Chinese Famous Ancient Chinese People

Zhang Fei Wikipedia

ja:張飛 zh-cn:张飞

In the Romance of Three Kingdoms, Zhāng Fēi (張飛, 168?-222 AD), courtesy name Y?d? (翼德), was first a butcher, than an officer of the Kingdom of Shu and the second member of the Five Tiger Generals. According to the legend, he was sworn Blood Brother of Liu Bei and Guan Yu.

At the Battle of Chang Ban he alone rode out on the Chang Ban Bridge and he glared and pointed his spear saying "I am Zhang Fei of Yan,and anyone can come and challenge me to fight to the death" which was so powerful that it was said to have frightened and held off 10,000 (some say in may have been in numbers in excess of 100,000 but is probably very unlikely) of Cao Cao's troops, who were in pursuit.

Though exceedingly loyal and known for his strength and skill as a warrior, he was short tempered and a drunkard, which often got him into problems more times than not on the battlefield.

The historical Zhang Fei, however, was shown to have been a masterful general rather than simply a warrior. He was not known to have had an obsession with wine, that being something it seems was attributed to Luo Guanzhong's mind in Romance of Three Kingdoms. He treated his superiors with respect however had little respect for his underlings.

Zhang Fei was killed by his own men Zhang Da and Fan Qiang while leading troops to avenge to attack a rival kingdom of Wu.

The romanticized Zhang Fei is best portrayed in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong.

The historical Zhang Fei is best portrayed through his description and actions depicted in his Sanguozhi Biography, a work by Chen Shou. Some souces also suggested that Zhang was also an excellent painting artist.

Category:Heroes of the Three Kingdoms

Last Modified:   2005-04-13