When Liu Bei was promoted to King of Hanzhong, he was made a general of the Five Tigers. The five tiger generals Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, and Zhao Yun were given the titles of Former General, Right General, Left General, Rear General, and General Yijun, respectively. Speaking of the Five Tiger Generals at this time, they were all characters of that era and were among the best heroes.
However, the records of their deaths are different from those in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Records of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou, some of whom are in line with this historical fact, and whose records are different from those of this historical record.
Let's talk about Guan Yu's death first.
Around November 219, the 24th year of Jian'an, Guan Yu defeated Maicheng. Soon after Guan Yu was defeated and taken maicheng, he was captured by Ma Zhongshi of Eastern Wu, and soon after, he was killed. From this point in time, the number of days to hold Maicheng should be about one or twenty days. And from the time Guan Yu was captured to the time Guan Yu was killed without surrendering, there should be about one or twenty days.
Therefore, the records in the history books and the inferences in the time node in the novel should be not much different. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms should have been recorded at the beginning of 220. Extrapolating from the records of the novel, it was not long after "around November 219 AD, that is, in the 24th year of Jian'an, Guan Yu defeated Maicheng". It should be said that for the death of General Guan Yu, the novel and the historical record basically coincide.
For Zhang Fei's death, it should be in the first year of Zhang Wu, that is, shortly after Liu Bei became emperor.
Preparing to avenge Guan Yu, Zhang Fei was killed by the generals Fan Jiang and Zhang Da. This point in time is in 221 AD. For Zhang Fei's death, the historical facts and the records in the novel are also very consistent, almost the same.
Let's talk about the deaths of Ma Chao and Huang Zhong.
This Death of Ma Chao, like Huang Zhong in historical facts, died of illness in the second year of Zhang Wu, that is, in 222 AD. However, for the death of Huang Zhong, a veteran general, the records in the novel are different from the historical facts. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms records that when Huang Zhong went out with Liu Bei on his expedition to Eastern Wu, he was ambushed by the Eastern Wu general Pan Zhang, and was shot and killed, although he was rescued, but died of his wounds that night.
When Liu Bei went out to conquer Eastern Wu, he originally wanted to take Ma Chao with him, but unexpectedly, Ma Chao was sick at that time, and he was not lightly ill. He was hoping that after getting better, he would meet Liu Bei on the battlefield of Eastern Wu. However, Ma Chao's illness has not improved. After hearing the news that Liu Bei had been defeated and burned the 700-mile company camp, Ma Chao was even more angry, and he aggravated his condition, and it was said that he vomited blood and died.
In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Huang Zhongming was killed by illness, why is it written in the novel that he was killed in battle. Could it be that the veteran General Huang Zhong must die on the battlefield in order to render his loyalty or bravery? At that time, Huang Zhong, a veteran, was at least 75 years old, not far from 80 years old. Did Liu Bei have to take him on a expedition in order to complete the heavy task of cutting down Wu? Definitely not. Such an old general should respect him, retreat to the second place, and be able to retire in Chengdu, which is already good.
In fact, the same is true of historical facts. When a person reaches the age of seventy or eighty, this disease will not be light. Seventy years of life are rare, not to mention that that time was ancient, and the historical facts that Huang Zhong and Ma Chao died of illness together in the first year of Zhang Wu should be objective. Although Ma Chao was only 47 years old when he died that year.
Opinions differ as to the death of Zhao Yun, the general of the Yi Army.
The legend is very wonderful, saying that he was scared to death by his wife's embroidery needle. What this rumor said was that Zhao Yun himself was afraid of seeing blood. In fact, such a rumor, that is, the folk saying is not credible, because the general himself fought in the battlefield with blood, where is there no blood? Zhao Yun's death was 8 years after Liu Bei became emperor, that is, in 229 AD. At that time, it was also after he and Zhuge Liang'er went out of Qishan.
At the time of the loss of the street pavilion, Zhao Yun was still known as the victorious general and maintained an undefeated record, which showed that Zhao Yun was a brave and resourceful person. Zhao Yun's death, written in the novel and in historical facts, should have died of illness. In the novel, it is written that Zhuge Liang was preparing to go on another expedition, but unexpectedly came to report that Zhao Yun fell ill and died. Therefore, Zhuge Liang sighed and was very heartbroken.
For these five tiger generals, after their deaths, they all received a title: Ma Chao was given the title of Marquis of Xiangxiang, but during Liu Chan's time, Ma Chao was given the title of Wei Hou; Huang Zhong, successively serving as a general in the middle of lang, a general in the battle, a general in Zhengxi, and a general in hou, who was posthumously given a title; Zhao Yun, one of the five tiger generals, who did not have a marquis before his death, and was posthumously given the title of Shunping Hou; Guan Yu was given the title of Huan Hou by Cao Cao, who entered the han xian emperor and was posthumously given the title of Zhuang Miao Hou, a title given to him by Liu Chan after his death 40 years after his death; and Zhang Fei was given the title of Xixiang Hou (西乡候), and Zhang Fei was given the title Huan Hou (桓候). In history, the so-called worship of the general marquis is probably the same.
Although these five tiger generals were dazzling for a while in history, it was quite regrettable that they had passed away in the blink of an eye. Originally, when Liu Bei made them generals of the Five Tigers, he expected them to make meritorious contributions here, sweep the world away, and unify the Central Plains. Unexpectedly, it was so short, and the master died before he could get out, trying to make the hero cry.
What do you think of the death of the Five Tiger Generals?
Stay tuned and tell the story of the Three Kingdoms and learn about that little-known history.