The brotherhood relationship between Liu Bei and Zhang Fei

Xuande and Zhang Fei’s sworn brotherhood is one of the relationships that gives the novel’s wars their intimate stakes: the two are not simply allies but brothers bound by a shared pledge, whose loyalty must survive separation, defeat, and misunderstanding. Their bond is tested most sharply at Gucheng, where Zhang Fei initially believes that Guan Yu’s surrender to Cao Cao has betrayed Xuande, and is renewed when the brothers reunite and celebrate their return to one another.

Identity and Basis of the Bond

The novel places the relationship within the larger world of dynastic collapse and competing military powers. Its historical events are shaped into an epic of heroes and betrayers, drawing on records, oral storytelling, drama, and the later work of a novelist. Within that literary structure, sworn brotherhood makes personal allegiance legible amid shifting armies and political loyalties: Xuande and Zhang Fei’s connection is not erased when they are separated or when circumstances force difficult choices.

The bond is also expressed through the brothers’ shared fortunes rather than through a continuous life together. They can be divided geographically, their forces scattered, and their understanding of events disrupted. Yet each separation remains consequential precisely because reunion is expected and desired. The relationship therefore links military reversals to the question of whether personal loyalty can endure when the brothers cannot see or protect one another directly.

Separation and Military Crisis

After Zhang Fei steals horses belonging to Lü Bu, Xuande offers to return them, but Lü Bu remains furious and attacks Xuande at Xiaopei. Xuande is forced to retreat and leaves by night with his two brothers, intending to offer his service to Cao Cao. The episode places the brotherhood under pressure from political and military circumstances: the brothers move together in flight, while the route toward a safer position depends on finding a powerful ally.

Later, as a force of two hundred thousand soldiers is sent to capture Xuzhou and Xuande, the brothers face a more severe rupture. Xuande’s party seeks help from Yuan Shao, but Yuan refuses to come because his favorite son is dangerously ill. Sun Qian rides back with the news. Zhang Fei proposes attacking Cao Cao’s approaching army at night, reasoning that the troops will be tired after their journey and less alert. The proposal shows him acting not only as a fighter but as a participant in the shared effort to protect Xuande’s position.

Cao Cao is warned by an omen and prepares a trap. When Xuande and Zhang Fei attack his camp, Zhang Fei discovers that it is nearly empty and is surrounded by fires and Cao Cao’s commanders. Men who had recently been captured from Cao Cao’s forces desert, leaving Zhang Fei to fight his way out. He escapes toward the Mang Dang hills after finding the roads to Xiaopei, Xiapi, and Xuzhou blocked. Xuande is ambushed separately, loses contact with half his men, and escapes with about thirty; his remaining men are captured. With Xiaopei burning and the roads to Xiapi and Xuzhou cut, he rides north toward Qingzhou and Yuan Shao. The brothers’ separation thus arises from a failed attack and the collapse of their immediate refuge, not from a choice to abandon one another.

Gucheng: Suspicion and Recognition

The relationship’s most direct test comes after Guan Yu, accompanied by two women, travels for many days. A band of former Yellow Headband rebels confronts the party, but their leader, Zhou Cang, recognizes Guan Yu and asks to join him. A few days later, the travelers hear that a fierce warrior has taken control of Gucheng, expelled its governor, recruited an army, and secured provisions. The warrior is Zhang Fei, who has established himself while the others were away.

Expecting a welcome, Guan Yu sends Sun Qian into the city to announce his arrival and explain that the women are with him. Zhang Fei rides out at the head of a thousand horsemen. Guan Yu sets aside his great sword and rides forward to greet him, but Zhang Fei charges with his spear levelled. Instead of treating the reunion as proof enough of their bond, Zhang Fei reads Guan Yu’s absence through the news that he surrendered to Cao Cao, entered his court, and accepted gifts. The encounter makes the brothers’ shared pledge vulnerable to competing interpretations of loyalty: Zhang Fei believes that service to Cao Cao is incompatible with allegiance to Xuande.

The two women intervene with the circumstances Zhang Fei does not know. They explain that Guan Yu had no idea where either Xuande or Zhang Fei was, that they had to remain with Cao Cao, and that they left as soon as Cao Cao learned Xuande was at Runan. They also describe how Guan Yu protected them during the journey. Zhang Fei remains doubtful, insisting that virtue cannot serve two masters; Guan Yu answers that he has been seriously misjudged. The women’s account changes the meaning of Guan Yu’s conduct from apparent disloyalty to a response to separation and the need to protect them.

Proof, Reunion, and Renewal

Zhang Fei demands proof: Guan Yu must demonstrate his loyalty within the time it takes for three rolls of the war drums. When Cai Yang arrives and accuses Guan Yu of killing his nephew, Guan Yu charges forward and kills him before Zhang Fei can complete even one roll. The troops panic and flee. A captured junior officer reveals that Cao Cao had ordered an attack on Runan, not Guan Yu’s arrest, and that Cai Yang had tried to turn their accidental meeting to his own advantage. Zhang Fei questions the prisoner thoroughly and becomes convinced that Guan Yu has told the truth. The episode resolves the brothers’ conflict through action and testimony: the killing answers Zhang Fei’s test, while the prisoner’s account clarifies why Cai Yang appeared.

The brothers enter Gucheng together and spend the day celebrating and recounting what has happened since their last meeting. Their reunion does not restore an uninterrupted life; it restores the trust needed to continue acting together. Guan Yu and Sun Qian set out to find Xuande, while Zhang Fei stays behind to protect the two women. When Guan Yu and Sun Qian reach Runan, Xuande has already left to consult Yuan Shao. They return disappointed to Gucheng, and the search begins again, with Zhang Fei once more guarding the women while Guan Yu and Sun Qian go to find Xuande. The repeated separation underscores the brothers’ commitment without implying that the road to reunion is easy or immediate.

At last, Xuande and Zhang Fei meet again at Gucheng. Xuande welcomes the return of the others; Zhao Zilong and his warriors join Xuande, and the party rides to the city. Xuande and Zhang Fei greet one another joyfully, and each tells the story of the adventures he has endured. They sacrifice an ox and a horse to Heaven and Earth and celebrate. The ceremony gives their renewed fellowship a public and ritual form, while the reunion brings together a group that had been scattered by military defeat and the demands of travel.

Narrative Significance

The relationship’s dramatic pattern is separation, incomplete information, suspicion, proof, and reunion. Gucheng briefly turns the language of brotherhood into an accusation: Zhang Fei’s fear that Guan Yu has transferred his loyalty makes him ready to attack the very brother he expects to welcome. The women’s explanation and the events surrounding Cai Yang restore the context missing from Zhang Fei’s judgment. The scene thus shows how the bond is tested not only by armies but by the difficulty of knowing what a separated brother has done and why.

The novel’s wider method helps explain the force of this episode. It combines historical material with oral and theatrical traditions, and anonymous poems often summarize events in a manner suited to performance. In that storytelling world, reunion can serve as both an emotional resolution and a restoration of the group’s ability to act. Xuande and Zhang Fei’s brotherhood does not prevent military catastrophe or misunderstanding; its significance lies in the repeated work of recovering trust and returning to a shared cause after those disruptions.