Legend of Zhao Yun

History about Dragon of Jiang Dong

Zhao Yun was born in the Zhending county of Changshan province around the year 168 AD. He joined the warlord GongzunSan around the end of 191 or the beginning of 192 as commander of a small group of county volunteers. In 192 he was placed under the authority of Liu Bei, who at the time held only the rank of a major under Gongsun Zan, as a commander of Liu Bei’s cavalry forces. Liu Bei had a contingent of several thousand Wuhuan cavalry and Zhao Yun was put in charge of this force. Zhao Yun left Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei to attend his elder brother’s funeral soon after.

He rejoined Liu Bei in 200, when Liu Bei was defeated by Cao cao and fled to Yuan Shao. Evidently Zhao Yun had an extremely close friendship with Liu Bei. Records of Three Kingdoms says that they slept in the same bed during the time the two were together in the city of Ye. Around the same time, Liu Bei sent Zhao Yun to secretly recruit more men to reinforce Liu Bei’s then small army under Yuan Shao. From then on, Zhao Yun followed Liu Bei in his sojourns throughout northern China.

The rescue of Liu Shan in Changban

The novel portrayed Zhao Yun quickly and single-handedly slaying numerous enemy generals as he rode his horse from group to group during the Battle of Changban, asking fleeing Shu soldiers where Lady Gan, Lady Mi, and Liu Shan had disappeared. As proof of his resolve, he stated that he would search through heaven and hell to find them and if he could not, he would die on the battlefield. One of the many generals that fell to Zhao Yun was Xiaohuo En, who carried one of Cao Cao's prized swords, the "Qing Gang", which Zhao Yun took with him. Upon finally finding Lady Mi and Liu Shan near an old well, Lady Mi, who was injured in the leg, gave the child to Zhao Yun and refused to go with him stating that she would only slow them down. With enemy soldiers approaching, the two argued until Lady Mi threw herself into a nearby well, killing herself. Zhao Yun then placed the child inside his breast armor and proceeded to fight his way out through overwhelming encirclement of enemy soldiers, using only his lance and the newly acquired Qinggang sword. Zhao Yun's valor impressed even Cao Cao, who ordered his men not to use archers on Zhao Yun, but capture him alive instead in the hope that Zhao Yun would surrender to his side. Throughout the battle, Zhao Yun charged seven times in and out of Cao Cao's troops, and killed over fifty enemy commanders.

When Zhao Yun fought his way to the Changban Bridge he met up with Zhang Fei, who stayed behind to stop the incoming Wei troops. When Zhao Yun finally returned to Liu Bei's side, he felt very guilty over his failure to bring back Lady Mi. Liu Bei threw Liu Shan to the ground, saying his infant son was not worth risking his great general's life. Zhao Yun barely caught him.

Later life

In 221 Liu Bei proclaimed to be the Emperor of Shu Han. At the same time he declared war on Sun Quan out of revenge for the death of Guan Yu and loss of Jing province. Zhao Yun made an attempt to dissuade Liu Bei from entering the war, and to attack Cao Wei first. Liu Bei refused to heed the advice and subsequently waged war against Eastern Wu. He left Zhao Yun behind to be in command of Jiangzhou. After Liu Bei was defeated in the Battle of Yiling, Zhao Yun’s troops advanced to Yong'an. At that time, the Wu army had already retreated.

Liu Bei died in 223, and his son Liu Shan succeeded the throne. That year, Zhao Yun was named General who Conquers the South , and Central Military Commander . He was also bestowed the title Marquis of Yongchang Ting. Soon after, he was promoted to General who Guards the East. In 227, Zhao Yun followed Zhuge Liang into Hanzhong to prepare for the first of the Northern Expedition. The next year, Zhuge Liang sent Zhao Yun to Jigu as a decoy against the main force of Wei led by Cao Zhen. Zhuge Liang’s main force suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Jieting. At the same time and against a far superior force, Zhao Yun was also unable to muster a victory. However, he was able to limit the loss to a minimum by gathering his men immediately and defending his positions steadfastly. He was demoted to the General Who Maintains Peace in the Army .

In 229 AD, Zhao Yun died at Hanzhong and this was much grieved in the Shu army. He received the posthumous appellation of Shunping Marquis from Liu Shan in 261. Liu Shan’s order to have Zhao Yun honored said, “When Zhao Yun was serving the late Emperor, his contributions were already remarkable. When I was young, I relied on his loyalty to save me from great danger. That’s why I am bestowing him the honour.” Only twelve Shu officials were awarded noble titles posthumously. It was considered a great honour by Shu people at that time.

Zhao Yun had two sons, Zhao Tong and Zhao Guang. The younger son was a subordinate of Jiang Wei, and died in combat in Tazhong