I like the Story..
My Fave character is
Zhao Yun (Zilong)
»¯¤ª (¤lÀs)
(AD 168-229)
San Guo Zhi Officer Biography
translated by Sonken
Zhao Yun, Zilong (AD 168 ¡V 229) hailed from Zhending of Changshan
(present day Hebei Zhending). Zhao Yun was originally under Gongsun
Zan and when Gongsun Zan ordered Liu Bei to assist Tian Kai to fend
off Yuan Shao, Zhao Yun followed along as Liu Bei¡¦s main cavalry
forces (1). During the time when Liu Bei was pursued by Cao Cao¡¦s
forces at Dangyang Changban, Liu Bei abandoned his wife and child
to flee south. Zhao Yun carried the young child, who was Liu Shan
and also protected Lady Gan, the mother of Liu Shan, hence all of
them were able to escape the dangers. Zhao Yun was later appointed
as YaMen JiangJun (General of the Standard). While Liu Bei entered
the Shu region, Zhao Yun remained in Jingzhou (2).
In the seventeenth year of JianAn (AD 212), Liu Bei began to attack
Liu Zhang and ordered Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun to assist
him in Shu. Zhao Yun led his troops from Jiangzhou (present day
Chong Qing) to Jiangyang (present day Sichuan Luzhou) and prepared
to attack Chengdu. When Liu Bei conquered Chengdu, he appointed
Zhao Yun as Yijun JiangJun (General of the Flying Army) (3).
In the first year of JianXing (AD 222), Zhao Yun was appointed as
Zhonghu JiangJun (General Who Protects the Center) and Zhengnan
JiangJun (General Who Conquers the South), given the title of
YongChang Tinghou (Marquis of Yongchang). In the early days of Liu
Shan¡¦s ascent to the throne, the diplomatic relations between Shu
and Wu was very unstable and so subsequently Zhao Yun was appointed
as the General Who Guards the East (Zhendong JiangJun) to be in
charge of the army stationed at Ba. In the fifth year of JianXing
(AD 227), he was stationed in Hanzhong with Zhuge Liang (4). In the
next year, when Zhuge Liang went on a northern campaign, Zhao Yun
and Deng Zhi¡¦s troops went under cover to Jigu. After the retreat,
Zhao Yun was demoted to Zhenjun Jiangjun (General of the Centre
Army).
Zhao Yun died of illness during the seventh year of JianXing (AD
229) and he was around the age of sixty-one. During the time when
Liu Bei was on the throne, only Fa Zheng was given an honorable
title after his death. During Liu Shan¡¦s reign, due to the immense
contributions given by Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wan and Fei Yi, they were
also given posthumous temple names to commemorate their efforts.
The families of the deceased were also specially rewarded and taken
care of by the state; similarly, Xiahou Ba who came from far was
also rewarded an honorable title after his death. Guan Yu, Zhang
Fei, Ma Chao, Pang Tong, Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun were all
subsequently compensated with a title during Liu Shan¡¦s time and
this title rewarding was deemed as a great honor (5). Zhao Yun¡¦s
deeds were thus also commemorated and he was given the posthumous
temple name of the Marquis of Shunping in the fourth year of
Jingyao (AD 261) (see Liu Shan¡¦s bio) Zhao Tong succeeded his late
father and was appointed Huben Zhonglang (General of Tiger
Swiftness) and was in charge of an army. The second son Zhao Guang
was appointed YaMen JiangJun (General of the Standard) and followed
Jiang Wei in a later expedition but died during battle.
(1) From Zhao Yun Bie Zhuan: Zhao Yun was 8 chi tall (approx 1.89m)
and had a commanding appearance. In the earlier days, he held
office in a county. In the second year of Chuping (AD 191), Yuan
Shao was declared as the governor of Yizhou, and was contested by
Gongsun Zan for the same place. The Changshan County appointed Zhao
Yun as chief to lead the people to serve Gongsun Zan. However, this
gesture of servitude was mocked by Gongsun Zan, who asked why Zhao
Yun was offering to serve him instead of Yuan Shao, while the rest
of their people supported the latter; and who remarked why they
were the only ones who return from the way of delusion. Zhao Yun
replied that the world was in turmoil with all the wars raging and
it was difficult to differentiate the good from the evil and that
in order to serve the people, the Changshan County¡¦s decision was
to serve the one who can be benevolent to the people. Hence from
then on, Zhao Yun began his service in Gongsun Zan¡¦s ranks. Yet in
the same year, Liu Bei also joined Gongsun Zan. Liu Bei was very
kindly and friendly toward Zhao Yun and had often assisted him in
many matters. Zhao Yun thus viewed Liu Bei as a senior and a
confidante and had thoughts of serving under him. After years of
observation and fighting wars under Gongsun Zan¡¦s command, Zhao
Yun began to harbor dissatisfaction toward Gongsun Zan¡¦s actions
and judged him to be one that had no ambition, incompetent and only
interested in guarding his own personal interests. Thus, Zhao Yun
felt that Gongsun Zan was not a reliable master and wanted to find
a chance to leave his ranks. Not long after, Zhao Yun received news
of his elder brother¡¦s death and requested to return back home.
Liu Bei was reluctant to let him leave, knowing that he would not
come back. When bidding Liu Bei farewell, Zhao Yun declared that he
would never betray Liu Bei¡¦s trust and friendship.
In the spring of the fifth year of JianAn (AD 200), Liu Bei was
defeated by Cao Cao and had to seek refuge in Yuan Shao¡¦s land.
During the time when Liu Bei was escaping alone in dire straits, he
chanced upon Zhao Yun in the City of Ye and both shared the same
bed. Thereafter, he secretly sent Zhao Yun to recruit some hundred
men and declared the troops to be serving under the Left General
Liu (Liu Bei). From this point onwards, Zhao Yun served Liu Bei for
the rest of his life.
(2) From Zhao Yun Bie Zhuan: In the twelfth year of JianAn (AD
207), General Xiahou Dun from Cao Cao¡¦s camp led an army south to
attack Liu Bei. Liu Bei engaged the attackers at Bowang (present
day City of Henanfang). During the battle, Zhao Yun captured an
enemy general Xiahou Lan. Zhao Yun and Xiahou Lan were actually
from the same village and had known each other since young. It was
actually possible for Zhao Yun to let Xiahou Lan escape on his own
accord if he were to be merciful, but by his own personal principle
of not letting private matters into his protocol, he did not do so.
After the war ended, on the account of Xiahou Lan¡¦s sincere
request for surrender, Zhao Yun proposed to Liu Bei not to execute
him. Based on Xiahou Lan¡¦s ability in dealing with military laws,
Zhao Yun also proposed that Xiahou Lan be in charge of the army
rules, instead of following the normal practice of keeping
surrendered generals in one¡¦s personal ranks. Although this is an
insignificant event, it does show that Zhao Yun was a conscientious
person in dealing with major or minor matters.
In the thirteenth year of JianAn (AD 20
, Liu Bei was
defeated in Changban of Dangyang and was forced to flee south with
only tens of cavalry and also had to abandon his family in the
process. Upon seeing that, Zhao Yun turned back and headed north
into the enemies midst to locate Liu Bei¡¦s family. At that time,
someone told Liu Bei that Zhao Yun was heading north to surrender
to Cao Cao. Liu Bei reacted by hitting the person with a halberd in
his hand and said that Zhao Yun would never abandon him. Not long
after, Zhao Yun, despite the dangers, came back carrying the Future
Lord (Liu Shan) and also protected the Future Lord¡¦s mother Lady
Gan from the dangers. Before the battle of Chibi, Liu Bei gave Zhao
Yun the rank of YaMen General (General of the Standard).
After the battle of Chibi, Zhao Yun joined Liu Bei in pacifying the
various states and provinces in Jingzhou. Liu Bei gave Zhao Yun the
rank of Pian General (Lieutenant-General) and ordered him to
replace Zhao Fan as the governor of Guiyang Commandery (present day
Hunan Chen Province). Zhao Fan had a widowed sister-in-law that was
very beautiful, and he had desired to marry her to Zhao Yun in
order to pull ties. Zhao Yun strongly rejected the proposal and
someone tried to persuade him. In reply, Zhao Yun explained that
Zhao Fan was forced to surrender and thus his motives were not
known. Besides that, he argued that there are many women around,
thus why risk with taking this woman. Not long after, Zhao Fan
indeed escaped.
In the fourteenth year of JianAn (AD 209), Liu Bei married the
sister of Sun Quan. Lady Wu practiced martial arts since her youth
and she brought along with her from Eastern Wu some one hundred
maids, several body guards and also family servants. Liu Bei felt
very uneasy about the people that came along and was worried of
possible troubles. Besides, these body guards were very arrogant
and unreasonable and had been causing trouble outside, but no one
dared to oppose them. Liu Bei felt that Zhao Yun was a strict
person by nature and only he could bring those Wu followers into
discipline and so, he gave him the responsibility of managing the
internal household affairs for him. Not long after, the Sun
family¡¦s servants did improve their behaviorss. After Liu Bei set
off to Yizhou, Sun Quan sent out many ships to bring back his
sister and also instructed her to bring along Liu Shan as hostage,
but this was stopped by Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei who repelled the Wu
navy with their troops and brought Liu Shan back.
(3) From Zhao Yun Bie Zhuan: At the same time, Liu Bei wanted to
distribute the middle class houses in the city as well as the
farmlands outside to the generals. Zhao Yun proposed that since
Yizhou had just suffered from war, the lands and houses should be
given back to the civilians to live in so that it would be easier
to manage the civilians and also obtain their loyalty and support
in the future. Liu Bei accepted his proposal.
In the twenty-fourth year of JianAn (AD 219), Zhao Yun went with
Liu Bei to attack Hanzhong. After the Shu army had killed Xiahou
Yuan, Cao Cao gathered a large army to Hanzhong in response. There
was an incident whereby the Cao army was transporting a large
supply of grain to the bottom of the Northern Mountain. Huang Zhong
saw that as an opportunity to intercept the food supply and he led
his followers as well as Zhao Yun¡¦s to attack the food supply
chain. When Huang Zhong failed to return by the scheduled time,
Zhao Yun brought along some light cavalry to assist Huang Zhong.
After a short period of journeying, they met up with Cao Cao¡¦s
main force. Zhao Yun fought with Cao Cao¡¦s vanguard but the
latter¡¦s troops were quickly reinforced in large amounts, forcing
Zhao Yun to beat a retreat. The Cao army had Zhao Yun¡¦s troops
surrounded and by the time Zhao Yun managed to break out of the
enemies¡¦ lines, he realized that his subordinate Zhang Zhu was
injured. Zhao Yun charged back into the enemies¡¦ midst to rescue
Zhang Zhu before they retreated back to their camp. At that time,
the governor of Mianyang county Zhang Yi was helping to defend the
camp. When he saw the size of the Cao army coming, he shut the
gates and refused to defend. Zhao Yun realized of the immensity of
the enemy¡¦s troops and found it impossible to defend the camp.
Thus he ordered for the gates to be opened, the flags taken down
and the beating of drums ceased. When the Cao army arrived at the
camp, they suspected of a possible ambush and retreated hastily.
Zhao Yun then ordered for the drums to be beaten and also arrows be
shot. The Cao army was taken by surprise by the sudden noise and
was put to disarray and stampeding and many were drowned in the
River Han nearby. The next day, Liu Bei came to Zhao Yun¡¦s camp to
inspect the outcome of the battle and could not help but praise
Zhao Yun for his bravery. From then on, Zhao Yun was nicknamed
among the Shu army as General of Tiger Valor (Hu Wei Jiang
Jun).
In the first year of ZhangWu (AD 221), Liu Bei commanded his troops
to attack Wu. Zhao Yun petitioned that, ¡§The traitor of the
country was Cao Cao and not Sun Quan, thus Wei should be annexed
first and following that, Wu would surrender willingly. Although
Cao Cao had passed away, his son Cao Pi had ascended the throne
amidst the wrath of many. Hence, it is best to annex Guanzhong,
conquer the Yellow River, Shangyou of the Wei Waters, followed by
an eastern expedition to force the Guangdong troops into action.
Thus, it was best not to leave Wei untouched in a bid to fight Wu.
Should the war between Wu and us start, it would be difficult to
cease.¡¨ Liu Bei did not heed his advice and since Zhao Yun had
brought up this proposal, Liu Bei did not allow him to take part in
the coming battle and left him to be in charge of two provinces in
Jiangzhou. After Liu Bei was defeated, Zhao Yun was too late in
bringing in the reinforcements whilst the Wu army had
retreated.
(4) From Zhao Yun Bie Zhuan: At that time, Zhao Yun¡¦s army had an
excess supply of silk and he consulted Zhuge Liang on how to deal
with the excess supply. Zhuge Liang instructed for it to be
distributed to the ranks but Zhao Yun proposed for it to be kept in
the treasury since there was no exploits hence no need for rewards.
The store of silk can be distributed during the tenth month to make
clothing instead. Zhuge Liang was very satisfied with this
proposal.
Cao Zhen was commander to retaliate against Zhao Yun¡¦s troops.
Zhao Yun¡¦s troops were weaker and lesser but they managed to
manipulate the enemies¡¦ forces. During the battle, Zhao Yun took
the lead in the army and ordered for an attack on Qishan. The
attack was futile and they were forced to retreat. After Zhao Yun
put his troops back to order, he personally covered the rear and
they retreated back steadily lest there be more losses to the
army.
(5) From Zhao Yun Bie Zhuan (records from Hou Zhu (Liu Shan)¡¦s
edict): ¡§Zhao Yun served Liu Bei in the past and his contributions
are commendable. I (Liu Shan) was able to escape dangers owing to
his loyalty and dependability. Hence, it is only appropriate to
speak of Zhao Yun as an important contributor to the country.¡¨ The
Commander-in-Chief Jiang Wei and others deduced that since Zhao Yun
served Liu Bei in the past and had significant contributions, was
law-abiding hence his contributions should be recorded. The feat at
Dangyang was a show of loyalty and righteousness. As such, the
ruler would be eternally grateful to his subordinate. According to
the rules of giving posthumous titles, the gentle, kind and
virtuous would be given the character Shun; able to execute task
well and able to stamp out disorder would be given the character
Ping, hence Zhao Yun was given the posthumous title of Marquis of
Shunping.
