The Oath of the Peach Garden (桃园结义 Táoyuán Jiéyì) is the famous opening episode of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei meet in Zhang Fei’s peach garden in Zhuo County, swear brotherhood before heaven and earth, and vow to devote themselves to the Han and to one another. They then raise a volunteer army and join the fight against the Yellow Turban rebels.
In the Romance
The three pledge to be brothers despite not being born on the same day, wishing only to die on the same day. Liu Bei is the eldest, Guan Yu second, Zhang Fei the youngest. The oath binds them for life and frames the rest of the novel: their loyalty to each other and to the restoration of the Han, and the tragedy that follows Guan Yu’s death and Liu Bei’s disastrous campaign against Wu.
History and sources
The Records of the Three Kingdoms (SGZ) state that Liu Bei shared a close bond with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, “sleeping in the same bed like brothers,” but do not mention a peach garden or a formal oath. The Peach Garden oath is a Romance invention that crystallises the theme of brotherhood and has become one of the best-known scenes in Chinese popular culture.