Story of Zhao Yun : Greatest Rescue in Chinese History

Zhao Yun bound his Precious Cargo to his body and raced across the battlefield slaying countless enemies from his horse upon witnessing the spectacle enemy soldiers gradually started to stand by too scared to attack him he made it through one man against an entire Army he finally crossed the bridge into Liu Bei's camp and from his chest handed over the infant son of Liu Bei and the future heir to the throne of the Shu State Liu Shan this is the greatest rescue story in Chinese history the story of Zhao Yun so when the Han Dynasty started to crumble it gave way to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history where three states would vie for power one of these states was the Shu state which came out of the remnants of the Han Dynasty and Liu Bai was the leader of that state then we have Cao Cao not Cacao there's only one o in there Cao Cao was also a warlord towards the end of the Han Dynasty and he established the Wei state in the north of China so you had Wei and then Shu Han south of Wei which was Liu Bei's territory and then there was another state in the East called Wu which doesn't really figure into this particular story so we'll just ignore that this period of time from 220 to 280 ad was called the Three Kingdoms period or San Guo Shi Dai and there is a very famous famous semi-fictional novel about the Three Kingdoms period called San Guo Yan Yi or Romance of the Three Kingdoms the story we are going to tell today is about a heroic rescue that is dramatized in the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms and can be found on stage by the Chinese Opera and classical Chinese dance companies Zhao Yun who is also called Zi Long from Changshan in modern-day Hebei province is the General at the heart of this story here he is in Peiking Opera and you can even play Zhao Yun in his traditional paying Opera costume in the game Dynasty Warriors 9 so what makes Zhao Yun so great well the story of his daring rescue of Liu Bei's son. Cao Cao was attacking from the north and Liu Bei was retreating with a group of civilians he was protecting but they were falling behind amongst them was Liu's wife and son but the civilians were slowing down the Army here is how it is described in the supposedly factual historical text Zhao Yuns biography in the book of Cao Cao chased Liu Bei to Zhangban in Dangyang Liu Bei abandoned his wife and son and headed south Zhao Yun carried the infant who would be the future Lord of Shu and protect lady Gan who was the future Lord's mother they both avoided any danger he was was promoted to General of the standard as a result. I know it's an incredibly basic description that doesn't give many details all we know is that Liu Bei had abandoned his wife and kid maybe he had been forced to because he had to lead the Army ahead and Zhao Yun protected them carrying the child they both go to safety and he was promoted as a result but in the fictionalized version of the tale in chapter 41 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms we get a much more juicy story with deeper meaning it contains heroism sacrifice and the Chinese idea of loyalty to one's country over all else and who knows maybe this one is real in Romance of the Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun insists on going back for Liu Bei's family Liu Bei at first refuses knowing it is a suicide mission but then reluctantly agrees Zhao Yun rushes off Behind Enemy Lines he first encounters lady Gan and sends her on her way towards Liu Bei's camp but in Romance of the Three Kingdoms there was another lady lady Mi or Mi Fu Ren in real life it is thought that lady Mi was Liu Bei's wife and Lady Gan was actually his concubine the child Liu Shan was actually the son of Lady Gan but in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and in the Chinese Opera performances based on that story for some reason the child is with Lady Mi suggesting maybe the author thought he was her son that is the version of the story that is told so what happens next well lady Gan is already safe so Zhao Yun goes further into enemy territory looking for lady Mi and the boy he finds lady me who had been hit by an arrow in the thigh next to a hole in a wall where there was also a well she's holding the child in her hands Zhao Yun wants to save them both but lady me knows she is too injured to make the journey and if he tries to protect both of them possibly none of them will survive and then Liu Bei will have no heir to the throne Zhao Yun tries to get her to get on his horse but she insists that she is too injured then enemy soldiers start approaching while Zhao Yun is distracted fighting off the enemy lady Mi leaves the child and jumps into the well killing herself and solving the predicament with the ultimate sacrifice Zhao Yun is now free to give his all in protecting the baby and the succession of the throne in the Shu State before he leaves he uses all his strength to push over the wall and rocks poured down filling up the well creating a grave for lady Mi and sealing her body inside so the enemy cannot have access to it he then sets off on his epic ride back to Liu Bei's camp where he defeats dozens of Warriors rushing across the battlefield as if he is a one-man Army this then catches the attention of Cao Cao himself. Cao Cao was amazed and thought Zhao Yun was an incredible Warrior the type of General he would want in his own Army thus he didn't want to kill Zhao Yun so he gave an order the lack of arrows being shot actually made it easier for Zhao Yun since against was flying through the sky at him he was merely a mortal but in combat against men he had Godly Powers he fought off dozens of soldiers all the while protecting the baby and made it to the bridge across the river that led to Liu Bei's Camp legendary Warrior Jung was there guarding the bridge he then hands over the baby who miraculously survived to Liu Bei and Liu Bei is so moved he won't even let Zhao Yun kneel he was torn about this Mission anyway and still feels it may not have been worth it to risk one of his greatest warriors for his son but Zhao Yun and Lady Mi's sacrifice turn out to be worth it because the baby grows up to become the next ruler of the state of Shu, Liu Shan. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms at the end of chapter 41 they leave you with a poem about how heroic Zhao Yun or Zhao Zilong was blood stains his robe and his armor is all red at Dangyang who dares to challenge him in ancient times charging an enemy and braving danger for his Lord was none other than Changshan's Zhao Zilong. All right guys that is the video for today if you like amazing Stories like this why not check out Shen Yun Performing Arts it is the world's top classical Chinese dance company and I am the MC of one of the eight touring companies we have that tour the world simultaneously in the past we have portrayed the story of Zhao Yun on stage and in this year's performance we will have other similar stories from Chinese history brought to life through classical Chinese dance if you're in the Americas, Europe or Asia chances are we may be performing in a city near you click the link below to watch the trailer for The 2025 show and if you do go on to buy tickets you get a waved booking fee on all our US shows with our code LCN 2025 the link is below please subscribe to the channel if you are new and we will see you next time Zai Jian [Music]