Zhao Yun

Zhao Yun, courtesy name Zilong, was a military general who lived in the Late Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. He was originally the subordinate of the northern warlord Gongsun Zan, but Zhao Yun served Liu Bei later and thereafter accompanied Liu Bei in most of his exploits, from the Battle of Changban (208) to the Hangzhong Campaign (217-219). He continued to serve in the reign of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period, participating in the first of Zhuge Liang’s Northern Expeditions until his death in 229. While many events about Zhao Yun’s life remain uncertain due to limited information in historical sources, some aspects and activities of his life have been exaggerated in folkrore and fiction, for example in Luo Guangzhong’s historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which he was praised as a member of Liu Bei’s Five Tiger Generals.

Many of Zhao Yun’s actual exploits were greatly exaggerated in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. In the novel, Zhao Yun is portrayed as a near-perfect warrior, possessing powerful fighting skills, unswerving loyalty to his lord, enormous courage, lively intelligence, and serene charisma. These traits have often been reflected in almost all modern material on Zhao Yun to date.

See the following for some fictional stories in Romance of the Three Kingdoms involving Zhao Yun:

Battle of Changban
Battle of Xiaoting