He tied the inspector to a tree, took out his official seal and hung it on the inspector's neck, and flogged the inspector over 100 times. An angry Liu Bei then gathered his men, barged into the inspector's quarters, and falsely announced that he had received a secret order from the commandery administrator to arrest the inspector. However, the inspector claimed that he was ill and refused to meet Liu Bei. When a commandery-level inspector was sent to the county to formally dismiss him, Liu Bei sought a private meeting with the inspector. Liu Bei knew that he was one of such officials. The Han central government had issued an imperial edict to dismiss all officials who received their appointments as rewards for their contributions in battle. The Sanguozhi and the Dianlue recorded that Liu Bei was the one who beat up the inspector. When Guan Yu suggests they kill the inspector and seek their fortune elsewhere, Liu Bei refuses, resigns and returns his official seal to the inspector before leaving. Zhang Fei is furious when he hears about this and he barges into the county office, drags the inspector out, ties him to a post and gives him a severe thrashing. When the inspector is unable to find any fault with Liu Bei's administration, he attempts to intimidate the locals into making false accusations against Liu Bei. Later, even after his assistant explains to him, Liu Bei still refuses to bribe the inspector. The inspector hints to Liu Bei that he wants a bribe, but Liu Bei does not understand the inspector's point. Main article: Oath of the Peach Garden Zhang Fei thrashes the imperial inspector ДЄ commandery-level inspector is sent to survey Liu Bei's county after Liu Bei is appointed as a county prefect as a reward for helping to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

43 Meng Huo captured and released seven times.36 Guan Yu attends a meeting alone armed with only a blade.27 Guan Yu releases Cao Cao at Huarong Trail.25 Pang Tong presents the chain links strategy.18 Three visits to the thatched cottage.16 Liu Bei's horse leaps across the Tan Stream.14 Guo Jia's strategy to pacify Liaodong.13 Guan Yu crosses five passes and slays six generals.12 Guan Yu slays Yan Liang and Wen Chou.4 Cao Cao arrested and released by Chen Gong.2 Zhang Fei thrashes the imperial inspector.What follows is an incomplete list of the better known of such stories in the novel, each with accompanying text that explains the differences between the story and historical accounts. Since Sanguo Yanyi is a historical novel, many stories in it are likely dramatised or fabricated, or based on folk tales and historical incidents that happened in other periods of Chinese history. Other sources covering the history of that period include Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han ( Houhanshu) and Fang Xuanling's Book of Jin ( Jin Shu). The primary historical sources for the Three Kingdoms period is Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms ( Sanguozhi), which includes Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms by Pei Songzhi from other historical texts such as Yu Huan's WeilГјe and the Jiang Biao Zhuan (ж±џиЎЁе‚і). Although the novel is a romanticised retelling of the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, due to its widespread popularity, many people believe it to be a real account of the events that happened during that era. The following is a chronologically arranged list of apocryphal stories in the 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms ( Sanguo Yanyi), one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. An illustration from a Ming dynasty edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Romance of the three kingdoms 13