Zhang Fei

Zhang Fei, styled Yide, was a native of Zhuojun Commandery and one of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu Han. He swore brotherhood with Liu Bei and Guan Yu in the Peach Garden Oath. At the Battle of Changban, his thunderous roar alone caused Cao Cao’s army to retreat in disarray; he later showed magnanimity by releasing the captured Shu general Yan Yan and achieved a decisive victory over Zhang He. Appointed Chariot-and-Horse General and enfeoffed as Marquis of Xixiang, he was assassinated in the first year of the Zhangwu era and posthumously honoured with the title Marquis Huanhou. As he hailed from Zhuojun—a region known for its butchers and meat vendors—folk tradition holds that he began his career slaughtering pigs and selling meat, leading butchers and meat merchants to revere him as their patron deity. Moreover, owing to his fearless bravery, unyielding integrity, and fierce hatred of evil, he is widely regarded as a deity who dispels malevolent spirits and suppresses harmful forces. Langzhong in northern Sichuan served as his garrison stronghold, and the Hanhuanhou Temple there has maintained uninterrupted incense offerings for over a millennium; local people pray to him for his awe-inspiring spiritual protection to ensure peace and safety throughout the region.