RNo direct record — estimated from his record as a high minister who served as Grand CommandantWei 6 §27
NUsed the jealousy of Guo Si's wife to set Li Jue and Guo Si fighting each otherCh. 13 §11Ch. 13 §15
Yang Biao 楊彪
| Occupation | RNOfficial · Grand Commandant | Faction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Born | R142 Unverified | Native place | |
| Died | R225 Unverified | Place of death | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R18 |
Profile
Yang Biao was Grand Commandant at the Han court. He has no biography of his own in the Records; his name appears a few times in the biographies of Dong Zhuo and Man Chong, the Annals of Emperor Wen and the biography of Wang Lang. Amid the turmoil of Li Jue and Guo Si, he was one of the ten or so close ministers who accompanied the Son of Heaven when he made Anyi his capital; later, as former Grand Commandant, he was imprisoned at Xu County, and on Man Chong's advice Cao Cao released him that same day. Records, Wei 6 §27Records, Wei 26 §3–4
Under Emperor Wen of Wei, in the 10th month, in the winter of the 2nd year of Huangchu (221), he was made Grandee of Splendid Happiness, and when Wang Lang recommended him and sought to yield his own post to him, Emperor Wen gave Yang Biao an establishment of officials and soldiers and ranked him next after the Three Excellencies. Chen Shou's text does not record his courtesy name, his place of origin or his death. Records, Wei 2 §21 · 27Records, Wei 13 §55
In the Romance he first appears in Chapter 3 as the Grand Commandant who welcomes the emperor's carriage, and he features in 7 of its 120 chapters; no chapter title bears his name. In Chapter 6 he is dismissed for opposing Dong Zhuo's move of the capital to Chang'an, in Chapter 13 he devises a plan to set Li Jue and Guo Si against each other, and in Chapter 20 he is imprisoned on a false charge arranged by Cao Cao. Romance, Ch. 3 §22Romance, Ch. 6 §5 · 7Romance, Ch. 13 §11–12Romance, Ch. 20 §9
In the Records
When Li Jue and Guo Si caught up with the Son of Heaven at Caoyang in Hongnong and defeated Yang Feng's troops, the Son of Heaven crossed the Yellow River on foot and stayed in a commoner's house at Dayang. Afterward Yang Feng, Han Xian and others had the Son of Heaven make Anyi his capital. The Son of Heaven rode in an ox cart, and the close ministers who followed him, including Grand Commandant Yang Biao and Minister Coachman Han Rong, numbered ten or so. At that time locusts swarmed and drought left no grain, so the officials in attendance ate jujubes and greens. Records, Wei 6 §26–27
Later the former Grand Commandant Yang Biao was arrested and handed over to the Xu County prison. Xun Yu, Director of the Imperial Secretariat, Kong Rong, Privy Treasurer, and others asked Man Chong, Prefect of Xu, merely to take his statement and not to torture him, but Man Chong gave no reply at all and interrogated him according to the law. Several days later Man Chong called on Taizu (Cao Cao) and said that Yang Biao had been interrogated without saying anything further; one who was to be executed should first have his crime made clear, and since this man was famed throughout the realm, if his crime were not clear the people's trust would be greatly lost. Taizu pardoned Yang Biao and released him that same day. Records, Wei 26 §3–4
Xun Yu and Kong Rong, who had at first both been angry on hearing that Yang Biao was being tortured, thought all the better of Man Chong once Yang Biao's case was settled in this way. Chen Shou's text does not say why Yang Biao was arrested. Records, Wei 26 §3–4
After Emperor Wen of Wei took the throne, in the 10th month, in the winter of the 2nd year of Huangchu (221), Yang Biao was made Grandee of Splendid Happiness. Records, Wei 2 §21 · 27
During the Huangchu era, when pelicans gathered at Lingzhi Pond, Emperor Wen had his ministers recommend gentlemen who walked the upright path alone. Wang Lang recommended Yang Biao, Grandee of Splendid Happiness, and, pleading illness, sought to yield his own post to him. The emperor gave Yang Biao an establishment of officials and soldiers and ranked him next after the Three Excellencies, and issued an edict telling Wang Lang to say no more about declining. Records, Wei 13 §55–56
Since Chen Shou's text has no biography of Yang Biao, his courtesy name, his place of origin, and when and how he died are not recorded. Records, Wei 2 §27Records, Wei 6 §27Records, Wei 13 §55Records, Wei 26 §3–4
In the Romance
In Chapter 3 of the Romance, as Min Gong escorts the emperor and the Prince of Chenliu back, a party of several hundred men and horses, including Minister over the Masses Wang Yun, Grand Commandant Yang Biao and Colonel of the Central Army Yuan Shao, comes to meet the imperial carriage. Romance, Ch. 3 §22
In Chapter 6, when Dong Zhuo intends to move the capital to Chang'an, the Romance calls him Minister over the Masses Yang Biao in this passage. Yang Biao objects that Guanzhong lies ruined and desolate, and that abandoning the ancestral temples and imperial tombs without cause will alarm and unsettle the people. When Huang Wan and Xun Shuang also support him, Dong Zhuo, in a great rage, dismisses Yang Biao, Huang Wan and Xun Shuang that very day and makes them commoners. Romance, Ch. 6 §5–7
In Chapter 13, when Li Jue and Guo Si act as they please, Grand Commandant Yang Biao, together with Minister of Agriculture Zhu Jun, secretly proposes to Emperor Xian that Cao Cao be summoned to wipe out the traitors. He then devises a plan to make the two traitors destroy each other by exploiting the jealousy of Guo Si's wife, and with a secret edict from Emperor Xian he sends his own wife to Guo Si's house. Yang Biao's wife tells her that Guo Si is having an affair with Li Jue's wife, and because of this Guo Si comes to suspect Li Jue. Romance, Ch. 13 §10–14
In the same chapter, when Li Jue and Guo Si fight before their lines, he gallops up to call for a truce, and together with Zhu Jun gathers some sixty court officials and goes to Guo Si's camp. Guo Si detains all the officials and draws his sword to kill Yang Biao, but General of the Household Yang Mi strongly dissuades him, and only Yang Biao and Zhu Jun are released. Saying that as a minister of the state he cannot set his sovereign right or save him and so merely lives on in vain, Yang Biao embraces Zhu Jun, weeps, and collapses to the ground. Later, together with Minister Coachman Han Rong, he finds Emperor Xian, weeps and bows before him, and asks that Anyi County be made the capital. Romance, Ch. 13 §22–24 · 53–54
In Chapter 14 he proposes summoning Cao Cao to court to support the royal house, and on Emperor Xian's instructions sends an envoy to Shandong. In Chapter 20 Cao Cao, worried that Yang Biao, a relative of Yuan Shu, might act as an inside agent for the two Yuans, has him falsely accused of collusion with Yuan Shu, throws him into prison and has Man Chong interrogate him. When Kong Rong remonstrates that Lord Yang's family has kept its pure virtue for four generations, Cao Cao reluctantly strips Yang Biao of office and sends him back to his home village. Romance, Ch. 14 §5Romance, Ch. 20 §8–9
In Chapter 22, the proclamation that Chen Lin writes for Yuan Shao denounces Cao Cao for seizing on a petty grudge to inflict flogging and the five cruel tortures on the innocent former Grand Commandant Yang Biao. In Chapter 60, Cao Cao's Registrar Yang Xiu is introduced as the son of Grand Commandant Yang Biao. Romance, Ch. 22 §10 · 17Romance, Ch. 60 §6
Where the Romance differs
Opposing the move of the capital: In Chapter 6 of the Romance, Minister over the Masses Yang Biao opposes Dong Zhuo's move of the capital to Chang'an and is dismissed together with Huang Wan and Xun Shuang. The Biography of Dong Zhuo in the Records says only that in the 2nd month of the 1st year of Chuping (190) Dong Zhuo moved the Son of Heaven to Chang'an and burned the palaces of Luoyang, and records neither who opposed it nor any dismissals. Romance, Ch. 6 §5–7Records, Wei 6 §11
The feud between Li Jue and Guo Si: In Chapter 13 of the Romance, Yang Biao devises a stratagem to drive them apart through Guo Si's wife and sets the two fighting. The Biography of Dong Zhuo in the Records says only that Guo Si and Li Jue grew suspicious of each other and fought in Chang'an, giving no cause and no plan by Yang Biao. Romance, Ch. 13 §11–13Records, Wei 6 §24
The ministers sent to make peace: In Chapter 13 of the Romance, Yang Biao and Zhu Jun gather some sixty officials and go to Guo Si's camp, where they are detained, and only Yang Biao and Zhu Jun are released. The Records state that when Li Jue sent the ministers to Guo Si to ask for peace, Guo Si seized them all; Yang Biao's name does not appear. Romance, Ch. 13 §22–24Records, Wei 6 §24
The capital at Anyi: In Chapter 13 of the Romance, Yang Biao asks Emperor Xian to make Anyi County the capital. In the Records, it was Yang Feng, Han Xian and others who had the Son of Heaven make Anyi his capital, and Yang Biao appears as one of the ten or so close ministers in attendance. Romance, Ch. 13 §54Records, Wei 6 §27
Who summoned Cao Cao: In Chapters 13 and 14 of the Romance, Yang Biao proposes summoning Cao Cao to support the royal house and sends an envoy. In the Annals of Emperor Wu in the Records, when Taizu intended to welcome the Son of Heaven, some of his generals had doubts, but Xun Yu and Cheng Yu urged it, and he sent Cao Hong west to receive him. Romance, Ch. 13 §10Romance, Ch. 14 §5Records, Wei 1 §37
Imprisonment: In Chapter 20 of the Romance, Cao Cao imprisons Yang Biao on a false charge of collusion with Yuan Shu, and at Kong Rong's remonstrance reluctantly strips him of office and sends him home. The Records do not state why he was arrested; Xun Yu and Kong Rong asked Man Chong not to torture him, and after Man Chong interrogated him according to the law and made his submission, Taizu pardoned and released him that same day. Romance, Ch. 20 §8–9Records, Wei 26 §3–4
Under Wei: In the Records, Yang Biao was made Grandee of Splendid Happiness in the 2nd year of Huangchu (221), and on Wang Lang's recommendation was ranked next after the Three Excellencies. The Romance, after naming him as Yang Xiu's father in Chapter 60, does not depict Yang Biao again. Records, Wei 2 §27Records, Wei 13 §55Romance, Ch. 60 §6
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.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
Records total491 / 1000Rank 277 of 996 · Top 28%Romance total534 / 1000Rank 65 of 1,113 · Top 6%
Romance adaptation index+43Romance total − Records total
- LEA3131±0
- STR3131±0
- INT4570+25
- POL5055+5
- CHA6860−8
- VIR7882+4
- ADP4840−8
- SCH5050±0
- DIP4550+5
- DIS4565+20
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
RNo direct record — estimated from his record as a high ministerWei 6 §27
NRepeatedly proposed summoning Cao Cao as the man to eliminate Li Jue and Guo SiCh. 13 §10Ch. 14 §5
8 similar abilities — show evidence
RNo direct record — estimated from his record as a civil minister who followed the Son of HeavenWei 6 §27
NNo direct record — estimated from his record as a civil ministerCh. 13 §22
RNo direct record — estimated from his record as a civil ministerWei 6 §27
NNo direct record — estimated from his record as a civil ministerCh. 13 §22
RNo direct record — estimated from his career as Grand Commandant and Grandee of Splendid HappinessWei 6 §27Wei 2 §27
NOpposed moving the capital as unsettling to the people, and asked that Anyi be made the capitalCh. 6 §5Ch. 13 §54
RRecommended by Wang Lang as a gentleman who walked the upright path alone; followed the Son of Heaven in his ox cart to AnyiWei 13 §55Wei 6 §27
NWept that he could not save his sovereign, met the fleeing Son of Heaven in tears, and was praised for pure virtueCh. 13 §24Ch. 13 §53Ch. 20 §9
RNo direct record — estimated from his record as an eminent minister recommended as a gentlemanWei 13 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his eminent family's generations of pure virtueCh. 20 §9
RNo direct record — estimated from his record as a high ministerWei 6 §27
NLed some sixty officials to reconcile Li Jue and Guo Si, but was detainedCh. 13 §22
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (7)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →
Family
| Children | Yang Xiu Novel & History |
|---|
Based on Wikidata items for the historical and Romance figures. Relations without the Unverified badge were also confirmed in the Records.