Yunyang zhangfei temple is widely known for its relocation during the construction of the Three Gorges dam. Among the characters in the romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Fei is probably the most distorted.
In the novel, Zhang Fei appeared and described his appearance in this way: “he is eight feet long, with a leopard’s head and eyes, a swallow’s chin and a tiger’s beard, a sound like a huge thunder, and a potential like a galloping horse.” These 20 words set the tone of the mighty general. Later, the author also added fuel and vinegar, quoting a doggerel who didn’t know where he came from, and said only that he drank to retreat Cao’s army on Dangyang bridge: “changbanpotou was murderous, and the horizontal gun immediately opened his eyes. A sound like thunder, only retreated a million soldiers of the Cao family.”
Zhang Fei is a fierce general. The annals of the three kingdoms also said that he was “brave and righteous” and “the enemy of all men”. Liu Bei was defeated in Xinye. He heard that Cao Jun came after him, lost his wife and children, and ran away, leaving Zhang Fei and his 20 horsemen behind. “Flying over the water and breaking the bridge, he angrily stared at the spear and said, ‘if you are Zhang Yide, you can come and die together!’ no enemy dares to approach.”
After his death, Zhang Fei was granted the title of Lord Heng. In ancient times, only those who were best at opening up territory and shaking up the enemy could be crowned with the word “Heng”.
However, later, the romance used its imagination to think that Zhang Fei was a reckless and brave warrior, which was biased. This guy is actually wilting. After Cao Cao broke Zhang Lu, he faced off with Zhang Ying for more than 50 days. Seeing that Zhang Ying’s army could not put into formation on the mountain road, he took 10000 elite soldiers and invited Zhang Ying to fight from the path. Poor Zhang Ying’s army could not take care of its head and tail, and Zhang Fei picked up a big bargain.
Chen Shou commented, “Fei loves to respect gentlemen rather than villains.” It shows that when Zhang Fei treats gentlemen, he is still a polite person. Yishi Yanyan is a well-known story. After Liu Bei occupied Chengdu, Liu Ba first fell, and Zhang Fei immediately paid a visit. The scholar Liu Ba thought he was a martial artist and didn’t talk to him. Zhang Fei was angry, but he didn’t get angry with Liu ba. Zhugeliang said to Liu Ba, “although Zhang Fei is a military general, he also admires him.”
As for Zhang Fei’s appearance, although it is not described in the annals of the Three Kingdoms, his two daughters are married to the empress Liu Chan, a queen of respect and sorrow, and a queen Zhang. If Zhang Fei is really a leopard head and eyes, and his daughter inherited his father’s appearance, I’m afraid Liu Chan would not dare to marry him.
According to some ancient books, Zhang Fei is also very accomplished in calligraphy and painting.
In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a poem named “Zhang Yide Temple” in Wuzhen. The poem said that Zhang Fei was good at calligraphy, and even Zhong Yao and Huang Xiang could not match him. The poet is inevitably a little pompous, but Zhang Fei’s calligraphy is not bad, which should be the final conclusion.
There is also a record about Zhang Fei’s calligraphy in the Ming Dynasty’s “general record of Dan and lead”: “there is Zhang Fei’s Diao Douming in Fuling. His writing is very skillful, and his calligraphy is also written by Fei.” The Contemporary Annotation of painting marrow yuan contains “Zhang Fei… Likes painting beauties and is good at cursive writing”, saying that Zhang Fei is not only good at cursive writing, but also can draw pictures of ladies.
Unfortunately, the general’s beauty paintings have not been handed down. In 1985, when building the Jinping Mountain in Langzhong City, a stone tablet was picked up from the river and engraved with “Han General Zhang Fei led thousands of fine people to die, and the first piece of thieves was broken in Bameng, and Ma Leming was established”. Its words are like flowing clouds and flowing water, meaningful and beautiful. According to textual research, this may be the authentic work of Zhang Fei’s “Lima Ming”, but there are still doubts.