Li Feng

Historical Record

The Records of the Three Kingdoms records that Li Feng was a general under Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu plotted to proclaim himself emperor in Huainan and then invaded Chen. Cao Cao marched east, and upon hearing the news, Yuan Shu abandoned his army and fled, leaving Qiao Rui, Li Feng, Liang Gang, Yue Jiu, and other generals to resist. When Cao Cao arrived, he defeated these generals; Qiao Rui and the others were all executed, while Yuan Shu crossed the Huai River and left. The historical account includes Li Feng among the generals under Yuan Shu who were defeated and executed, but gives no separate account of his specific office, the course of the battle, or his personal deeds.^[1]

Thus, in the historical biographies, Li Feng is not the subject of an independent biography, but a general in Yuan Shu’s army who was defeated and killed during Cao Cao’s eastern campaign. The existing accounts of his connection to Yuan Shu’s Faction and his fate are confined to the description of this military campaign; they do not warrant adding details about his origins, character, or earlier life.^[1]

In the Novel

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms portrays Li Feng as a military officer under Yuan Shu who repeatedly led troops. When Yuan Shu styled himself ruler of Zhongshi and prepared to divide his forces to campaign against Xu Province, Li Feng, Liang Gang, and Yue Jiu were appointed commissioners to hasten the advance and tasked with coordinating the seven armies. In the novel, then, he is not only a battlefield commander but also performs the duty of directing troop movements.^[2]

The novel then has Li Feng face Lü Bu: Lü Bu advances with his halberd raised, and Li Feng meets him with his spear. In fewer than three bouts, Lü Bu wounds Li Feng in the arm, forcing him to abandon his spear and flee. Li Feng’s swift defeat in this battle highlights Lü Bu’s valor and shows how Yuan Shu’s army struggles to stand against a powerful foe.^[3]

When Shouchun was in danger, Yuan Shu accepted the advice to avoid the enemy’s full force and left Li Feng, Yue Jiu, Liang Gang, and Chen Ji to divide their forces and defend the city, while he crossed the Huai with the other officers, soldiers, and valuables. Cao Cao’s army besieged the city for more than a month, and Li Feng and the others stayed behind closed gates. After the city fell, all four were captured, and Cao Cao ordered them executed in the marketplace. This full account of the city’s defense, their capture, and their execution is the novel’s detailed portrayal of Li Feng’s experience; the existing Records of the Three Kingdoms material only says that he was defeated and executed along with Yuan Shu’s other generals, without mentioning his wound, the defense of Shouchun, or his capture.^[4][5][6][1]

Key Relationships

Li Feng’s central connection was to Yuan Shu and his army: the historical account describes him as one of the generals Yuan Shu left behind, while the Romance further assigns him the roles of commissioner to hasten the advance and city defender. His military actions are consistently framed within the rise and fall of Yuan Shu’s power.^[1][2][4]

His encounter with Lü Bu appears only in the Romance: Li Feng goes out to fight, is wounded in the hand in fewer than three bouts, and flees after abandoning his spear. The historical account does not record this duel, so it cannot be treated as an established fact. (Unique to the Romance)^[3]

His relationship with Cao Cao points to defeat and death in both accounts. The historical record says that Cao Cao’s eastern campaign defeated and executed Li Feng and Yuan Shu’s other generals; the Romance expands the ending into the fall of the defenders of Shouchun, with Li Feng captured and then executed in the marketplace. The detailed siege and execution scenes are part of the novel’s elaboration.^[1][6]

Signature Scenes

The scene that most clearly identifies Li Feng in the historical account is Cao Cao’s eastern campaign against Yuan Shu: Yuan Shu abandons his army and flees, leaving Li Feng and the others to meet the enemy; Cao Cao’s army defeats them and executes them. The account is brief, but clearly establishes Li Feng’s allegiance, the campaign in which he fought, and his fate.^[1]

The Romance gives Li Feng two signature scenes. The first is his battle against Lü Bu: Li Feng raises his spear to meet him, but is wounded and flees before three bouts are complete, serving as a moment in the novel that demonstrates Lü Bu’s martial prowess. (Unique to the Romance)^[3] The second is the fall of Shouchun: Li Feng and three other defending generals are captured, and Cao Cao orders their execution, marking the collapse of Yuan Shu’s regime. The novel expands the historical account’s brief “defeated” and “all were executed” into a sequence of scenes involving the siege, the defenders’ resistance, the fall of the city, their capture, and their execution. These details should be understood as literary invention, not as facts explicitly recorded in the historical biographies.^[4][5][6][1]