The Ever-Victorious General of Changban
The most "flawless" of Liu Bei’s generals — skilled in arms, utterly loyal, and extremely careful, with scarcely a blemish on his record. His solo ride to save his lord at Changban made his name; thereafter he followed Liu Bei and served Liu Shan, fighting for decades almost without a defeat, and so earned the name "Ever-Victorious General." In the histories his rank was in truth not top-tier; the real "deification" owes much to the filter of the Romance.
When the army broke at Changban and Liu Bei’s family was scattered in the rout, Zhao Yun charged alone into the Cao encirclement, in and out seven times, carrying the newborn Ah Dou (Liu Shan), cutting his way clear, felling two of Cao’s standards and seizing three lances, and brought his lord’s only son out whole. Cao Cao, watching from a height, marveled "a true tiger of a general!" and ordered him taken alive, no arrows loosed.
While Liu Bei was away in Shu, Sun Quan’s sister Lady Sun sought to slip Ah Dou back to Wu as a hostage. Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei caught it in time, intercepted the boat on the Yangtze, and wrested Ah Dou back from Lady Sun’s arms. Once by rescue and once by interception, Zhao Yun twice preserved Shu Han’s heir at the crucial moment — Liu Shan owed him his life twice over.
The fame of the "Ever-Victorious General" owes much to the novel’s filter — in the histories Zhao Yun’s rank was in fact not top-tier; the rescue at Changban is recorded, but the "in and out seven times" exaggeration and his many duels with Ma Chao, Huang Zhong and others are all the novel’s embellishment.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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