The story of "Three sworn brothers in Taoyuan", Luo Guanzhong placed it in the first chapter of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" at the beginning of "The Banquet of Three sworn brothers in Taoyuan and killed the Yellow Turban hero for his first meritorious service". The article describes Liu Yan's appearance on the list. Recruiting volunteers, he went to Zhuoxian County and led Liu Bei, a hero in Zhuoxian County. Then by chance, Liu Bei met Zhang Fei and Guan Yu. The three had similar interests and hit it off, becoming brothers. At the end of the article, the three people burned incense and bowed before saying an oath: "I remember Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. Although they had different surnames, they became brothers and worked together to rescue the poor and help the people in danger. They reported to the country and made everyone safe. Don't ask for the same year. Born in the same month and on the same day, I only wish to die in the same year, the same month and the same day. The emperor and the empress have realized this. If you are ungrateful and ungrateful, you will be killed by heaven and man!" After the oath, I worshiped Xuande as my brother, Guan Yu as my second, and Zhang Fei as my younger brother. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms vividly describes the story of the three sworn brothers in Taoyuan. So in real history, what is the relationship between Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei? Chen Shou's "The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms - Guan Yu's Biography" records: "The former master and the two slept in the same bed, and they were as kind as brothers. But the Chou people sat widely and stood around all day long, following the late master around, not avoiding hardships and dangers"; "The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms - The Biography of Zhang Fei" It is mentioned in the book: "Yu is several years older than (Zhang Fei), and brother Fei takes care of him." "The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms - Liu Ye's Biography" also says: "Guan Yu and Bei are monarchs and ministers, and they are as kind as father and son." These three historical data are enough to explain the two sides. A question: First, the relationship between Liu, Guan, and Zhang was "enruo brothers"; secondly, they were "enruo brothers" rather than sworn brothers. There is no sworn sworn relationship in historical materials. Furthermore, judging from the descriptions in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. After Guan Yu was killed by the Soochow people, Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi asked the ministers: "Will Liu Bei send troops to attack Wu to avenge Guan Yu?" Liu Ye, the servant, replied: Liu Bei and Guan Yu "are monarchs and ministers with righteousness, and they are as kind as father and son." Guan Yu was killed, and if Liu Bei could not avenge him, his kindness to Guan Yu would not be complete." Here, from the perspective of Wei people, the relationship between Liu Bei and Guan Yu is again "kind and father-son". The ancients had the concept of "a king and his ministers are like father and son", so this statement is not surprising; at the same time, it can also be countered: the relationship between Liu Bei and Guan Yu is not that of brothers, and their contemporaries are very clear about this. Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty believed that the monarchs of the three kingdoms were all good at employing people, and their employment of personnel was different. Cao Cao "controlled each other with power", the Sun brothers "matched each other with their spirit", and Liu Bei "matched each other with their temperament". The so-called "compatibility by temperament" means getting along with each other emotionally and having deep friendship, but this does not mean that the relationship is between brothers. Some experts have verified that the story of "Three Brothers in Taoyuan" probably began to circulate in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. At the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, He Jing's "Reconstruction of the Temple" has already appeared that "in the early days, the king (Guan Yu) and the chariot general Fei were friends with Zhaolie, and they were brothers"; it was also quoted in "Guan Yu Opera Collection" A poet at the end of the Yuan Dynasty wrote a poem: "Brothers and brothers live in Taoyuan for one day, and brothers and kings live in Zudou for thousands of years." The story in the Yuan drama "Liu Guan and Zhang Taoyuan Three Brothers" is described as follows: Yin Zang Yigui of Puzhou Prefecture wanted to be independent and asked Guan Yu to be his commander. Guan Yu killed him and fled to Fanyang, Zhuozhou. Zhang Fei opened a butcher shop locally. Zhang Fei deliberately used a huge boulder to hold down a knife in front of the store, and threatened that if anyone could move the boulder, he would give him meat without taking any money. One day, Guan Yu passed by Zhang Fei's butcher shop and moved the huge stone that Zhang Fei used to press the knife without getting any meat. After Zhang Fei returned to his inn, he learned the news and went to the inn where Guan Yu was staying to visit him and worshiped Guan Yu as his elder brother. Later, the two met Liu Bei again. Seeing that Liu Bei looked extraordinary, the two invited him to have a drink with him. Liu Bei was drunk and lying down. He saw a red snake burrowing through Liu Bei's seven orifices. Guan Yu felt that "this man's blessing will be valuable in the future", so he went to worship Liu Bei as his brother. The three of them killed cows and horses in a peach garden outside the city, offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, and swore to "not wish to live on the same day, but only wish to die on the same day." Although this story is interesting, it is also absurd. The "Three Brothers in Taoyuan" in the Yuan Dynasty's "Three Kingdoms" is better conceived, and the plot and characters are more vivid. In addition to the descriptions of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms mentioned here, we can also see many other materials describing the stories of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In short, from the above analysis, the story of the three sworn brothers in Taoyuan is fictional. However, regardless of the multiple versions of this fictional story, we can see that all versions, including historical records, at least have a strong sense of loyalty and mutual help between the three people. The characteristics of mutual assistance and sincere solidarity are recognized. The Taoyuan Three Brothers can be abstracted into a typical relationship of mutual help, sincerity and unity. Then we can analyze this abstract typical relationship of sincere unity. The specific materials for the analysis are those in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, because this version is well known to everyone and it is the most vivid and simple language. Is there really a Taoyuan sworn alliance in history? Luo Guanzhong placed the story of "Three sworn alliances in Taoyuan" in the first chapter of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "The three sworn sworn alliances of the heroes in the Taoyuan banquet, and the first meritorious deeds of the Yellow Turban hero". Everyone knows the stories in the book relatively well, so I won’t repeat them again. Let’s take a look at other stories of “Three Brothers in Taoyuan”. According to expert research, the story of "Three Brothers in Taoyuan" probably began to circulate during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. In He Jing's "Rebuilding the Temple", there has been a saying that "in the early days, the king (Guan Yu) and the chariot general Fei were friends with Zhaolie, and they were brothers." "Collection of Guan Yu's Operas" also quoted a poem by a poet in the late Yuan Dynasty: "Brothers and brothers are in Taoyuan for one day, and brothers and kings are with each other for thousands of years." There is another relatively complete story in the Yuan drama "Liu Guan and Zhang Taoyuan Three Brothers": Yin Zang Yigui of Puzhou Prefecture wanted to be independent and asked Guan Yu to be his commander. Guan Yu killed him and fled to Fanyang, Zhuozhou. Zhang Fei opened a butcher shop locally.
Zhang Fei deliberately pressed a knife under a huge boulder in front of the store, and threatened that if anyone could move the boulder, he would give him meat without taking any money. One day, Guan Yu passed by Zhang Fei's butcher shop and moved the huge stone that Zhang Fei used to press the knife without getting any meat. After Zhang Fei returned to his inn, he learned the news and went to the inn where Guan Yu was staying to visit him and worshiped Guan Yu as his elder brother. The two later met Liu Bei again. Seeing that Liu Bei looked extraordinary, the two invited him to drink with him. When Liu Bei was drunk and lying down, he saw a red snake burrowing into Liu Bei's seven orifices. Guan Yu felt that "this man's blessing will be valuable in the future", so he went to worship Liu Bei as his brother. The three of them killed cows and horses in a peach garden outside the city, offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, and swore that they "do not wish to live on the same day, but only wish to die on the same day." Although this story is interesting, it is also absurd. In the "Three Kingdoms" of the Yuan Dynasty, the "Three Brothers in Taoyuan" was relatively well conceived, after all, it has shadows of real life. During the Three Kingdoms period, there was a custom of killing white horses to form alliances. In the seventh year of Jian'an (202), Cao Cao captured Nanpi and killed Yuan Tan. Yuan Xi's generals, Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan, betrayed Yuan Xiang Cao. When they rebelled, they swore an oath by killing the white horse. But this is just an oath, not a sworn brotherhood. Later, many leaders of peasant uprisings used this form when they swore sworn brothers. For example, in the Red Turban Uprising of Liu Fushun and others in the Yuan Dynasty, "History of the Yuan Dynasty: The Chronicles of Emperor Shun" describes the situation of their sworn friendship as "killing the white horse and the black ox, swearing to heaven and earth, and wanting to join forces to cause chaos." However, this way of writing is relatively rough in character creation and has low intentions. Luo Guanzhong deserves to be regarded as a literary giant. These historical materials and stories immediately underwent fundamental changes in his hands. Luo Guanzhong deleted some absurd elements and changed it to three people who were facing a national crisis and wanted to join the army to defeat thieves, protect the country and the people, and achieve great things. They became brothers, especially after the three people burned incense and said goodbye. When making the oath, he said: "In memory of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, although they have different surnames, as brothers, they will work together to rescue the poor and help the people in danger; report to the country and make peace and prosperity for the common people. I don't want to be born in the same year, the same month and the same day, but I just want to be born in the same year, the same month and the same day. Death. The emperor, the emperor, and the earth, if you realize this, you will be ungrateful and ungrateful." In this way, the intention will be higher, and the friendship will take a big step forward, turning a simple sworn relationship into one. The mutual support of two kinds of people who are facing national calamity makes people feel noble and cordial. A big book puts "Three Brothers in Taoyuan" at the beginning, which sets the stage for the three of them to "share joys and sorrows, share weal and woe, and support each other in adversity" in the future in order to achieve the goal of "making great achievements in revolution". The seeds of a deep friendship were laid. Therefore, it is even more convincing that in the years to come, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei would go through life and death, go through fire and water, and do whatever it took to assist Liu Bei in restoring the Han Dynasty. So, what is the relationship between Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in history? In fact, Liu, Guan, and Zhang are not as sworn brothers as the Taoyuan Three. The reasons are: (1) There is no record in official history, and "Three Kingdoms" and "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" never mention this matter; (2) The age of the three people, the order should be Guan Liu Zhang, not Liu Guan Zhang. There is no date of Liu Bei's birth in the "Three Kingdoms: Biography of the First Lord", only that he died in the third year of Zhangwu (223), at the age of sixty-three. Forefathers calculated his age as false years. Based on this, Liu Bei should have been born in the fourth year of Emperor Huan's reign of Emperor Yanxi of the Han Dynasty (161 AD). Therefore, Liu Bei's birth and death years should be 161~223 years. According to Qian Jingfang's "Novel Collection": the tombstone of Guan Houzu unearthed in Guan Yu's hometown during the Kangxi period, Guan Yu was born in June of the third year of Yanxi (160), the third year of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, Ke Rulin's "Guan Gong Chronicle" believes that Guan Yu is actually one year older than Liu Bei. Guan Yu's birth and death years should be from 160 to 219 years. Zhang Fei’s birth and death dates, introduced in Cihai:? ~221 years, according to the "Guan Gong Chronicle" "Zhang Fei was four years younger than Liu Bei", it should be 165~221 years. "The Biography of Liu Ye in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms" also said: "Guan Yu and Bei were monarchs and ministers with righteousness, and their kindness was as good as that of father and son." Historically, the relationship between Liu, Guan, and Zhang was indeed extraordinary. "Three Kingdoms: Biography of Guan Yu" says that Guan Yu fled to Zhuo County and Liu Bei was gathering his disciples in the countryside, so Guan Yu and Zhang Fei joined his disciples. Later, Liu Bei became the Prime Minister of Pingyuan, and he appointed Yu and Fei as the commanders of other departments, and they were divided into divisions. Liu Bei and the two of them "sleeped in the same bed, and they were like brothers." Guan Yu often sat in a crowd of people and waited on him all day long. Later, Xuzhou fell and Guan Yu was captured. Cao Cao sent people to persuade him to surrender. Guan Yu also said: "I have received great kindness from General Liu, and I swear to death by force. I cannot recite it." "The Biography of Zhang Fei" " also records: "Zhang Fei... Shao and Guan Yu were both masters. Yu was several years older, and brother Fei took care of him." Both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were famous for their bravery in the world. Cheng Xian, the counselor of Wei State, praised Guan and Zhang as "the enemy of ten thousand people", and Zhou Yu praised Guan and Zhang as "the general of bear and tiger". Therefore, Liu Bei particularly favored Guan and Zhang and regarded them as his confidants. So much so that later generations of historians, such as Wang Fuzhi in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, believed: "Liu Bei's trust in Guan and Zhang was greater than his sincerity to Zhuge Liang." The above historical data are enough to explain two issues: one is the close relationship between Liu, Guan, and Zhang "En Ruo brothers"; the second is "En Ruo brothers" rather than sworn brothers, and there is no such thing as sworn sworn relationship in historical data. Therefore, there is no real allusion of "Three Brothers in Taoyuan" in history.