Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

Luo Guanzhong Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400, or c.1280–1360), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong (Mandarin pronunciation: ), was a Chinese writer who lived during the Ming dynasty. He was also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (). Luo was attri ...

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Yellow Turban Rebellion The Yellow Turban Rebellion, alternatively translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a List of peasant revolts, peasant revolt in China against the Eastern Han dynasty. The uprising broke out in 184 CE during the reign of Emperor Ling of ...

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

Zhang Fei Zhang Fei () (died July or August 221 AD), courtesy name Yide, was a military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, who were among the earlies ...

Zhuozhou Zhuozhou (), is a county-level city with 628,000 inhabitants in Hebei province, bordering Beijing to the north. It is administered by Baoding prefecture-level city. Zhuozhou has 3 subdistricts, 6 towns, 5 townships, and 1 development zone. Adm ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

sworn brother Blood brother can refer to two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand or ...

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period. It is also often alluded to as a symbol of fraternal loyalty.

Background

Chapter 1 of ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' sets out the story of the

Ten Attendants The Ten Attendants, also known as the Ten Eunuchs, were a group of influential eunuch-officials in the imperial court of Emperor Ling ( 168–189) in Eastern Han China. Although they are often referred to as a group of 10, there were actually 12 ...

' usurpation of power and the

Yellow Turban Rebellion The Yellow Turban Rebellion, alternatively translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a List of peasant revolts, peasant revolt in China against the Eastern Han dynasty. The uprising broke out in 184 CE during the reign of Emperor Ling of ...

, which destabilised the

Han Empire The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

. When the Yellow Turban rebels were advancing on

You Province You Prefecture or You Province, also known by its Chinese language, Chinese name Youzhou, was a prefecture (''Zhou (country subdivision), zhou'') in North China, northern China during its imperial era. "You Province" was cited in some ancient so ...

, the governor posted a conscription notice in Zhuo County. Seeing the notice, Liu Bei, a 28-year-old distant descendant of the empire's ruling house, let out a long sigh. He was scolded by Zhang Fei, who worked as a butcher, for not serving the country. Liu Bei then shared his aspirations of saving the country and the people, and Zhang Fei suggested they should together recruit a voluntary militia to combat the Yellow Turbans. While drinking at a restaurant, they met Guan Yu, who was on his way to join the army. Liu Bei told him about their plan and the three men went to Zhang Fei's home to discuss. Zhang Fei suggested they should conduct a sacrificial ceremony to heaven and earth and take the oath as brothers under blossoming

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

trees in his garden, to which Liu Bei and Guan Yu agreed.

The oath

The oath, as it appears in the

Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...

translation of Chapter 1 of ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', was this:

When saying the names
Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...
,
Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...
and
Zhang Fei Zhang Fei () (died July or August 221 AD), courtesy name Yide, was a military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, who were among the earlies ...
, although the surnames are different, yet we have come together as brothers. From this day forward, we shall join forces for a common purpose: to save the troubled and to aid the endangered. We shall avenge the nation above, and pacify the citizenry below. We seek not to be born on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. We merely hope to die on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. May the Gods of Heaven and Earth attest to what is in our hearts. If we should ever do anything to betray our friendship, may heaven and the people of the earth both strike us dead.

In many other translations, only the section dealing with "dying on the same day" is present.

After the oath

After the oath, Liu Bei was declared the eldest brother, followed by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as the most junior. Liu Bei ordered the craftsman to forge a pair of

swords A sword is a cutting and/or thrusting weapon. Sword, Swords, or The Sword may also refer to: Places * Swords, Dublin, a large suburban town in the Irish capital * Swords, Georgia, a community in the United States * Sword Beach, code name for ...

, Guan Yu the

Green Dragon Crescent Blade The Green Dragon Crescent Blade () is a legendary weapon wielded by the Chinese general Guan Yu in the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''. It is a guandao, a type of traditional Chinese weapon. It is also sometimes ...

and Zhang Fei a 1.8-''zhang'' Snake Lance. They recruited 500 volunteers to fight under the governor's command and repelled the advancing rebels, in what became the first battle of the brothers' long journey to pacify the nation. In spite of their oath, the three brothers did not die on the same day.

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

was killed by

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...

's forces in 220. When Liu Bei ascended to the throne to restore the house of Han, his first edict was to wage war on Sun Quan to avenge Guan Yu.

Zhang Fei Zhang Fei () (died July or August 221 AD), courtesy name Yide, was a military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, who were among the earlies ...

was saddened by Guan Yu's death and often tortured his subordinates to vent his anger; he was finally assassinated by his subordinates in 221, right before the eastern expedition.

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...

died of illness in 223, a year after his disastrous defeat at the

Battle of Xiaoting The Battle of Xiaoting (猇亭之戰), also known as the Battle of Yiling and the Battle of Yiling and Xiaoting, was fought between the state of Shu and the state of Wu, between the years 221 and 222 in the early Three Kingdoms period of Chin ...

. When the Shu Han forces were summoned, Guan Yu's son

Guan Xing Guan Xing ( third century), courtesy name Anguo, was an official of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. History He was the second son of Guan Yu and a younger brother of Guan Ping. Little information about Guan Xing is ...

and Zhang Fei's son Zhang Bao competed to lead the vanguard force, and even challenged each other to a duel. Liu Bei berated them for forgetting their late fathers' fraternity. On Liu Bei's order, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao became oath brothers too.

Historicity

There is no mention of the three men becoming sworn brothers in

Chen Shou Chen Shou (; 233–297), courtesy name Chengzuo (), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is most known for his most celebrated work, the ''Records of the ...

's ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'', the authoritative source for the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. However, in Guan Yu's biography, their relationship was described to be "as close as brothers", to the point of "sharing the same bed". Zhang Fei's biography also mentioned that Guan Yu was older than Zhang Fei, so Zhang regarded Guan as an elder brother.

Other accounts

Like many fictitious events in ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'', the Oath of the Peach Garden was developed based on folk tales from earlier generations. He Jing in the early

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

wrote the ''Inscription of the Temple of Prince Yiyong Wu'an of Han'', which consisted of the statement "The Prince (Guan Yu) were friends with General of Chariots and Cavalry

hang Hang or Hanging may refer to: People * Choe Hang (disambiguation), various people * Luciano Hang (born 1962/1963), Brazilian billionaire businessman * Ren Hang (disambiguation), various people Law * Hanging, a form of capital punishment Arts, e ...

Fei and Zhaolie (Emperor, Liu Bei), vowing to be brothers". An

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

titled ''Liu, Guan, Zhang's Oath of the Peach Garden'' and a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

titled ''Records of the Three Kingdoms in Plain Language'', both written in Yuan dynasty, provided different accounts of the three men becoming sworn brothers. In ''Records of the Three Kingdoms in Plain Language'', Zhang Fei first met Guan Yu in Zhuo County and appreciated his outstanding appearance, so he invited him to a drink. There Liu Bei encountered them and respected their extraordinary appearances and physiques. The three men went to drink together at Zhang Fei's peach garden and swore to become brothers, before Liu Bei expressed his lofty aim to save the nation.

Cultural influence

Sanyi Temple, Wuhou Shrine - Chengdu, China - DSC05407

Temples known as "Sanyi Temples" (literally Temples of the Three Righteous) are dedicated to the three oath brothers. They can be found in many places such as

Zhuozhou Zhuozhou (), is a county-level city with 628,000 inhabitants in Hebei province, bordering Beijing to the north. It is administered by Baoding prefecture-level city. Zhuozhou has 3 subdistricts, 6 towns, 5 townships, and 1 development zone. Adm ...

, where Liu Bei was from and the oath fictitiously took place, and

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

, the capital of Shu Han. Some

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

and critics narrating the Three Kingdoms call

Zhao Yun Zhao Yun ( ) (died 229), courtesy name Zilong (), was a military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a subordinate of the northern warlord Gongsun Zan, Zhao Yun later came ...

the fourth brother, but this is a secondary creation rather than a creation by

Luo Guanzhong Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400, or c.1280–1360), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong (Mandarin pronunciation: ), was a Chinese writer who lived during the Ming dynasty. He was also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (). Luo was attri ...

. In Chapter 73 of ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', when created the first among the

Five Tiger Generals The Five Tiger Generals is a popular appellation in Chinese culture for the top five military commanders serving under one lord. Although the term does not appear in Chinese historical records and is not used officially, it has been heavily used i ...

, Guan Yu commented that Zhao Yun "has been a longtime follower of my elder brother, and is like my younger brother". This cannot be interpreted as Zhao Yun having taken an oath of fraternity. The oath also inspired the present-day secret societies in Chinese communities, such as the triads, to use a similar ritual when swearing in new members. "Though not born on the same day of the same month in the same year, we hope to die so"—the phrase the three brothers made during the oath—had also become popular among present-day secret society members. A ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

'' team comprising Reid Duke,

William Jensen William "Huey" Jensen (born July 26, 1982) is an American ''Magic: The Gathering'' player. He won Pro Tour Boston 2003, and has finished in the top 8 of four additional Pro Tours. He also has 24 Grand Prix top eights, including six wins. Jensen ...

and

Owen Turtenwald Owen Turtenwald (born ) is a former American professional ''Magic: The Gathering'' player. He won a number of awards during his career, notably the 2010 Vintage World Championship and 2011 and 2015-16 Player of the Year. In 2016, he was inducted ...

is named "Peach Garden Oath" after the Oath of the Peach Garden.

References

* Chen, Shou. ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Luo, Guanzhong. ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'' (''Sanguo Yanyi''). {{Romance of the Three Kingdoms Romance of the Three Kingdoms Fictional events Guan Yu Oaths Liu Bei

Background

The oath

After the oath

Historicity

Other accounts

Cultural influence

See also

References