Three Kingdoms History: Officer Names

Veteran general in service to the Sun family. Served three generations.

Served Wei. Father to Han Ying, Yao, Qiong, and Qi. Died at Changshan facing Zhao Yun.

Surrendered to Yuan Shao but was abused. Fled to Zhang Miao and later committed suicide.

Governor of Luo Yang, killed by Guan Yu while guarding the passes.

* Translated in Brewitt-Taylor editions of the novel, and in Koei games, as Han Qu.

Officer of Yuan Shu. Convinced by Xiahou Dun to join Cao Cao.

Sent by Cao Rui to tell Cao Zhen not to give battle against Zhuge Liang.

A tactician of Liu Biao, he served as one of Biao’s ministers.

Worked with Ma Chao, before defecting to Cao Cao. Lost his hand to Ma Chao.

White Wave Rebel. Helped Emperor Xian. Served Yuan Shu, Lü Bu. Killed by Bei’s ...

Magistrate of Chang Sha. Wei Yan killed him when surrendering to Liu Bei.

Sent by Yuan Shu to Lü Bu as a messenger for marriage, and later executed.

Yellow Scarf officer. Fought with Zhu Jun and Liu Bei at Wan, but was killed.

Served under Lü Bu. Helped fight Cao Cao at Puyang in AD 164.

A talented officer of Wei. Successfully defended against Zhuge Liang at Chencang.

Son of He Kui, became Minister over the Masses.

Grand Administrator in the Han courts, but was assassinated by the eunuchs.

Served Wu. Son of He Qi. Strict but kind. Died young.

Masters of Writing. Claimed Yuan Shu lacked support if he declared himself Emperor.

Nicknamed ‘The Shooting Devil’ in novel. Yellow Scarves commander. Executed ...

Empress He’s older half-brother. Later assassinated by Dong Zhuo.

Served Wu, first under Sun Ce. Became governor of Xuzhou. Father of He Da.

Rescued Mao Jie from jail but unable to restore his rank.

Grandson of He Qi. Son of He Jing. Unrecorded in history aside from his name.

He Kui’s great-grandfather.

The grandson of He Jin, he served Wei. Was a trusted friend of Cao Shuang.

Yellow Scarves commander. Captured Runan after the Yellow Scarves rebellion.

From Nanyang. Encouraged Cao Cao to restore the Han during Zhang Jue’s rebellion.

* His name is incorrectly translated as ‘He Yong in some Brewitt-Taylor editions, also called Yong in ZZTJ.

Father of Empress He, became General of Chariots and Cavalry.

Grandson of He Qi. Son of He Da. Sun Hao’s Minister of the Interior.

Queen Himiko was the female ruler of pre-Japan’s Yamatai region. Contacted Wei in ...

* Sometime also called Pimiku or Pimiko. Precise pronunciation of her name is unknown as the kanji of her name were written prior to mid-20th century kanji reforms. Himiko may be a Chinese corruption of himemiko (princess priestess or lady shaman), which translates to ‘Sun Child’.

Cavalry commander under Lü Bu. Defected to Cao Cao.

One of the Ten Regular Attendants. Tried to make off with Emperor Bian.

One of Han Sui’s Eight Knights. Surrendered to Cao Cao along with Han Sui

Son of Hu Hua. Helped Guan Yu during his 1,000 li journey from Cao Cao.

Advisor to Niu Fu. He betrayed him and sided with Lü Bu, who executed him.

* Hu Che’er is frequently confused with Hu Juer of Zhang Xiu, but they are, indeed, separate people. Hu Che’er’s name is sometimes typed with or without an apostrophe (Che’er or Cheer), and at times with a hypen instead (Che-er). To complicate matters further, sometimes his name is mistranslated as ‘Chi’er’, with all the according grammatical variations. The Chinese character 赤is actually pronounced Chi4, so the correct spelling of this name should be Hu Chi’er.

Persuaded Sun Hao not to commit suicide but to surrender to Jin instead.

* Also appears sometimes as Hu Zhong.

Killed Zhuge Dan of Wu. Advised Du Yu to wait before attacking Jian Ye.

Father of Hu Ban. Retired officer of the court under Emperor Huan. Met Guan Yu.

Based in Hanshou, went to Cheng Du to get help to repel Wei’s invasion.

Served Zhang Xiu. Stole Dian Wei’s weapons as part of Jia Xu’s plan to defeat ...

* Ju1 is the former pronunciation of 車, which is now pronounced Che1. We hold true to the standard set by Moss Roberts and others, using the old pronunciation for an old historical figure. Besides, it helps to alleviate confusion between him and Hu Che’er of Niu Fu.

Took part in invasion of Shu, got former a vassal to warn his son about Zhong Hui’s ...

Privy counselor to Emperor Xian. Tried to calm an angry Huangfu Li to protect him.

Son of Hu Lie, his army killed Zhong Hui and defeated Jiang Wei’s revolt.

He led 5,000 men against Sun Jian but was killed by Cheng Pu after a few bouts.

Governor of Dongwan, took part in Cao Xiu’s invasion of Wu.

Led the van against Gongsun Yuan then led the van in an invasion of Wu’s Dongxing.

Told Sun Hao not to attack but to gain the love of the people. Left court bemoaning Wu’s ...

* Incorrectly translated in the Brewitt-Taylor edition as Hua Jiao

A famous doctor from the Three Kingdoms period. Killed trying to avoid treating Cao Cao.

Head of “The Dragon”, a group of three scholars. Promoted Emperor Xian’s ...

Brave general in service to Dong Zhuo. Died in battle with Sun Jian.

* Usually Hua is pronounced Hua2, but in the case of a Surname, is pronounced Hua4, hence Hua4 in the audio file.

Known as “Bag of Wisdom”, his advice was not heeded by Cao Shuang. Jailed ...

Served Wu, Wei. Negotiated the return of Sun Jian’s body. Involved with Xian’s ...

* Translated incorrectly as Huan Ji in some sources, including several Brewitt-Taylor editions.

Father of Zhuge Liang’s wife. A prominent scholar of the Later Han Dynasty.

* Incorrectly referenced as Huang Chenyan (承 [Cheng2] as ‘Chen’) in many sites, biographies, and in some Brewitt-Taylor translations.

Son of Huang Quan, who served Liu Zhang then Shu. Killed by his soldiers.

Veteran general in Wu. Came up with the “Bitter Meat Plan” for Chibi.

Eunuch in service to Liu Shan. His advice helped to destroy Shu.

Served Liu Zhang and later Liu Bei. Surrendered to Wei out of necessity.

Yellow Scarves commander. Served with He Yi and He Man. Executed by Cao Cao.

* In the novel, Sanguo yanyi, the Chinese characters used for Huang Shao’s name are huang2 shao4 黃劭. In Sanguozhi, the Chinese characters are huang2 shao4 黃邵. We have chosen to use the historic rendering.

Son of Huang Zu and prefect of Zhangling. Defeated at Shaxian, then lost at Xiakou and ...

Served Shu. Huang Zhong’s son, died young without children.

Son of Huang Quan, who served Liu Zhang then Shu. Died without issue.

Zhuge Liang’s wife. Huang Chengyan’s daughter. Was very smart, but not beautiful.

Joined Liu Bei after Han Xuan’s defeat. One of the Five Tiger Generals.

Served under Liu Biao. Later killed by Gan Ning at Xia Kou.

Officer of Wei and, later, Jin. Joined Zhong Hui in his conquest of Hanzhong.

Served Emperor Xian. Charged with making peace between Li Jue and Guo Si.

Imperial Commander under Han. Fought heavily against the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Sent by Dong Zhuo to pursuade Yuan Shao to lay down his arms. Executed by Wang Kuang.

* Hou Han shu records his style as Jiyou. SGZ: Yuan Shao.

Had a few hundred followers. Huo Jun’s elder brother.

Huo Hu, self-proclaimed master of powders, joins Liu Bei in Capcom’s Destiny of ...

* Huo Hu 火虎 literally translates as Fire Tiger. As such, it was probably intended to be a title rather than a name. Furthermore, Huo 火 is not a proper surname. In Japanese, Huo Hu is pronounced Ka Ku. Discussion. Also, Huo is actually pronounced Huo3 in Chinese, but because Hu3 is after it, it changes Huo3 to Huo2.

Served Liu Biao, but later joined Liu Bei on Meng Da’s recommendation.

Son of Huo Jun, was concerned about lack of defences at Cheng Du.