yuan
(夏侯淵). Later when Liu Bei attacked Wu in 222, Huang Zhong, who was 75 at
the time, was on the front line and killed several Wu generals, but he
went alone into the enemies and fell into enemy's trap and was shot by
an arrow. He was injured, but also because of his old age, he died at
the same night in the camp of Shu army.
Wei Yan [ 魏 延 - 腦後有反骨, 久後必反 ]
Formerly served Liu Biao (劉表). Wei Yan joined
Liu Bei (劉備) after killing Han Xuan (韓玄)
and saving Huang Zhong (黃忠). He fought in the conquering of Yi State
(益州) and countless battles later on. After the Five Tiger Generals
died, Wei Yan became the number one general of the kingdom. During the
first Northern Campaign, he advised Zhuge Liang
(諸葛亮) to surprise attack Chang An (長安) where Wei was defenseless, but
Zhuge Liang thought it was too dangerous and didn't accept it. After
Zhuge Liang's death in 234, Wei Yan was really angry that he wasn't the
chosen successor and planned to betray Shu Kingdom. However he was
cut down in battlefield by Zhuge Liang's plan made before his death.
Pang Tong 魂斷落鳳坡的鳳雛
Nicknamed "Blooming Phoenix" and a close friend to
Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮). During the Battle of
Red Wall (赤壁之戰), Pang Tong talked Cao Cao
(曹操) into chaining all his ship together, and Zhou
Yu (周瑜) was able to destroy Cao Cao's fleet with fire. Later,
Lu Su (魯肅) introduced the phoenix to
Sun Quan (孫權), but Pang Tong wasn't
hired because of his strange appearance. The disappointed man then
went to Liu Bei (劉備), but Liu Bei didn't
treat him too much better and sent him to govern a small town. He
stayed there for 3 months and did nothing but drink wine. This angered
Liu Bei and he sent Zhang Fei (張飛) and Sun
Qian (孫乾) to the town. Surprising Zhang and Sun, the Phoenix showed
his talents and finished all the works for 3 months in one day. Now
Pang Tong was named the 2nd advisor and went with Liu Bei to the Yi
State (益州). Tragically the Phoenix was shot by thousands of arrows
at the Hill of Fallen Phoenix at the age of 36.
