45 Liu Bei

Emperor of State Shu in the Three Kingdoms Period

Liu Bei (162-223) surnamed Liu, was a family tree member of Han Empire. But Liu Bei’s family had already reduced to poor. He usually made a living by knitting and selling straw mats and sandals. After he became a warlord, his surname Liu had given him a lot of advantage, because people assumed that the power should always belong to Lius. Among the three kingdoms, State Wei was the largest and most powerful one in central China, State Wu occupied the vast area of the mid and lower reaches of Yangtze, possessing a geographical advantage, while State Shu, occupied only Sichuan and southwest provinces, showed its advantage of talents gathering and solidarity.

At the beginning of the novel Tales of Three Kingdoms, there was a famous story “Three heroes swore in peach garden”: On his way to join army, Liu Bei had a lunch in a restaurant, then a tall, powerful man came in, yelling: “Serve me a meal, I’m hurrying my way to join army.” Liu went over and talked to him, and the shop owner also took part in. The tall man was Guan Yu (see following piece), and the shop owner was Zhang Fei. They found they were congenial and decided to go together, so they also decided to become sworn brothers. In Zhang Fei’s rear garden, where peach trees were full blossoming, the three heroes held a swearing ritual, with Liu Bei ranking eldest, Guan Yu second, and Zhang Fei youngest. The three sworn brothers were proved to be totally honest to perform their duties throughout their lives, so, the words “Three heroes swore in peach garden” became an idiom, as well as a shining spirit of Chinese traditional culture.

There was also a well-known story “visiting Zhuge Liang’s cottage for three times” (Zhuge Liang, see following piece). At first, Liu Bei’s troops were repeatedly defeated by enemies. When he got informed that Zhuge Liang was the wisest and most capable talent in the world, he decided to pay a visit to Zhuge. But when Liu with his two brothers arrived at Zhuge’s cottage, Zhuge was absent, apparently showing a cold shoulder to them. After Liu visited consecutively for three times, Zhuge Liang finally consented to assist Liu Bei’s career: to conquer the world.