Liao Hua

Liao Hua (died 264), style name Yuanjian, originally named Liao Chun, was a military general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period.

Life
Liao Hua was a native of Xiangyang commandery, Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan), which is around present-day Xiangyang, Hubei. He worked as a Registrar (主簿) under Guan Yu, a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei and who was in charge of Liu's territories in Jing Province. In late 219, while Guan Yu was away at the Battle of Fancheng, Liu Bei's ally, Sun Quan, broke the Sun-Liu alliance by launching an invasion on Jing Province, swiftly and stealthily conquering all of Liu's territories in the province. Guan Yu was captured and executed by Sun Quan's forces. Liao Hua became a prisoner-of-war of Sun Quan, but he constantly thought of returning to Liu Bei's side, so he faked his own death and succeeded in deceiving Sun Quan's men. He then brought his aged mother with him and headed west towards Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing), where Liu Bei's domain was based.

In 221, Liu Bei declared himself 'Emperor' and founded the state of Shu Han. Later that year, he launched a military campaign against Sun Quan to retake his lands in Jing Province and avenge Guan Yu. Liao Hua and his mother encountered the Shu armies at Zigui (秭歸). Liu Bei was very pleased to see Liao Hua and he appointed the latter as the Administrator (太守) of Yidu (宜都) commandery. After Liu Bei died in 223, Liao Hua became an Army Advisor (參軍) under Zhuge Liang, the chancellor-regent of Shu. He was later assigned to be in charge of Guangwu (廣武) and was subsequently promoted to the position of "Right General of Chariots and Cavalry" (右車騎將軍). He was also appointed as the Inspector (刺史) of Bing Province (even though Bing Province was not under Shu's jurisdiction) and enfeoffed as the "Marquis of Zhong District" (中鄉侯). He was known for his fiery personality and determination. Liao Hua's historical rank in the Shu military was equal to those of Zhang Yi and Zong Yu. In late 263, Shu's rival state, Cao Wei, launched a campaign to conquer Shu and succeeded in doing so within a year when the Shu emperor Liu Shan surrendered. After the fall of Shu, Liao Hua was ordered to move out of former Shu territory to the Wei capital Luoyang but he died of illness on the journey.

Liao Hua's birth year could not be determined because his age at the time of his death was not recorded in history. However, it could be deduced that he was in his 70s when he died: Around 261, when Zhuge Zhan took charge of affairs in the Shu imperial court, Liao Hua visited Zong Yu and the latter said, "Both of us are already above the age of 70, [...]"

Liao Hua was critical of the Shu general-regent Jiang Wei, who continued Zhuge Liang's aggressive foreign policy against Wei by launching a series of campaigns to attack Wei between 247 and 262. In 262, when Jiang Wei led Shu forces to attack a Wei garrison at Didao (狄道), Liao Hua commented, "'One who does not refrain from using military force will end up burning himself.' I'm referring to Boyue (Jiang Wei). He is lesser than the enemy in terms of intelligence and military power but yet he keeps attacking them. How can he expect to overcome them? The events of today are exactly as described in this line from the Classic of Poetry: 'Why were these things not before me? Or why were they not after me?'"

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Liao Hua is one of the most aggrandised historical figures in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The following are some significant stories involving Liao Hua from the novel.

In Chapter 27, Liao Hua, a bandit chief and former Yellow Turban rebel, encountered Guan Yu while the latter was on a quest to reunite with Liu Bei. He was accepted by Guan Yu as a subordinate after rescuing Liu Bei's two kidnapped wives, Lady Gan and Lady Mi, from a fellow bandit named Du Yuan.

In Chapter 73, Liao Hua took control of the vanguard during Guan Yu's march on Xiangyang. He successfully lured enemy generals Cao Ren and Zhai Yuan out of their castle, allowing Guan Yu to seize it as his own. In the Battle of Fancheng that followed, Liao Hua was stationed at Sizhong where he was in mutual support of Guan Ping's encampment at Yencheng. When enemy general Xu Huang captured both Sizhong and Yencheng, Liao Hua and Guan Ping fought their way south to Guan Yu. When Guan Yu received news that Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province had been conquered by Sun Quan's army, he retreated to Maicheng (麥城) and was besieged there by Sun's forces. In Maicheng, Liao Hua volunteered to break out of the siege and seek reinforcements from Liu Feng and Meng Da in Shangyong (上庸) commandery. However, Liu Feng and Meng Da refused to help Guan Yu, so Liao Hua had no choice but to travel westward to Chengdu to report the situation to Liu Bei. By then, Guan Yu had been captured in an ambush and executed by Sun Quan.

In his later life and career, Liao Hua actively participated in the Shu campaigns (Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions and Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions) against Wei. One of his most celebrated moments came in Chapter 103, when Sima Yi was retreating from Shangfang Valley. Liao Hua pursued the fleeing general into a dense forest and, being a proficient horseman, was able to catch up and get close enough to strike him down; but when Sima Yi swerved around a tree, Liao Hua missed the shot and his sword became lodged into the wood, allowing Sima Yi to escape. During the chase, however, Sima Yi dropped his golden helmet. Liao Hua took the helmet and traveled back to Zhuge Liang who rewarded him with the first grade of merit for his attempt. This event angered Wei Yan who felt Liao Hua was being unfairly praised. Zhuge Liang noticed this but said nothing, leading to a mild distaste for Wei Yan's jealousy. The helmet was henceforth used as a means of mocking and provoking the Wei army. Following Zhuge Liang's death, Liao Hua moved up the ranks under Jiang Wei, eventually receiving the second-in-command military rank of General of Chariots and Cavalry. As Jiang Wei's senior general, Liao Hua was often tasked with the most important of duties, such as leading the vanguard and dueling enemy generals. Despite his steadfast loyalty to Shu, Liao Hua disagreed with Jiang Wei's constant invasions of Wei and his attempts to claim victory through overpowering numbers, believing these tactics to be a drain on resources and morale; he let it be known that he would run the military differently if he were in command, and this led to quarrels between Jiang Wei and himself. When Liu Shan eventually submitted to Wei in Chapter 119, Liao Hua succumbed to grief and died.

Sao Mi Zhou
The Sao Mi Zhou (掃迷帚; lit. The broom which sweeps away superstitions), a novel written by a certain Zhuangzhe (壯者; lit. "strong man") during the Qing Dynasty, contained a saying about Liao Hua: "If there are no great generals left in Shu, Liao Hua will be the vanguard." (蜀中無大將，廖化作先鋒) It can interpreted as: "Shu was so lacking in talents in its twilight years that an elderly Liao Hua had to lead the vanguard of the Shu army in battle." The proverb is also used to describe a situation in which a person who is seemingly unfit for a job is forced into doing it, but is willing to face what seems to be insurmountable odds against him/her.