Zhang Fei 张飞
In Romance of Three Kingdoms, Zhang Fei sells wine, swears loyalty to his blood brothers in the peach garden, and stops a pursuit with a single shout. At Changban he also fought in real life — there he was tasked with covering Liu Bei's retreat. The chronicle remembers his other deeds too, including the victory in the mountain passes of Baxi, which he achieved after more than fifty days of standoff. In the series Romance of Three Kingdoms with Li Jing-Fei and in Red Cliff by John Woo, different episodes of his service come to life.
Zhang Fei (張飛) came from Zhuo Commandery, the same region as Liu Bei. When Liu Bei began gathering supporters in his home area, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu became his closest companions. Later Liu Bei put each of them in command of a unit. Chen Shou writes that Liu Bei treated the two as brothers, and that Zhang Fei revered Guan Yu, who was several years older, as an elder brother. This is how the Records of the Three Kingdoms describe their relationship.
In 208, Cao Cao's troops caught up with the retreating Liu Bei at Changban. Liu Bei abandoned his family and fled, leaving Zhang Fei with twenty horsemen to hold off the pursuit. According to Chen Shou, Zhang Fei took up position at the crossing, destroyed the bridge and, spear in hand, challenged the pursuers to fight. They did not dare approach, and Liu Bei got away.
Several years later, during Liu Bei's campaign in Yizhou, Zhang Fei took the local commander Yan Yan prisoner and asked him why he had not surrendered at the sight of his army. Yan Yan replied that in his region generals may have their heads cut off, but they are not in the habit of surrendering. Zhang Fei ordered him executed, but the captive remained so calm even then that Zhang Fei changed his mind, released him and received him as a guest. After the conquest of Yizhou, Zhang Fei was entrusted with Baxi Commandery. When Zhang He, one of Cao Cao's generals, invaded, the two armies faced each other for more than fifty days. Zhang Fei led a picked force by another road and struck where the enemy's vanguard and rearguard could not come to each other's aid. Zhang He abandoned his horse and escaped with a handful of men along a mountain path.
Liu Bei repeatedly warned Zhang Fei, who punished his soldiers harshly and then kept the same men close to him. In 221, after the death of Guan Yu, Liu Bei was preparing a campaign against Sun Quan. Zhang Fei was to bring his troops to the assembly point, but two of his subordinates killed him in camp and fled to Sun Quan.
In Chen Shou, Zhang Fei's courtesy name is recorded as Yide (益德). In Luo Guanzhong's novel it sounds the same, though the first character is different (翼德). It is in the novel that Zhang Fei appears as a wine merchant and butcher, and that the three companions swear the famous oath in the peach garden. In Peking opera the sworn brothers sometimes quarrel. In the opera film Meeting of the Sworn Brothers in the Old City (古城會, 1976), Zhang Fei suspects that Guan Yu has gone over to Cao Cao and believes him only after he kills an enemy general.
In the CCTV series Romance of Three Kingdoms (1994), Zhang Fei was played by Li Jing-Fei. At Changban one of Cao Cao's generals falls from his horse in fright and dies, and in the Yan Yan episode Zhang Fei pretends to be drunk to lure out the enemy. In Red Cliff (2008) and Red Cliff: Part 2 (2009) he is played by Zang Jin-Sheng. In John Woo's films Zhang Fei appears at the very beginning, during Liu Bei's retreat, and later takes part in the joint campaign against Cao Cao.
