Chancellor of Han and master of the north. Poet, administrator, and the man the novel made its villain.
A man beyond the ordinary, a hero above his age.Chen Shou's appraisal, Sanguozhi, Wei shu 1
Appears in
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Relations
- Liu Bei rivals — Once hosted him, twice fought him, never finished him.
- Zhou Yu opponents — Red Cliff, 208 CE.
- Yuan Shao rivals — Friends in their youth at Luoyang; Guandu decided which of them the north would keep.
- Guan Yu brief master — Held him in 200, honoured him, and let him go.
Myth vs record
The story you may know
The white-faced villain of opera and novel, cruel and treacherous by nature.
What the sources say
The official history appraises him as the ablest man of his age; his own annals record the Red Cliff defeat in one flat sentence, without blaming anyone.