Novel scene
Heroes Win First Glory Slaying the Yellow Turbans 斬黃巾英雄首立功
About this event
Heroes Win First Glory Slaying the Yellow Turbans is the latter scene of the Chapter 1 title of the Romance, "Feasting in the peach garden, three heroes swear brotherhood; slaying the Yellow Turbans, the heroes win their first glory." It portrays how, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who had sworn brotherhood, go into battle for the first time, behead Cheng Yuanzhi at the foot of Mount Daxing, lift the siege of Qing Province, and, after going to help Lu Zhi at Guangzong, rescue Dong Zhuo as he is being pursued by Zhang Jue. Romance, Ch. 1 §25–26 · 31 · 33 · 46–47
Chen Shou's text does not include these fights. The Biography of the First Sovereign in Records of Shu 2 says only that when the Yellow Turbans rose at the end of Emperor Ling's reign and the provinces and commanderies each raised volunteer troops, Liu Bei led his own followers under the Colonel Zou Jing against the Yellow Turban bandits and, having won merit, became Commandant of Anxi County. Records, Shu 2 §6
In the Romance
In Chapter 1 of the Romance, only a few days after the three gathered over five hundred able-bodied men and met Liu Yan, the Yellow Turban officer Cheng Yuanzhi came to attack Zhuo Commandery with 50,000 troops. Liu Yan had Zou Jing lead 500 troops together with the three to meet him, and when the two armies faced each other at the foot of Mount Daxing, Zhang Fei ran the lieutenant Deng Mao through with his spear and knocked him from his horse. Cheng Yuanzhi, charging at Zhang Fei, was cut in two by Guan Yu's blade, and the bandits reversed their spears and fled, with those who surrendered beyond counting. Romance, Ch. 1 §24–26 · 28
The next day Gong Jing, Administrator of Qing Province, asked for help, saying the city was surrounded by the Yellow Turbans and about to fall, and Liu Bei volunteered to go with Zou Jing's 5,000 troops. Outnumbered, Liu Bei failed to win the first fight and fell back thirty li; he gave Guan Yu and Zhang Fei a thousand men each to hide to the left and right of a hill, feigned retreat to draw the bandits over the ridge, and then, at the signal of the gong, struck from three directions. Gong Jing also led out militia from the city to join the fight, and the siege of Qing Province was lifted. Romance, Ch. 1 §28–31
Hearing that his former teacher Lu Zhi was fighting Zhang Jue at Guangzong, Liu Bei went there with 500 of his own men. While Zhang Jue's 150,000 and Lu Zhi's 50,000 could not reach a decision, Lu Zhi sent Liu Bei to Yingchuan to see how things stood with Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun, who faced Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao. By the time Liu Bei arrived, the bandits, attacked with fire at Changshe, had already scattered, and on the way back to Guangzong, as Huangfu Song had advised, he met Lu Zhi being carried off in a prisoner's cart because of Zuo Feng's slander. When Zhang Fei wanted to cut down the escort, Liu Bei stopped him. Romance, Ch. 1 §33–35 · 42–44
Heading north to return to Zhuo Commandery, the three saw a Han army, badly beaten, being pursued by a Yellow Turban host with the "General of Heaven" banner at its head; they charged in, put Zhang Jue's troops to flight for more than fifty li and rescued Dong Zhuo. But Dong Zhuo, on hearing the answer that they were commoners without office, showed them no courtesy, and Zhang Fei, enraged, took up his blade and went into the tent to kill Dong Zhuo. The Romance closes this passage with a poem: "Who would recognize a hero in a man without office?" Romance, Ch. 1 §45–48
Where the Romance differs
Liu Bei's first fight: In Chapter 1 of the Romance, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei behead Cheng Yuanzhi, save Qing Province, and, going back and forth between Guangzong and Yingchuan, rescue Dong Zhuo. The Biography of the First Sovereign in the Records says only that Liu Bei followed the Colonel Zou Jing against the Yellow Turban bandits and, having won merit, became Commandant of Anxi County, with no place of battle or name of an enemy leader. Romance, Ch. 1 §25–26 · 31 · 46–47Records, Shu 2 §6
Dong Zhuo's defeat: In Chapter 1 of the Romance, Dong Zhuo, who took over Lu Zhi's troops, was defeated by Zhang Jue and, pursued, was rescued by the three. The Biography of Dong Zhuo in the Records records that Dong Zhuo was transferred to General of the Household and campaigned against the Yellow Turbans, but his army was defeated and he was punished, and the Biography of the First Sovereign has no account of Liu Bei saving Dong Zhuo either. Romance, Ch. 1 §44 · 46–47Records, Wei 6 §3Records, Shu 2 §6
Lu Zhi: In Chapter 1 of the Romance, Lu Zhi, who had surrounded Zhang Jue at Guangzong, was arrested on the slander of Zuo Feng of the Yellow Gate. In Chen Shou's text Lu Zhi appears only as the teacher whom Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan served in their youth, and there is no record of him fighting the Yellow Turbans. Romance, Ch. 1 §34 · 43–44Records, Shu 2 §4Records, Wei 8 §2
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.