As I'm watching this, I can't help asking myself how one individual can help prolong a war and got so many killed. The not so famous lords who surrendered to Cao Cao get to live a happy and prosper lives. Along with his people. I also wonder why Liu bei was so poor to begin with? I thought Liu Bang would lift millions off poverty...
There is theory is that Liu Bei had always had aspiration to become the emperor However, Guan Yu was loyal to the Han dynasty - the only reason why he followed Liu Bei was because LB presented himself as a Han loyalist trying to revive the Han However, by the time near Guan Yu's death it was apparent to him that LB was merely putting up an act, and LB's ambitions became apparent to Guan Yu, and a rift started developing between them It sort of checks out It's why Guan Yu never participated in the subjugation of Shu - because to him that was LB seizing land from Liu Zhang, who was the rightful lord of Shu, previously appointed by the Han court It's also why Guan Yu embarked on his campaign with almost little to no support from the rest of Shu - Guan Yu was literally going at it alone At that point, his mindset was, "Fine if LB doesn't care about saving the Han emperor, I'll just have to do it myself" It's also why when GY requested for help, Meng Da and Liu Feng denied to help Think about it GY is supposedly the brother of the new lord of Shu LB, would any Shu subject dare to deny his request for help? Especially Liu Feng, considering he is LB's adopted son The theory is that, Liu Feng must have received instructions to leave GY be, and were later scapegoated for it To LB, GY at that point has become an obstacle for him to be emperor, yet there is no way he can remove GY, so letting GY die a heroic death in battle is the perfect solution for him And if GY's death gives him a pretext to invade Wu, that's like killing two birds with one stone, to him The theory also goes on to say that LB's other close followers, like ZGL and Zhao Yun, were aware of these tensions, to some degree It's why they vehemently opposed LB's Wu campaign, and chose to sit it out. -Val K
This kinda reminds me of the way my literature teacher describes the three lords of the three kingdoms. He said that the three kingdoms were basically a battle between a Wolf, a Fox, and a Hound. Cao Cao is a ferocious great wolf that everyone is afraid of. Liu Bei is a sly fox that's proficient in deception and guile. Sun Quan is a hound that got chained up and can only running around his kennel. (the southland) Got to admit... That's quite an image to use to sum up those three...
The behind the scenes of the 2010 Three Kingdom's series is... something else. Seeing the ever morally just Liu Bei smoking a few ciggies is hilarious!
So Liu Bei's Gambit was a cross between an underdog and a cockroach. Face a superior enemy, which you don't necessarily have to beat but just make sure he doesn't kill you.
I always thought the refugee who follow Liu Bei to Changbang was him "forcing" them to follow him in history, turns out the refugee genuinely did trust and follow Liu Bei on their own will.
well both liu bei and then zhuge liang always take care of folk in town and always trying to evacuate the people to prevent them get massacre by enemy forces when they qonquer the town
@@khai96x How is Cao Cao worst in your opinion? Keep in mind the country is at war, corruption brought down the Han Dynasty and someone killed Cao Cao father. Just ask Liu bei what he would do to the Wu population if he had beaten Lu Xun to avenge Guan Yu death? I'll surrender my kingdom to anyone who able to guess what the hell bent Liu bei would do.
The “Liu Bei’s Gambit” tactic called here is also mentioned in the 48 Laws of Power. Find a Goliath and defeat it. If you win, you gain power. If you lose you are revered as a martyr and hero. In stand up comedy one of the rules is punch up, never punch down. For example, making fun of a celebrity is funnier than making fun of a homeless person.
liu bei's rise, character, and tactics even his fate were mirroring his ancestor, Liu Bang who potrayed himself as benevolent ruler opposing the tyrant Xiang Yu. But this kind of strategy isn't for every one. Many challenged Cao Cao, only to lose their heads in the end.
Yet the only time Cao Cao "won" during after the Three Kingdoms is formed is by letting Wu take the lead against Guan Yu. He won against previous mostly minor warlords because of advantages from the imperial court but never against Sun Quan and Liu Biao or Kongming-assisted Liu bei.
@@Account.for.Comment that is to be expected. By the time three kingdoms were formed, all his enemies had consolidated their power, and they did have sizeable territory, population and resources, not to mention geography advantage to deal with Cao Cao. Cao Cao wasn't the only one grew stronger. Anyway, I have to say, Cao Cao also had help from luck , a lot of it, beside his talent of course. The emperor Xian fell into his hand is one of the example.
@@godzillamothra5983 Cao Cao is a brilliant politician but his achievements tend to blind people in seeing some sort of self-insert supergenius strongman. Most of his advisors came to him from Xun Yu recommendations. By holding the emperor hostage, he can effectively control declared legitimacy and bring upon civil officers who cannot be considered traitors by working for his government. With his base in Guanzhong, the most important territory and from a powerful noble family, very close to the imperial government, he had a superior headstart toward everyone else, including Yuan Shao (whom was born of a concubine), Yuan Shu (who split the Yuan), Lu Bu, Dong zhuo, Liu Biao,... After his failure at Chibi, Sun Quan managed to turn his warlord state into a proper kingdom while Liu Bei managed to kick him out of Hanzhong. Before, he had a proper government and fought with bandit leaders. After Chibi, when his enemies also had proper governments in place, he never seem to achieve any similar success again.
I love the episode when Lu Bu, who was infamous for murdering his own lord twice and who should not be an ally, was executed, saying, "Liu Bei is the most untrustworthy person there."
He said that because when Cao Cao is considering whether to spare Lü Bu or not, Liu Bei literally reminds Cao Cao of the fact that Lü Bu murdered his lords Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo. What he said is recorded by Chen Shou as "明公不見布之事丁建陽及董太師乎?" which can be translated as "Your excellency, don't you remember how Lü Bu served Ding Yuan and lord Dong Zhuo?"
Even as a Liu Bei fan, I always found it funny in the books/games that any decision/action that was even remotely shady was done under extreme duress and placed on the shoulders of officers and advisors.
So basically, two thousand years ago, Liu Bei had already discovered the value of a good feud. And as any sports/wrestling fan knows, a good feud tends to be beneficial to everyone involved. BTW, are you going to do a video on the real life Lu Bu?
I think some people misunderstand Liu Bei's crying in the novel. It wasn't always some honest expression of grief. It was often a calculated performance to "bribe the hearts" of his subordinates, or to feign weakness towards an enemy to survive.
I would say that Zhuge Liang also contributed in shaping his image to resemble Liu Bang even further. In the historical Longzhong plan, ZGL had alluded to Liu Bang using the Yi Province (Liu Zhang's territory) as his former base. Besides its strategic value, therw was definitely symbolic value in that territory.
I don't remember where I read this(so take it with a grain of salt): One of the reason Liu Bang gain a lot of talented subordinates is that he advertise his weakness(or successfully tricked them into believing this was his weakness) being low born without much education) he needs/completely dependant on his subordinates to even function thus could not replace them & would reward them handsomely forever unlike Xiang Yu(has great military & governing skill)
I always found that descriptor of Liu Bei "he never shifted his expression between happiness and sadness" as very strange as we have plenty of anecdotes of Liu Bei being angry, sad, witty, laughing, crying (because he was out of shape), sarcastic. comforting. The records do a pretty good job of fleshing out Liu Bei's personality.
Liu Bei's greatest skill was : 1. His ability to keep his ambition hidden & appear harmless on other warlord's eyes. (Liu Bang did this, making Xiang Yu ignored him at first) 2. Coming from a poor livelihood, he knew well how peasants felt, and therefore he could compose words and/or actions that could easily sway the masses. Cao Cao was a good anti-hero type, unafraid and uncaring of losing fame as long it can make him win, the type of skill very useful to counter rebels and such. Liu Bei was loved by the masses, peasants more willing to accept hardship when the request comes from him. Sun Quan was good with trade & micro-management. Considering he could even make early Wu province prosper eventhough it's pretty much the worst area for resources, he could've done wonders on area with more resources. Imagine if the three could work together.
nah, liu bei's best skill imo, is he knows talent when he sees it guan yu was a convict before liu bei recruited him zhang fei was a mere butcher zilong was rotting his life away under gongsun zan zhuge liang was a useless shut in pang tong and fa zheng both had awful reputation, no one wanted to hire pang tong and fa zheng's coworkers ostracized him liu bei found those talents and utilized them properly to realize his ambition
to be fair cao cao is aware about liu bei threat that why he try so hard to destroy liu bei(even when he take over jing province, cao cao then trying to exterminate all liu bei forces)
@@areaxisthegurkha That's the first time I've ever heard of that account Back when Liu Bei first recruited Zhuge Liang, he wasn't a warlord, he was just an honored guest of Liu Biao, how could Zhuge Liang worked under him as a minister ?
I love the art for the characters you use! Alot of people don't know this, but Liu Bei's nickname was "Long ears" because many often commented on how unusually long his ears were. Your artist nailed this! And I think video games and movies downplay Liu Bei to make Guan Yu and Zhang Fei more supernaturally strong....In truth, he fought, and dueled as often as his brothers. In fact, they were called the "Three warrior brothers" because all three were excellent fighters. They downplay other characters, like Liu Feng the same way. Even though Feng was sent to meet challenges and won quite often in the novel. One of my favorite parts in fact, is when Cao Cao jumps up and down and rants "Stop sending that pretend-son of yours out here! If my son Zhang was here he would carve that boy into mince meat!" After Feng beat three of Cao's generals.
Loved the thumbnail. Mr Yu Hewei was perfect as Liu Bei, some scenes of him using his swords or arguing actually nodded to the historical Liu Bei, worthy of Gaozu of Han's blood.
Another thing folks respect Liu Bei for was that LB had little resources compare with the rest of the warlords of his time. Even though Cao & Sun faction didn't start with the kinda resources Yuan Shao had, they still had a better head start compare with Liu Bei.
@@乐匠 Cao Cao, Shun Quan, even to Yuan Shao or Dong Zhuo... Liu Bei is the only one among them, with loyal blood. Dong Zhuo using the young puppet emperor because he himself doesn't have the loyal blood and any rightful claim to be the emperor. Cao Cao also never proclaim himself as emperor, not until his son did when they are truly powerful already. In that era, they are all just courtiers, doesn't have the right to claim the throne or threatened the emperor, when that happen, they are just rebellion. When rebellion happen and the emperor there is too young and weak of power, loyal official will run to another loyalty hopefully justice will serve, and at that time, Liu Bei is the one to run to.
@@乐匠 Liu Biao fight Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Sun army, Cao Cao, but never Liu Bei. When during the early period, Liu Bei lost to Cao Cao, he even go and serve under Liu Biao. Liu Bei has little resources, but his "Liu" is a big help, he has alliance by blood(all the other Liu). The Liu Bei profit from his loyal blood is because of the mindset, Han Dynasty belong to "Liu", they also have Liu family members covering each other. For all the others military leader out there, they are all rebellion, but not for Liu Bei, he is the "good guy" because he is Liu, the rightful members of the Han Dynasty. Liu Bei seem to be lack of resources during the early years, but he is not that lonely, he has Liu family. Edit: And he also can look for help from Han official that is loyal to Han dynasty.
@@乐匠 "Give him a bite to eat"..do you know how important that help is?? Help doesn't mean helping life to dead, a simple assist mean a lot. Liu Bei would face no where to go more, or even die several time without this kind of small assist.
what amazes me is the wide interpretations of Liu Bei that vary so wildly that some people even compare him to Dong Zhou, and whilst I've always been a Liu Bei simp I can fully appreciate why people come to this conclusion, I guess it's because the history we have is more of a novel rather than a true historical record, if only we could see the true history of events!
It is really a matter of perception management. When he backstabs warlords and other elites, usually the commoners are not affected or they even receive part of the plunder. So his support base might actually be completely fine with him backstabbing the social elites.
@@CoolHistoryBros I would argue its mostly historical revisionism, since Liu Bei is posthumously made out to be a better person by the Liu Song dynasty historians trying to make Liu Bei into the beaten underdog vs the treasonous snake he really was.
the greatness about this novel is everyone can find their own role model. and with growing of our age, you maybe think differently on the same person. when I was young, I like zhao yun but i wish I can be Cao Cao. when I got married, I understand more about Sun Family. at age of almost 40, I started my own business, I a getting interested in Liu Bei. this is why three kingdoms is amazing.
I never understand why Zhao Yun was the poster guy for the franchise. Liu Bei or Cao Cao would have been better... or even Lu Bu, the most known character of the series.
Holy shit, I have to give you guys props I first came across this channel way back when the channel released its first video, the one about Sun Tzu I got turned off and didn't even finish the video, because not only did you guys mispronounced most of the Chinese names in the video, you guys described it as "commonly accepted" pronunciation Not only did I not finish the video, I simply ignored all other videos from this channel whenever YT tried recommending them to me But today one of your video (this one) randomly got recommended to me again, and I decided to give it another go And I have to say, I am impressed that you guys actually put in the effort to improve and are now using the correct pronunciations My hat off to you guys
Fun facts: there’re papers counting and studying how many times the lords of three kingdom cried in history and Liu Bei actually scored the lowest. I remember the number is: Cao Cao: 14 times Sun Quan: 13 times Liu Bei: 7 times
@@Ventus2077 yeah and I think another reason is records of Shu is overall shorter and contains fewer details than Wei and Wu (but still it's interesting how historic facts and stereotypes could differ
What I would do to see a TV series or film based on the real historical Three Kingdoms personalities as opposed to their novel counterparts. The true history is much more fascinating. Thanks for such an informative video!
What i like from Liu Bei 2010, is that he's the only lord with fighting scenes. I wonder if in real history he's a skilled swordsman too. He used two sword in the drama if im not wrong. And he once claimed that he is second to none with the sword.. Anyway.. thank you for covering this. I only have one volume of the novel (2014, Yu Simei) and rely only to wiki for historical source. I think now i like the real Liu Bei than the novel and drama version 🔥
I might try to ask legit experts on rhetoric and argumentaation whether Liu Bei's gambit has a name. You really did choose a marvelous contemporary example!
I'm reading various Romance of Three Kingdoms books that are interpreted differently from the original text from the Ming dynasty. In one of those translations, Liu Bei comes off more as a village gangster, albeit one with a golden heart who protects the villagers from the corrupt officials, who is tough and can hold his own on the battle field with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
Yeah, he led his armies from the front. Even charged at Lu Bu along with his brothers. They weren't called "Liu Bei and the warrior brothers". They were called "The THREE warrior brothers"!
I really like Liu Bei’s portrayal in the 2010 show. He wasn't perfect like in the 1995 series, but somebody fighting his own demons. Which is could be why he’s more stoic. His aggression seemed bottled up. He's trying to be a good person, despite the world pulling him to be as monstrous as the other warlords, before he finally breaks near the end.
That is a key evidence to prove liu bei was a badass is his swordsmanship. The way of liu bei's double-sword has pass the trial of time, which is still considered as one of the five most well known double-sword tech in China. And You Can Still Learn It Today!
Yeah his combat prowess is severely underestimated in modern depictions. Historically the famous Lu Bu fight was one-on-one, not all three of them ganging up on Lu Bu. That means Liu Bei actually survived exchanging blows with Lu Bu which says a lot.
@@PossessedbyPhoenix Historically, they don’t even fight (at least in Hu Lao gate). Liu Bei and his bros weren’t invited nor did he invite himself to the Guanzhong coalition. First time he met Lu Bu was when he was in Xuzhou.
@@PossessedbyPhoenix well actually Sun Jian himself already defeated both Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo in Hulao Gate and the Line about "do not pursue Lu Bu" is happen because Lu Bu with his red hare is so fast to catch that made Sun Jian order his army to dont pursue Lu Bu and then focusing to take over Luoyang
He was a badass warrior and a great politician but unbelievably bad as a general (most of his victories were due to taigen sesai and Tokugawa Ieyasu) at least according to my sources
@@james-97209 yeah, his political as a leader of a clan is "good enough" back then, but making him look like a joke character is a bit like what? well, in that time, Ieyasu is kid, and his clan "matsudaira" was a vassal only to him, but about Sessai, completely agree tho
You can even compare Liu Bei and Sun Yat Sen or Chiang Kai Shek because they are all witty, charismatic and idealistic. On the other hand Si Ma Yi are best compared with Mao Ze Dong because both Mao Ze Dong and Si Ma Yi are very cunning and ambitious, their favourite strategy is wait for the right moment to strike their opponent down.
@@ucmanhho9457 This is why Mao Ze Dong simply relocate his power base to Yan An, while avoiding most of the fights until the Chinese Nationalist exhausted themselves during Second Sino Japanese War.
(ps) Of course, this is not to say the historical Liu Bei was just another bloodthirsty warlord that was whitewashed. Liu Bei's course of action as written in the records, really were incomparably more benevolent than Cao Cao. So it could be said that the traditional image of the ideal ruler was a very nice and easy fit to cast upon Liu Bei, because he already was the more popular choice for the masses long before the Romance was ever written. Records seem to imply Liu Bei, was already a more popular choice than Cao Cao even during the Three Kingdoms era, especially when Cao Cao became more and more powerful. The neat part, is that Liu Bei KNEW this and admits that his success is by being the polar opposite of Cao Cao -- in his own words!
Very interesting. I've always wondered why LIU BEI and SHU was glorified the way they ended up being. If you think about it , its very rare that the loser is remembered so fondly since history is written by the victors. And altho my knowledge of the historical facts of this era are lacking. I'm pretty sure I've heard that Cao Cao did alot for the people as far as feeding them and they did much better under him then they had done under the HAN in the last 100 years.
cao cao did, but then again, he wasn't THAT magnanimous, the bar was just too low, han dynasty at that time was so bad that cannibalism was pretty much common
Cao Cao also has done some good welfare policy IIRC, like farmland and harvest policy for the rebel and common folks that actually successful and help the impoverished people of the north. but as the video said, the bar is too low while Cao Cao has too many history of massacre and the peasants anxious when will be their turn
I tend to personally view Liu Bei to be even more conniving then Cao Cao. Cao Cao may be blatantly autocratic, but Liu Bei seem to cultivate 'relations' just so they can die for his ascension. His greatest ability is to con people to die for him. It is a commonality of history, you don't get to be founding ruler without being the most ruthless bastards around. The emperors with better records or ethical tends to be 2nd to 4th of a dynasty.
I remember reading the manga where a fisherman found the seal and he rewarded him handsomely. Then comes the plan to proclaim himself emperor but his advisers told him to "deny" it at first and delay the ceremony for a few days to make the impression that he's humble in what I call a "sadboy" move. He's just any other person vying for power at that time.
I always thought Liu bei was more badass than cao cao and sun Jian because he started from nothing and was able to rival their vast kingdoms. The others simply already inherited a powerful kingdom.
"I am Zhang Yide. Come and battle me to the death!" When I read record of three kingdoms, I was suprised that zhao yun and zhang fei's legendary feats at the battle of changban were real, not just fictional things.
Yeah, also Zhang Fei did fend off an army by shouting at them. However It wasn't Cao Cao and his main army, but Cao Cao's cavalry led by his nephew I believe (cannot remember his name at the moment) He pulled down the bridge and had 20 riders run in circles behind him kicking up dust. The several thousand horsemen were nervous about an ambush so they refused to try to cross the river. Then they withdrew because there wasn't any good options.
The word you were looking for was "clout chasing". But maybe we are two parties in the same arena playing different games with different prizes. I want to act smart and you wanted me to comment. Great vid!
6:58 Liu Biao and Liu Zheng were also descendants of Emperor Jing. I mean by the end of the Ming Dynasty like 10,000 men descended from Zhu Yuanzhang so likely as many descended from Jing and even more from Gaozu (Liu Bang). Liu Bei’s ancestor Liu Sheng had 120 sons.
Sorry the Ming Dynasty had 200,000 members by the end of the dynasty in 1644. All those enfeoff princes got busy. While the Aisin Gioro had 29,000 by 1912. So the Liu clan’s 400 year of rule must have left a equally important mark on history. I think you can cast doubt on the significance of a cousin 200 year removed from the then emperor Xian (who himself descends from Emperor Guangwu who also descended Emperor Jing) but why doubt his distant claim to Emperor Jing?
It makes sense if you are too nice of a person u wont achieve much, Liu Bei is very very ambitious and smart the fact that he was there to restore the emperor’s power and not seize power for himself (his main propaganda whether real or not) made people view him as the good guy here. And the fact that people viewed him as their good guy hero they loved to portray him as an extremely nice man and match their standards of a perfect ruler. And to be honest unless u are a fox and cunning u wont achieve much otherwise u will be too predictable and fail against your competitors.
As a fan of the video game, Dynasty Warriors, my mind is blown I think. I always thought Bo Wan Po was a feat belonging to Zhuge Liang since Dynasty Warriors 4.
What exactly is so dirty about Liu Bei's Gambit? I get that it can create toxic environments on Twitter, but in the original context of the Three Kingdoms conflict Liu Bei's actions benefited the people going through a deadly civil war (otherwise they wouldn't have supported him).
@@ElBandito we can't be sure. Cao Cao was very successful against minor warlords and total fools like yuan. But he had hard time defeating comparable equal opponents. He made many bad decisions like during battle of chibi. So,we don't know he could unified the china. And at the end, Sima hijacked his empire, unified china and we all know how it ended (era of eight princes). On other hand, historical liu bei more appear like liu bang, guy whose dynasty survived for 400 years.
@@marvelloustraveller3559 Yuan Shao was not a total fool. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to defeat the likes of Gongsun Zang, who himself was a seasoned commander of a border area populated by raiding nomads. As for Chi Bi, Cao Cao was not a naval commander, and he most likely delegated the deployment details to his officers, so the blame should not be 100% his. You forgot that there are plenty of warlords Cao defeated who were not minor, such as Lu Bu, Ma/Han alliance, and Zhang Lu.
Cao cao: i rather betray the world than let the world betray me. Liu bei: Treat people with virtue, only kindness and virtues move people. Sun quan: haha tiger.
And his most underrated skill was pretending to be dead. It was written in his biography in SGZ. That's how he survived his campaign against the Yellow Turbans. How'd you think that he managed to stay alive fighting against the always superior Cao Cao's force.
@@CoolHistoryBros Interesting interpretation. The translation I read said that Liu Bei got terribly wounded when he went to fight the Yellow Turbans (I believe in his attempt to save Kong Rong).
I just need more TV series of this period. Imagine a good budget series with great effects. I'm tired of rewatching the 90s and 10s version need moooore
i like Liu Bei in "火鳳燎原" (The Ravages of Time) of Chen Mou more than the one in "Three Kingdoms" of Luo Guanzhong. To think of it, i could say that i like every character in "火鳳燎原" more than in "Three Kingdoms". Lou Guanzhong favored the Shu too much, and down grade all the other warlord. While Chen Mou has more modern objective view about canon history
People usually call the Liu Bei gambit "clout chasing". It means trying to get attention and followers usually through starting a fight with bigger accounts
love your vids ! very weird that you mentionned earlier people don't like your accent, as it attracts me so much instead ! Keep up the good work and good animations my guy
Liu Bei was very controversial but his story had been making a better one to support the imperialism by the latter writers [Which all of them wrote the romance of the three kingdoms by the order of the emperor] - Liubei's linage was the problem but hard to denied because Liu Sheng had too many children. - His rival CaoCao was a reformist and the forward thinker who broke away from the old aristocrats [during that time]. CaoCao mass murder was very crude but he had his own reason with quite reasonable *******Tao Qian was the main reason: In the novel, he was an unlucky old man whom Caocao's father died in his domain....... but in the real history...It had a very high chance that Tao Qian himself was the one who ordered the massacre] And During the Chinese dark age of power struggle...Massacre entire town was quite a normal event. [Man-eating cases happen many times...Worse...The people exchange their children and committed canibalism] Latter revealed.... Liu Bei was one of the worst warlords after the empire spitting to three states. He chose the wrong person for the job with cost his unified of the empire. [He gave Guan Yu one of the most important key positions....with the latter lost Jīngzhōu because of his arrogance [Guan Yu was one of the greatest warriors but not a good governor, diplomat, and most importantly aborncommander]
Here are the link and code for the special Curiositystream Promo.
Link: curiositystream.com/HistoryBros
Code: HistoryBros
Can you also cover The Water Margin story?
@@joseph9n6 I heard about that alot.
What's its about?
As I'm watching this, I can't help asking myself how one individual can help prolong a war and got so many killed.
The not so famous lords who surrendered to Cao Cao get to live a happy and prosper lives.
Along with his people.
I also wonder why Liu bei was so poor to begin with?
I thought Liu Bang would lift millions off poverty...
There is theory is that Liu Bei had always had aspiration to become the emperor
However, Guan Yu was loyal to the Han dynasty - the only reason why he followed Liu Bei was because LB presented himself as a Han loyalist trying to revive the Han
However, by the time near Guan Yu's death it was apparent to him that LB was merely putting up an act, and LB's ambitions became apparent to Guan Yu, and a rift started developing between them
It sort of checks out
It's why Guan Yu never participated in the subjugation of Shu - because to him that was LB seizing land from Liu Zhang, who was the rightful lord of Shu, previously appointed by the Han court
It's also why Guan Yu embarked on his campaign with almost little to no support from the rest of Shu - Guan Yu was literally going at it alone
At that point, his mindset was, "Fine if LB doesn't care about saving the Han emperor, I'll just have to do it myself"
It's also why when GY requested for help, Meng Da and Liu Feng denied to help
Think about it
GY is supposedly the brother of the new lord of Shu LB, would any Shu subject dare to deny his request for help?
Especially Liu Feng, considering he is LB's adopted son
The theory is that, Liu Feng must have received instructions to leave GY be, and were later scapegoated for it
To LB, GY at that point has become an obstacle for him to be emperor, yet there is no way he can remove GY, so letting GY die a heroic death in battle is the perfect solution for him
And if GY's death gives him a pretext to invade Wu, that's like killing two birds with one stone, to him
The theory also goes on to say that LB's other close followers, like ZGL and Zhao Yun, were aware of these tensions, to some degree
It's why they vehemently opposed LB's Wu campaign, and chose to sit it out.
-Val K
@Cool History Bros You should do more Three Kingdoms History on every characters.
liu bei's lose streak since 192-208 is my motivation to never give up.
Loo thanks I’ll try to think about that since i feel like giving up rn
you gotta read about sun yat sen then
This video alone has done way more justice to the real life Liu Bei than all the Three Kingdoms media combined.
This kinda reminds me of the way my literature teacher describes the three lords of the three kingdoms.
He said that the three kingdoms were basically a battle between a Wolf, a Fox, and a Hound.
Cao Cao is a ferocious great wolf that everyone is afraid of.
Liu Bei is a sly fox that's proficient in deception and guile.
Sun Quan is a hound that got chained up and can only running around his kennel. (the southland)
Got to admit... That's quite an image to use to sum up those three...
Really a very underrated comment! And quite hilarious too! 😝😝😝
Spot on mate...
Damn
You had a literature teacher that _CARED_ about the Three Kingdoms? 🤔 Majority of my teachers straight up ignored Asian history lol
Very accurate.
Wow, what a teacher!
The behind the scenes of the 2010 Three Kingdom's series is... something else. Seeing the ever morally just Liu Bei smoking a few ciggies is hilarious!
My favorite of the cigarette ones are Cao Cao reading the script while smoking and Zhuo Yu and Lu Su smoking while chatting.
Also Lu Bu using a cell phone is a classic by its own right!
IKR! The actor was so good in portraying a "good" Liu Bei, and then he was puffing it out haha!
@@TheSunMoon the same actor played cao cao in the advisor's alliance if you wanna see more three kingdom dramas.
Wait till you see the 2010 Liu Bei became 2017 Cao Cao in another series LMAO! That quickly became a running joke among the Chinese speaking viewers.
So Liu Bei's Gambit was a cross between an underdog and a cockroach. Face a superior enemy, which you don't necessarily have to beat but just make sure he doesn't kill you.
See also: Sima Yi.
Lol!
Liu bei was copying Liu Bang when he use the similar trick against his rival Xiang Yu
@@condorX2 except Cao Cao is not an idiot like Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu in theory can kill Liu Bang e few times over, but overly confident.
Ma boi Liu had only the rizz on his side but still went so far 🫡
I always thought the refugee who follow Liu Bei to Changbang was him "forcing" them to follow him in history, turns out the refugee genuinely did trust and follow Liu Bei on their own will.
More like they had no choice. If they stayed, Cao Cao would have massacre them.
well both liu bei and then zhuge liang always take care of folk in town and always trying to evacuate the people to prevent them get massacre by enemy forces when they qonquer the town
Novel: Liu Bei sucks, overly reliant on his subordinates.
Reality: Bad ass.
Novel: Cao Cao bad.
Reality: Cao Cao isn't as bad as the novel made it out to be, he's worse.
@@khai96x How is Cao Cao worst in your opinion?
Keep in mind the country is at war, corruption brought down the Han Dynasty and someone killed Cao Cao father.
Just ask Liu bei what he would do to the Wu population if he had beaten Lu Xun to avenge Guan Yu death?
I'll surrender my kingdom to anyone who able to guess what the hell bent Liu bei would do.
@@condorX2 watch the video
@@khai96x Read my question again.
What would Liu bei do to the Wu population if had beaten Lu Xun to avenge Guan Yu death?
@@condorX2 you are speculating about *what would have been* and not *what actually happened*
The “Liu Bei’s Gambit” tactic called here is also mentioned in the 48 Laws of Power. Find a Goliath and defeat it. If you win, you gain power. If you lose you are revered as a martyr and hero.
In stand up comedy one of the rules is punch up, never punch down. For example, making fun of a celebrity is funnier than making fun of a homeless person.
Huh. That's neat. But does it have an actual name though?
Hey look I’m in the thumbnail :D
Still my favorite image from the 2010 show.
You deserve it with that awesome name and picture.
I gave the 100th thumb up. Just saying. 😎
@@SeanHiruki this, and that photo of cao cao holding a plushie
@@htf5555 talking about me i see
liu bei's rise, character, and tactics even his fate were mirroring his ancestor, Liu Bang who potrayed himself as benevolent ruler opposing the tyrant Xiang Yu. But this kind of strategy isn't for every one. Many challenged Cao Cao, only to lose their heads in the end.
Tell that to LüBu!
@@georgeso4364 or the yuans
Yet the only time Cao Cao "won" during after the Three Kingdoms is formed is by letting Wu take the lead against Guan Yu. He won against previous mostly minor warlords because of advantages from the imperial court but never against Sun Quan and Liu Biao or Kongming-assisted Liu bei.
@@Account.for.Comment
that is to be expected. By the time three kingdoms were formed, all his enemies had consolidated their power, and they did have sizeable territory, population and resources, not to mention geography advantage to deal with Cao Cao. Cao Cao wasn't the only one grew stronger.
Anyway, I have to say, Cao Cao also had help from luck , a lot of it, beside his talent of course. The emperor Xian fell into his hand is one of the example.
@@godzillamothra5983 Cao Cao is a brilliant politician but his achievements tend to blind people in seeing some sort of self-insert supergenius strongman. Most of his advisors came to him from Xun Yu recommendations. By holding the emperor hostage, he can effectively control declared legitimacy and bring upon civil officers who cannot be considered traitors by working for his government. With his base in Guanzhong, the most important territory and from a powerful noble family, very close to the imperial government, he had a superior headstart toward everyone else, including Yuan Shao (whom was born of a concubine), Yuan Shu (who split the Yuan), Lu Bu, Dong zhuo, Liu Biao,... After his failure at Chibi, Sun Quan managed to turn his warlord state into a proper kingdom while Liu Bei managed to kick him out of Hanzhong. Before, he had a proper government and fought with bandit leaders. After Chibi, when his enemies also had proper governments in place, he never seem to achieve any similar success again.
I love the episode when Lu Bu, who was infamous for murdering his own lord twice and who should not be an ally, was executed, saying, "Liu Bei is the most untrustworthy person there."
The villain Liu Bei talks about treason. Someone from her Han family in western China betrayed her
He said that because when Cao Cao is considering whether to spare Lü Bu or not, Liu Bei literally reminds Cao Cao of the fact that Lü Bu murdered his lords Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo.
What he said is recorded by Chen Shou as "明公不見布之事丁建陽及董太師乎?" which can be translated as "Your excellency, don't you remember how Lü Bu served Ding Yuan and lord Dong Zhuo?"
Even as a Liu Bei fan, I always found it funny in the books/games that any decision/action that was even remotely shady was done under extreme duress and placed on the shoulders of officers and advisors.
So basically, two thousand years ago, Liu Bei had already discovered the value of a good feud. And as any sports/wrestling fan knows, a good feud tends to be beneficial to everyone involved.
BTW, are you going to do a video on the real life Lu Bu?
I think some people misunderstand Liu Bei's crying in the novel. It wasn't always some honest expression of grief. It was often a calculated performance to "bribe the hearts" of his subordinates, or to feign weakness towards an enemy to survive.
People also forget that the novel always has someone crying at every 5-10 pages
However, Liu Bei only cries in the novel. Infact, Liu Bei is a really irritable person.
@@夜幕萤光 Sherper but he is from the Han Dynasty and yet he was deceiving her family
According to legend it is said that
Liu Bei cried tears of blood over the death of Guan Yu! Can anyone answer this?
@@VLSMITH1000 "according to legend"....there's your answer
I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw the parallels with Lui Bang.
I would say that Zhuge Liang also contributed in shaping his image to resemble Liu Bang even further. In the historical Longzhong plan, ZGL had alluded to Liu Bang using the Yi Province (Liu Zhang's territory) as his former base. Besides its strategic value, therw was definitely symbolic value in that territory.
@@CoolHistoryBros Wanna bet Lui Bang was the real Lui Bei's model/husbando?
@@silvercorvidsmarketing yeah very much his inspiration, he even abandoned his family just like Liu Bang!
@@CoolHistoryBros do Zhuge Liang really that smart ass guy?
@@CoolHistoryBros He also captured Hanzhong, which also draws a parallel with Liu Bang.
I don't remember where I read this(so take it with a grain of salt): One of the reason Liu Bang gain a lot of talented subordinates is that he advertise his weakness(or successfully tricked them into believing this was his weakness) being low born without much education) he needs/completely dependant on his subordinates to even function thus could not replace them & would reward them handsomely forever unlike Xiang Yu(has great military & governing skill)
I have never read that on any of the relevant history books, but it is a pretty good assessment.
@@CoolHistoryBros please do one on the nanman
@@CoolHistoryBros please do one on the history of martial arts
@@CoolHistoryBros 12:26 liu biu syndrome😂
@@CoolHistoryBros or just being a fox
I am a big fan of three kingdom. liu Bei is a charming character who can bring great team member together like Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang
I always found that descriptor of Liu Bei "he never shifted his expression between happiness and sadness" as very strange as we have plenty of anecdotes of Liu Bei being angry, sad, witty, laughing, crying (because he was out of shape), sarcastic. comforting. The records do a pretty good job of fleshing out Liu Bei's personality.
@@charliecho5392 That's reasonable, I guess the anecdotes may be notable because those were the rare times that Liu Bei let that calm visage slip.
@@HighPriestFuneral something like "OMG, Stalin cried!?"
@@charliecho5392 maybe that’s why he throw baby Liu Shan
@@Stillinprocess Never actually happened!
Liu Bei's greatest skill was :
1. His ability to keep his ambition hidden & appear harmless on other warlord's eyes. (Liu Bang did this, making Xiang Yu ignored him at first)
2. Coming from a poor livelihood, he knew well how peasants felt, and therefore he could compose words and/or actions that could easily sway the masses.
Cao Cao was a good anti-hero type, unafraid and uncaring of losing fame as long it can make him win, the type of skill very useful to counter rebels and such.
Liu Bei was loved by the masses, peasants more willing to accept hardship when the request comes from him.
Sun Quan was good with trade & micro-management. Considering he could even make early Wu province prosper eventhough it's pretty much the worst area for resources, he could've done wonders on area with more resources.
Imagine if the three could work together.
nah, liu bei's best skill imo, is he knows talent when he sees it
guan yu was a convict before liu bei recruited him
zhang fei was a mere butcher
zilong was rotting his life away under gongsun zan
zhuge liang was a useless shut in
pang tong and fa zheng both had awful reputation, no one wanted to hire pang tong and fa zheng's coworkers ostracized him
liu bei found those talents and utilized them properly to realize his ambition
to be fair cao cao is aware about liu bei threat that why he try so hard to destroy liu bei(even when he take over jing province, cao cao then trying to exterminate all liu bei forces)
@@otakotako2601 zhuge liang being a shut in isn't proven by history. He was a minister under Liu Bei for a long time before gaining power.
@@areaxisthegurkha That's the first time I've ever heard of that account
Back when Liu Bei first recruited Zhuge Liang, he wasn't a warlord, he was just an honored guest of Liu Biao, how could Zhuge Liang worked under him as a minister ?
I love the art for the characters you use! Alot of people don't know this, but Liu Bei's nickname was "Long ears" because many often commented on how unusually long his ears were. Your artist nailed this!
And I think video games and movies downplay Liu Bei to make Guan Yu and Zhang Fei more supernaturally strong....In truth, he fought, and dueled as often as his brothers. In fact, they were called the "Three warrior brothers" because all three were excellent fighters. They downplay other characters, like Liu Feng the same way. Even though Feng was sent to meet challenges and won quite often in the novel. One of my favorite parts in fact, is when Cao Cao jumps up and down and rants "Stop sending that pretend-son of yours out here! If my son Zhang was here he would carve that boy into mince meat!" After Feng beat three of Cao's generals.
Loved the thumbnail. Mr Yu Hewei was perfect as Liu Bei, some scenes of him using his swords or arguing actually nodded to the historical Liu Bei, worthy of Gaozu of Han's blood.
Another thing folks respect Liu Bei for was that LB had little resources compare with the rest of the warlords of his time. Even though Cao & Sun faction didn't start with the kinda resources Yuan Shao had, they still had a better head start compare with Liu Bei.
Liu Bei has something they didn't have, royal blood.
We all cheer for the underdog.
@@乐匠 Cao Cao, Shun Quan, even to Yuan Shao or Dong Zhuo... Liu Bei is the only one among them, with loyal blood.
Dong Zhuo using the young puppet emperor because he himself doesn't have the loyal blood and any rightful claim to be the emperor.
Cao Cao also never proclaim himself as emperor, not until his son did when they are truly powerful already.
In that era, they are all just courtiers, doesn't have the right to claim the throne or threatened the emperor, when that happen, they are just rebellion. When rebellion happen and the emperor there is too young and weak of power, loyal official will run to another loyalty hopefully justice will serve, and at that time, Liu Bei is the one to run to.
@@乐匠 Liu Biao fight Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Sun army, Cao Cao, but never Liu Bei.
When during the early period, Liu Bei lost to Cao Cao, he even go and serve under Liu Biao. Liu Bei has little resources, but his "Liu" is a big help, he has alliance by blood(all the other Liu).
The Liu Bei profit from his loyal blood is because of the mindset, Han Dynasty belong to "Liu", they also have Liu family members covering each other. For all the others military leader out there, they are all rebellion, but not for Liu Bei, he is the "good guy" because he is Liu, the rightful members of the Han Dynasty.
Liu Bei seem to be lack of resources during the early years, but he is not that lonely, he has Liu family.
Edit: And he also can look for help from Han official that is loyal to Han dynasty.
@@乐匠 "Give him a bite to eat"..do you know how important that help is??
Help doesn't mean helping life to dead, a simple assist mean a lot. Liu Bei would face no where to go more, or even die several time without this kind of small assist.
"HELLISH BIRD APP" Nice. Excellent content.A big fan of ur channel from India.
True, it made me laugh!
I wish you also tell the historical part of Fei Yi. I find him as the last genius officer at Shu-Han. Too bad he is meet a tragic ending.
Yes .. Fei Yi is a brilliant
@@top13689 indeed. too bad the novel makes him looks like an ordinary officer. The historical is quite opposite.
Jiang Wan was a genius too.
@@ribiagio98 yes. after both of them, Shu really don't have caliber officer.
@@rezatravilla2893 Chen Zhi was capable minister. Unfortunately, he was a close friend of Huang Hao, that allowed him to influence politics.
what amazes me is the wide interpretations of Liu Bei that vary so wildly that some people even compare him to Dong Zhou, and whilst I've always been a Liu Bei simp I can fully appreciate why people come to this conclusion, I guess it's because the history we have is more of a novel rather than a true historical record, if only we could see the true history of events!
There also the fact that he never hesitated to backstab anyone if it meant saving his life or getting more powerful.
It is really a matter of perception management. When he backstabs warlords and other elites, usually the commoners are not affected or they even receive part of the plunder. So his support base might actually be completely fine with him backstabbing the social elites.
@@CoolHistoryBros I would argue its mostly historical revisionism, since Liu Bei is posthumously made out to be a better person by the Liu Song dynasty historians trying to make Liu Bei into the beaten underdog vs the treasonous snake he really was.
Yes he was a backstabber. But most commoners back than would rather choose a backstabber as their ruler instead of a slaughterer.
Liubei was Lu bu but with better luck and better subordinate.
Add ditching his family too
the greatness about this novel is everyone can find their own role model. and with growing of our age, you maybe think differently on the same person.
when I was young, I like zhao yun but i wish I can be Cao Cao. when I got married, I understand more about Sun Family. at age of almost 40, I started my own business, I a getting interested in Liu Bei.
this is why three kingdoms is amazing.
"Liu Bei's Gambit" - Playing second fiddle to someone, enough so that he would bring you anywhere he went and then switching the roles.
Came for the history, stayed for the excellent insight on free speech vs deplatforming.
Three kingdoms 2010 series was a perfection. Every cast was awesome. Loved it.
especially Cao Cao. He is quite funny.
I would like to see a Dynasty Warriors Reboot that Depicts Liu Bei, & Cao Cao as Main Characters like SW5 did with Nobunaga, & Mitsuhide.
maybe in dw 10
I never understand why Zhao Yun was the poster guy for the franchise.
Liu Bei or Cao Cao would have been better... or even Lu Bu, the most known character of the series.
I highly recommend this video because it will cure the sadness after what CA had done to Three Kingdoms Total War.
Badass!!! Keep up the great work, do you have a historical Cao Cao? If so i definately watch it. Also a historical Lu Bu would be cool!
Holy shit, I have to give you guys props
I first came across this channel way back when the channel released its first video, the one about Sun Tzu
I got turned off and didn't even finish the video, because not only did you guys mispronounced most of the Chinese names in the video, you guys described it as "commonly accepted" pronunciation
Not only did I not finish the video, I simply ignored all other videos from this channel whenever YT tried recommending them to me
But today one of your video (this one) randomly got recommended to me again, and I decided to give it another go
And I have to say, I am impressed that you guys actually put in the effort to improve and are now using the correct pronunciations
My hat off to you guys
Fun facts: there’re papers counting and studying how many times the lords of three kingdom cried in history and Liu Bei actually scored the lowest. I remember the number is:
Cao Cao: 14 times
Sun Quan: 13 times
Liu Bei: 7 times
That’s because Liu Bei had less remarkable people to cry about compared to the aforementioned warlords
@@Ventus2077 yeah and I think another reason is records of Shu is overall shorter and contains fewer details than Wei and Wu (but still it's interesting how historic facts and stereotypes could differ
What I would do to see a TV series or film based on the real historical Three Kingdoms personalities as opposed to their novel counterparts. The true history is much more fascinating. Thanks for such an informative video!
This is a good suggestion if they ever do a remake in future. A different perspective will render all things differently!
What i like from Liu Bei 2010, is that he's the only lord with fighting scenes. I wonder if in real history he's a skilled swordsman too. He used two sword in the drama if im not wrong. And he once claimed that he is second to none with the sword..
Anyway.. thank you for covering this. I only have one volume of the novel (2014, Yu Simei) and rely only to wiki for historical source.
I think now i like the real Liu Bei than the novel and drama version 🔥
Yes he is, the 2010 series was an adaptation of Romance of Three Kingdoms but the producer also mixed it with historical perspectives and his own.
U make so much sense man It answers alot of questions I had !
There is only one flawless person in Three Kingdom: Zhao Yun.
I think he is the true role model for the writer.
Dian Wei
I might try to ask legit experts on rhetoric and argumentaation whether Liu Bei's gambit has a name. You really did choose a marvelous contemporary example!
The Ravages version of him seems to be a great mix of the badass historical and emotionally driven novel version
I freaking love The Ravages of Time
@@SaretGnasoh eyyy fellow fans
@@SaretGnasoh it’s a favorite of mine
The Ravages version of Liu Bei gives me a Jesus vibe even though I am not a Christian. That is quite something for sure.
@@SeanHiruki Yes, the story detail is different, but in a very good way.
And smart Lu Bu.......... WOW
I'm reading various Romance of Three Kingdoms books that are interpreted differently from the original text from the Ming dynasty. In one of those translations, Liu Bei comes off more as a village gangster, albeit one with a golden heart who protects the villagers from the corrupt officials, who is tough and can hold his own on the battle field with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
Well, he is from the Han family, according to the writings of his enemies, which is strange
Yeah, he led his armies from the front. Even charged at Lu Bu along with his brothers. They weren't called "Liu Bei and the warrior brothers". They were called "The THREE warrior brothers"!
In the 2010 series he actually didn't cry that much except when Pang Tong and his brothers died.
I really like Liu Bei’s portrayal in the 2010 show. He wasn't perfect like in the 1995 series, but somebody fighting his own demons. Which is could be why he’s more stoic. His aggression seemed bottled up. He's trying to be a good person, despite the world pulling him to be as monstrous as the other warlords, before he finally breaks near the end.
@@animation1234111 his agression came out in some parts
That is a key evidence to prove liu bei was a badass is his swordsmanship. The way of liu bei's double-sword has pass the trial of time, which is still considered as one of the five most well known double-sword tech in China. And You Can Still Learn It Today!
Yeah his combat prowess is severely underestimated in modern depictions. Historically the famous Lu Bu fight was one-on-one, not all three of them ganging up on Lu Bu. That means Liu Bei actually survived exchanging blows with Lu Bu which says a lot.
@@PossessedbyPhoenix Historically, they don’t even fight (at least in Hu Lao gate). Liu Bei and his bros weren’t invited nor did he invite himself to the Guanzhong coalition. First time he met Lu Bu was when he was in Xuzhou.
@@PossessedbyPhoenix well actually Sun Jian himself already defeated both Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo in Hulao Gate and the Line about "do not pursue Lu Bu" is happen because Lu Bu with his red hare is so fast to catch that made Sun Jian order his army to dont pursue Lu Bu and then focusing to take over Luoyang
It's kinda like how the Recent SW5 Rebooted Imagawa from Kemari-Playing Joke Character, to a Swole Chad who's One Step Away from becoming Shogun.
well, imagawa never that playing kemari joke character in real life tho, he is a badass one, but one miss step took him down.
He was a badass warrior and a great politician but unbelievably bad as a general (most of his victories were due to taigen sesai and Tokugawa Ieyasu) at least according to my sources
@@james-97209 yeah, his political as a leader of a clan is "good enough" back then, but making him look like a joke character is a bit like what? well, in that time, Ieyasu is kid, and his clan "matsudaira" was a vassal only to him, but about Sessai, completely agree tho
You can even compare Liu Bei and Sun Yat Sen or Chiang Kai Shek because they are all witty, charismatic and idealistic. On the other hand Si Ma Yi are best compared with Mao Ze Dong because both Mao Ze Dong and Si Ma Yi are very cunning and ambitious, their favourite strategy is wait for the right moment to strike their opponent down.
not quite, in Mao case, if the Japanese didnt attack China, there is noway Mao would win
@@ucmanhho9457 This is why Mao Ze Dong simply relocate his power base to Yan An, while avoiding most of the fights until the Chinese Nationalist exhausted themselves during Second Sino Japanese War.
@@ReviveHF Mao was a fan of Cao Cao. :)
Brilliant weaving together of historical and literary criticism with current social issues
I'm so happy I to have found this channel I really enjoy the history and anything to do with the 3 kingdoms period
(ps) Of course, this is not to say the historical Liu Bei was just another bloodthirsty warlord that was whitewashed. Liu Bei's course of action as written in the records, really were incomparably more benevolent than Cao Cao. So it could be said that the traditional image of the ideal ruler was a very nice and easy fit to cast upon Liu Bei, because he already was the more popular choice for the masses long before the Romance was ever written. Records seem to imply Liu Bei, was already a more popular choice than Cao Cao even during the Three Kingdoms era, especially when Cao Cao became more and more powerful. The neat part, is that Liu Bei KNEW this and admits that his success is by being the polar opposite of Cao Cao -- in his own words!
A nod to his ear size, totally deserved the name Big Ear Liu.
Very interesting.
I've always wondered why
LIU BEI and SHU was glorified the way they ended up being.
If you think about it , its very rare that the loser is remembered so fondly since history is written by the victors.
And altho my knowledge of the historical facts of this era are lacking. I'm pretty sure I've heard that Cao Cao did alot for the people as far as feeding them and they did much better under him then they had done under the HAN in the last 100 years.
cao cao did, but then again, he wasn't THAT magnanimous, the bar was just too low, han dynasty at that time was so bad that cannibalism was pretty much common
Cao Cao also has done some good welfare policy IIRC, like farmland and harvest policy for the rebel and common folks that actually successful and help the impoverished people of the north.
but as the video said, the bar is too low while Cao Cao has too many history of massacre and the peasants anxious when will be their turn
Liu Bei wasn't a wimp in Dynasty Warriors nor in Romance of the Three Kingdoms game series made by Koei.
just discovered this channel. I got tons to watch now, good work !
I tend to personally view Liu Bei to be even more conniving then Cao Cao. Cao Cao may be blatantly autocratic, but Liu Bei seem to cultivate 'relations' just so they can die for his ascension. His greatest ability is to con people to die for him. It is a commonality of history, you don't get to be founding ruler without being the most ruthless bastards around. The emperors with better records or ethical tends to be 2nd to 4th of a dynasty.
I remember reading the manga where a fisherman found the seal and he rewarded him handsomely. Then comes the plan to proclaim himself emperor but his advisers told him to "deny" it at first and delay the ceremony for a few days to make the impression that he's humble in what I call a "sadboy" move. He's just any other person vying for power at that time.
Great post, I like the way you point out the difference between the Historical Record and The Romance of The Three Kingdoms.
I was always surprised and wondered how Liu Bei is portrayed as a hero while Cao cao looked intelligent. Now I know the reason
can anyone appreciate his pronunciation is blood on point
Dat thumbnail tho
On Twitter, the tactic is called "Clout Chasing".
Calling Liu Bei a clout chaser is kind of funny though, lol
I always thought Liu bei was more badass than cao cao and sun Jian because he started from nothing and was able to rival their vast kingdoms. The others simply already inherited a powerful kingdom.
But he is from the royal family, how did he appear from nowhere?
"I am Zhang Yide. Come and battle me to the death!"
When I read record of three kingdoms, I was suprised that zhao yun and zhang fei's legendary feats at the battle of changban were real, not just fictional things.
where to read that record of three kingdom mate?
@@yingzheng8434 I read that book as korean translation because i'm native korean.
@@loubnaibnqurtuba5305 wow, lucky you!!! then that scene is real tho?
@@charliecho5392 well, a bit of exaggeration is "exist" in history, maybe just killing few who stops him tho~
Yeah, also Zhang Fei did fend off an army by shouting at them. However It wasn't Cao Cao and his main army, but Cao Cao's cavalry led by his nephew I believe (cannot remember his name at the moment) He pulled down the bridge and had 20 riders run in circles behind him kicking up dust. The several thousand horsemen were nervous about an ambush so they refused to try to cross the river. Then they withdrew because there wasn't any good options.
The word you were looking for was "clout chasing". But maybe we are two parties in the same arena playing different games with different prizes. I want to act smart and you wanted me to comment.
Great vid!
6:58 Liu Biao and Liu Zheng were also descendants of Emperor Jing. I mean by the end of the Ming Dynasty like 10,000 men descended from Zhu Yuanzhang so likely as many descended from Jing and even more from Gaozu (Liu Bang). Liu Bei’s ancestor Liu Sheng had 120 sons.
Sorry the Ming Dynasty had 200,000 members by the end of the dynasty in 1644. All those enfeoff princes got busy. While the Aisin Gioro had 29,000 by 1912. So the Liu clan’s 400 year of rule must have left a equally important mark on history. I think you can cast doubt on the significance of a cousin 200 year removed from the then emperor Xian (who himself descends from Emperor Guangwu who also descended Emperor Jing) but why doubt his distant claim to Emperor Jing?
It makes sense if you are too nice of a person u wont achieve much, Liu Bei is very very ambitious and smart the fact that he was there to restore the emperor’s power and not seize power for himself (his main propaganda whether real or not) made people view him as the good guy here. And the fact that people viewed him as their good guy hero they loved to portray him as an extremely nice man and match their standards of a perfect ruler. And to be honest unless u are a fox and cunning u wont achieve much otherwise u will be too predictable and fail against your competitors.
I think it is called the "TROLLING" tactic.
As a fan of the video game, Dynasty Warriors, my mind is blown I think. I always thought Bo Wan Po was a feat belonging to Zhuge Liang since Dynasty Warriors 4.
There is a similar term: "Clout chaser". 😀
But that's maybe not very generous. He was much more eloquent in his goals than simply chasing fame.
Social climber?
"The Liu Bei Gambit" sounds like a chess opening where you lose half your pieces at the beginning but still end up with a good position
What exactly is so dirty about Liu Bei's Gambit? I get that it can create toxic environments on Twitter, but in the original context of the Three Kingdoms conflict Liu Bei's actions benefited the people going through a deadly civil war (otherwise they wouldn't have supported him).
Actually Without Liu Bei, Cao Cao would have united China sooner and people would have died less.
@@ElBandito we can't be sure.
Cao Cao was very successful against minor warlords and total fools like yuan. But he had hard time defeating comparable equal opponents. He made many bad decisions like during battle of chibi. So,we don't know he could unified the china.
And at the end, Sima hijacked his empire, unified china and we all know how it ended (era of eight princes).
On other hand, historical liu bei more appear like liu bang, guy whose dynasty survived for 400 years.
@@marvelloustraveller3559 Yuan Shao was not a total fool. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to defeat the likes of Gongsun Zang, who himself was a seasoned commander of a border area populated by raiding nomads. As for Chi Bi, Cao Cao was not a naval commander, and he most likely delegated the deployment details to his officers, so the blame should not be 100% his. You forgot that there are plenty of warlords Cao defeated who were not minor, such as Lu Bu, Ma/Han alliance, and Zhang Lu.
Wow 5:03
Didn't expect to see that meme here 😂
Cao cao: i rather betray the world than let the world betray me.
Liu bei: Treat people with virtue, only kindness and virtues move people.
Sun quan: haha tiger.
Sima Yi : I'll be the one that eats the juicy fruit.
@@jeuno880 Whilst my neck turns 180 degrees.
I remember Liu Bei studied the Art of War and he studied under Lu Zhi.
And his most underrated skill was pretending to be dead. It was written in his biography in SGZ. That's how he survived his campaign against the Yellow Turbans. How'd you think that he managed to stay alive fighting against the always superior Cao Cao's force.
@@CoolHistoryBros Interesting interpretation. The translation I read said that Liu Bei got terribly wounded when he went to fight the Yellow Turbans (I believe in his attempt to save Kong Rong).
@@HighPriestFuneral This happened much earlier, before his appointment as prefect of Anxi county and him whipping the official.
@@CoolHistoryBros i love this skill!
@@CoolHistoryBros also, caocao did pretend as a soldier against Lu Bu ain't he?
Man was more or less the Char Aznable of the Three Kingdoms period.
I always knew Liu bei was smart like his ancestor Liu bang. 😈
I just need more TV series of this period. Imagine a good budget series with great effects. I'm tired of rewatching the 90s and 10s version need moooore
i like Liu Bei in "火鳳燎原" (The Ravages of Time) of Chen Mou more than the one in "Three Kingdoms" of Luo Guanzhong. To think of it, i could say that i like every character in "火鳳燎原" more than in "Three Kingdoms".
Lou Guanzhong favored the Shu too much, and down grade all the other warlord. While Chen Mou has more modern objective view about canon history
People usually call the Liu Bei gambit "clout chasing". It means trying to get attention and followers usually through starting a fight with bigger accounts
Really interesting !!! please do more videos about historical Three Kingdoms' Character!
There needs to be a debate about colonized vs darwinism.
Im getting this impression that the segment about Liu Bei was written by Cao Cao to discredit Liu Bei's badassery
I think Liu Bei's Gambit is something akin to "social climbing" or at least an aspect to it.
love your vids ! very weird that you mentionned earlier people don't like your accent, as it attracts me so much instead ! Keep up the good work and good animations my guy
"this hellish bird app"
It's got me.
novel: Liu bei relied on zhuge liang, zhang fei, and guan yu to fight his battles.
history: BREH, IT WAS ALWAYS BEEN LIU BEI DOING IT
Liu Bei in Records: KONO RYUUBI (JP Liu Bei) DA!!!
zhuge liang lost most of his wars, he was good with civil services and running the economy but he sucks as a military leader in reality.
@@maggiejetson7904 wait what?
@@indra-ty9iz He lost most of the wars he lead out of Sichuan
@@indra-ty9iz he/her is telling the wrong thing. I'm pretty sure these people never read history themselves.
Also The Novel Change Guan Ping from Guan Yu's Biological Son, to Adopted Son.
9:39 as a programer i apreciate the python code
Liu Bei is a warlord of the late Han Dynasty and the first emperor of Shu Han.
Cool, I played him a lot in dynasty warriors lol
Hey, you're that d&d Cthulhu guy right? I really enjoyed your Cthulhu content back then. Nice video here too, good luck with your new channel.
Thanks!
Love your videos, bro! Especially about Three kingdoms period!
More please bro
You're darn right I was a badass.
I did love my portrayal in the romance though.
The name for Liu Beis tactic is called "Punching Up"
Clout chasing is probably the best term for attacking bigger status people than you to gain fame.
Wow thanks for taking my input! Whether U planned this all along or not, continueee other characters pls!!
Liu Bei was very controversial but his story had been making a better one to support the imperialism by the latter writers [Which all of them wrote the romance of the three kingdoms by the order of the emperor]
- Liubei's linage was the problem but hard to denied because Liu Sheng had too many children.
- His rival CaoCao was a reformist and the forward thinker who broke away from the old aristocrats [during that time].
CaoCao mass murder was very crude but he had his own reason with quite reasonable
*******Tao Qian was the main reason: In the novel, he was an unlucky old man whom Caocao's father died in his domain....... but in the real history...It had a very high chance that Tao Qian himself was the one who ordered the massacre]
And During the Chinese dark age of power struggle...Massacre entire town was quite a normal event. [Man-eating cases happen many times...Worse...The people exchange their children and committed canibalism]
Latter revealed.... Liu Bei was one of the worst warlords after the empire spitting to three states.
He chose the wrong person for the job with cost his unified of the empire. [He gave Guan Yu one of the most important key positions....with the latter lost Jīngzhōu because of his arrogance [Guan Yu was one of the greatest warriors but not a good governor, diplomat, and most importantly aborncommander]
Honestly, I’m quite impressed with the real Liu Bei.