China: Zhao Yun (- 229 CE) fights Yuan Shao (- 28 June 202 CE) while Gongsun Zan (- March 199 CE) watches. Illustration from a Ming Dynasty edition of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'

Zhao Yun (-229 CE), courtesy name Zilong, was a military general during the Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period. He originally served under the northern warlord Gongsun Zan before later leaving to serve Liu Bei instead.

Under Liu Bei, he took part in many of the aspiring emperor-to-be's exploits, from the Battle of Changban to the Hanzhong Campaign. After the formation of the Shu Han state and Liu Bei's death, he still continued to fight, participating in the first of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions, until he eventually died in 229 CE.

Little information is given about Zhao Yun and his life in historical sources, with most of his activities and character dramatised and exaggerated in fiction such as 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', where he is but one of the lauded Five Tiger Generals who served under Liu Bei.

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