List of fictitious stories in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Although the novel is a romanticised and highly fictionalised retelling of the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty and subsequent Three Kingdoms period, due to its immense esteem and popularity, many people mistake it for an accurate historical account of the era.
With the onset of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Bei meets Zhang Fei and shares with him his aspirations of saving the country and the people.
The three men perform a sacrificial ceremony to heaven and earth and take the oath as brothers under blossoming peach trees in Zhang's garden, assembling the dynamics between them for the remainder of the novel.
[1] Zhang Fei is furious when he hears about this and he barges into the county office, drags the inspector out, ties him to a post and gives him a severe thrashing.
When Lü Bu requests to lead troops to attack the enemy, Hua Xiong steps in and says, "An ox-cleaver to kill a chicken!
Having single-handedly slain four warriors from the coalition – Zu Mao (祖茂), Pan Feng (潘鳳), Bao Zhong (鮑忠), and Yu She (俞涉) – Hua Xiong seems invincible.
In recorded history, Hua Xiong was defeated and killed in a battle at Yangren (陽人; believed to be near present-day Wenquan, Ruzhou, Henan) against Sun Jian.
Lü Bu then flees back to Hulao Pass, with the three brothers hot on pursuit, but they cannot catch up with him because of the speed of his horse, the Red Hare.
Zhang Fei attempts to charge onto the fortification to kill Dong Zhuo, but is driven back by a rain of arrows from the pass.
The coalition warlords declare the battle won, and receive Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei for a celebration of their victory.
Dong Zhuo's biography in the Book of the Later Han (Houhanshu) stated that Lü Bu was defeated in battle twice by Sun Jian: Diaochan is a fictional character introduced in the novel.
The name likely referred to the sable (貂; diao) tails and jade decorations in the shape of cicadas (蟬; chan), which at the time adorned the headgear of high-ranking government officials.
[19] Guan Yu's biography in the Sanguozhi states that Liu Bei launched a surprise attack on Xu Province and killed Che Zhou.
In fact, Bian Xi had ordered 200 men to wait in ambush inside the temple and kill Guan Yu when he gives a signal.
After that, Wang Zhi orders his subordinate Hu Ban to lead 1,000 men to surround the station and set it on fire in the middle of the night.
[25] However, it does not mention anything about Guan Yu crossing the five passes, nor about the six officers (Kong Xiu, Meng Tan, Han Fu, Bian Xi, Wang Zhi and Qin Qi).
Dilu suddenly rises above the surface and leaps three zhang (or 30 chi) across the stream to the opposite bank, bringing Liu Bei to safety.
Accompanied by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Liu Bei travels to Longzhong (in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei) to find Zhuge Liang.
The officials and scholars who debate with Zhuge Liang include Zhang Zhao, Yu Fan, Bu Zhi, Xue Zong, Lu Ji, Yan Jun and Cheng Bing.
Zhang Wen and Luo Tong also want to challenge Zhuge Liang, but Huang Gai shows up and stops the debate.
Besides, the poem in Sanguo Yanyi contains seven additional lines which are not present in the historical version recorded in Cao Zhi's biography in the Sanguozhi.
On the third day, with help from Lu Su, Zhuge Liang prepares 20 large boats, each manned by a few soldiers and filled with human-like figures made of straw and hay.
As Zhuge Liang foresaw, Zhou Yu sends Ding Feng and Xu Sheng to execute him, but he has already fled on a boat captained by Zhao Yun.
Zhou Yu suggests the "beauty scheme" (美人計) to Sun Quan to seize control of Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) from Liu Bei.
However, Zhuge Liang foils Zhou Yu's plan, and Liu Bei ends up marrying Lady Sun for real.
I suggest moving Liu Bei to Wu (吳; in present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu), build a palace for him there, and present him with women and gifts to entertain him.
In the previous chapter, Zhou Yu comes up with a plan to help Sun Quan seize Jing Province from Liu Bei.
When Liu Bei agrees, Zhou Yu feels overjoyed because his true intention is to conquer Jing Province when his army passes through.
After engaging each other in two long separate fights, neither Zhang Fei nor Ma Chao was able to gain an advantage over his opponent, and they retreated back to their respective camps.
Pujing is said to have built a grass hut for himself at the southeastern foot of Yuquan Hill in the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty.
