Yan Liang颜良

History vs. fiction

Guan Yu assassinated Yan Liang in the midst of the multitude

• attestedIn the Battle of Baima, Guan Yu assassinated Yan Liang in the midst of the myriad troops; the novel's depiction of this episode is basically historical fact.

  In Chapter 25 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is written that Guan Yu, riding alone, charged into the enemy formation and slew Yan Liang: 'Guan Yu's Red Hare was swift, and he had already arrived before Yan Liang. Yan Liang was caught off guard, and was stabbed off his horse by a single stroke of Yunchang's blade.' This passage is entirely historical fact. Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Shu, Biographies of Guan, Zhang, Ma, Huang, and Zhao records that in the Battle of Baima, 'Yu, seeing Liang's canopy, spurred his horse and stabbed Liang in the midst of the multitude, cut off his head and returned, and none of Yuan Shao's generals could withstand him.' Apart from adding literary embellishments such as 'Red Hare's swiftness,' the core details such as 'canopy' and 'stab' are highly consistent with the official history, vividly reproducing Guan Yu's unparalleled bravery.