The Five Tiger Generals is a popular appellation in Chinese culture

Culture of China

Chinese culture is one of the world's oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces...

 for any five military generals serving under a ruler. This term is used in literature texts, plays and popular culture. In the historical context, "Five Tiger Generals" usually refers to the five best military generals serving under the ruler. The term does not appear in Chinese historical records and not used officially.

In literature

When applied to the Three Kingdoms

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

 period of Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

, the "Five Tiger Generals" refer to five military generals from the state of Shu Han

Shu Han

Shu Han was one of the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period, after the fall of the Han Dynasty. The state was based on areas around Sichuan, which was then known as Shu...

. Records of the Three Kingdoms details the biographies of Guan Yu

Guan Yu

Guan Yu was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period, of which Liu Bei was the...

, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun

Zhao Yun

Zhao Yun was a military general who lived during the late Han Dynasty and early Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. For most of his career, Zhao served the warlord Liu Bei, playing a part in the establishment of state of Shu Han...

, Ma Chao

Ma Chao

Ma Chao was the oldest son of Ma Teng and a military general during the late Han Dynasty and early Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he received the nickname "Ma Chao the Splendid" due to his elaborate armour and grand skill...

 and Huang Zhong

Huang Zhong

Huang Zhong was a military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was most noted for his victory in the Battle of Mount Dingjun, in which his force routed that of Xiahou Yuan, who was slain during battle...

 in the same chapter. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...

by Luo Guanzhong

Luo Guanzhong

Luo Ben , better known by his style name Luo Guanzhong , was a Chinese writer of the early Ming Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was also known as Huhai Sanren...

, a novel romanticizing the events of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei

Liu Bei

Liu Bei , also known as Liu Xuande, was a warlord, military general and later the founding emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history...

, founder of Shu Han, actually bestowed the titles of "Five Tiger Generals" on these five generals. The historicity

Historicity

Historicity may mean:*the quality of being part of recorded history, as opposed to prehistory*the quality of being part of history as opposed to being a historical myth or legend, for example:** Historicity of the Iliad**Historicity...

 of the Tiger Generals is unknown; those generals existed but it is uncertain whether they were granted the titles contemporarily or posthumously honoured as such. The term "Five Tiger Generals" is most likely a literary device used in the novel.

In Water Margin

Water Margin

Water Margin , also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang, is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.Attributed to Shi Nai'an and written in vernacular Chinese, the story, set in the Song Dynasty,...

by Shi Naian

Shi Naian

Shi Nai'an , was a Chinese writer from Suzhou. He was attributed as the first compiler of the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.Not much biographical information is known about him...

, another of the Four Great Classical Novels, five of the 108 outlaws at Liangshan Marsh

Mount Liang

Mount Liang is a mountain in Liangshan County, Shandong province, China which rises to 197.9 m above sea level. It is well known as the stronghold of the 108 legendary Song Dynasty heroes of the classic Chinese novel Water Margin...

 - Guan Sheng

Guan Sheng

Guan Sheng is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 5th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Great Blade".-Background:...

, Lin Chong

Lin Chong

Lin Chong is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 6th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Panther Head"...

, Qin Ming

Qin Ming

Qin Ming is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 7th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Fiery Thunderbolt".-Background:...

, Huyan Zhuo and Dong Ping

Dong Ping

Dong Ping is a character from the epic Chinese novel The Water Margin. He is nicknamed "General of Double Spears" and ranks 15th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes.-Background:...

 - are called "Five Tiger Generals" of the Liangshan calvary.

The Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

 writer Li Yutang named Di Qing

Di Qing

Di Qing , style name Hanchen , was a military general of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was born to a poor family in Xihe, Fenzhou . He sported tattoos on his face and excelled in mounted archery...

, Shi Yu, Zhang Zhong, Li Yi, and Liu Qing as the "Five Tiger Generals" in his works Romance of Di Qing, The Five Tigers Conquer the West, and The Five Tigers Pacify the South.

In Heroes of the Ming Dynasty, a novel romanticizing the events leading to the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Da

Xu Da

Xu Da was a Chinese military general who lived in the early Ming Dynasty and contributed to the founding of the dynasty. Apart from being a friend of the Hongwu Emperor, founding emperor of the dynasty, Xu was also the father of Empress Xu, who would marry the third ruler of the Ming, the Yongle...

, Tang He, Chang Yuchun

Chang Yuchun

Chang Yuchun , style name Boren and pseudonym Yanheng , was a Chinese Muslim military general. He was a follower of the Ming Dynasty's founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, and contributed greatly to the founding of the dynasty...

, Hu Dahai

Hu Dahai

Hu Dahai 胡大海 , styled Tongfu 通甫, was a noted Chinese general of the 14th century who helped Zhu Yuanzhang establish the Ming Dynasty...

, and Mu Ying

Mu Ying

Mu Ying was a general during the Ming Dynasty, and an adopted son of its founder, the Hongwu Emperor . Mu Ying was a Chinese Muslim. Mu Ying was one of the few capable generals who survived the massacre of the Hongwu Emperor....

 are named as the "Five Founding Tiger Generals of Ming".

Cultural impact

In present-day terminology, "Five Tiger Generals" can refer to any group of five that is particularly outstanding in a certain field.

Hsiao Shou-li, Chiang Wu-tung, Chiao Tsai-pao, Chen Chun-sheng, and Su Teng-wang are called "Five Tiger Generals" of Taiwanese opera

Taiwanese opera

Taiwanese opera is the only form of Han traditional drama known to have originated in Taiwan. The language used is a stylized combination of both literary and colloquial registers of Taiwanese. Its earliest form adopted elements of folk songs from Zhangzhou, Fujian, China...

.

Taiwanese politicians Kuo Yu-hsin, Li Wan-chu, Kuo Kuo-chi, Li Yuan-chan, and Wu San-lien are called the "Five Tiger Generals" of the Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council. Together with female politician Hsu Shih-hsien

Hsu Shih-Hsien

Hsu Shih-hsien was a Taiwanese academic and politician. She was the first female PhD in Taiwan, and the first female mayor of a Taiwanese city – she was twice elected mayor of Chiayi City in central Taiwan. Hsu's daughter is former Minister of the Interior Chang Po-ya.-References:...

, the six of them are called "Five Tigers and the Phoenix".

In the 1980s and 1990s, the five TV show hosts of the Taiwanese TV channel Sanlih E-Television

Sanlih E-Television

Sanlih Entertainment Television or Sanlih E-Television is a nationwide cable TV network operated in Taiwan that was founded in May 1983...

, He Yih-hang, Peng Chia-chia, Yang Fan, Yu Tien and Li Teng-tsai are called "Five Tiger Generals".

In the 1980s, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 TVB

Television Broadcasts Limited

Television Broadcasts Limited, commonly known as TVB, is the second over-the-air commercial television station in Hong Kong. It commenced broadcasting on 19 November 1967...

 actors Felix Wong

Felix Wong

Felix Wong Yat-wah is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Wong is best known for his performances in many Hong Kong wuxia television drama series produced by TVB, such as The Legend of the Condor Heroes , in which he played the protagonist Kwok Ching...

, Michael Miu

Michael Miu

Michael Miu Kiu-wai is a Hong Kong television and film actor. He was considered as one of the most popular young actors of the 1980s, and along with Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Felix Wong, and Kent Tong, he was a member of TVB's Five Tigers...

, Kent Tong

Kent Tong

Kent Tong Chun-yip also known as Ken Tong, Kenneth Tong Kent Tong Chun-yip also known as Ken Tong, Kenneth Tong Kent Tong Chun-yip also known as Ken Tong, Kenneth Tong (Traditional - 湯鎮業 Simplified - 汤镇业）was born on 29 September 1958 in Hong Kong, China. He was a popular TVB actor during the 1980s...

, Andy Lau

Andy Lau

Andy Lau MH, JP is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer, actor, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time...

 and Tony Leung are called the "Five Tiger Generals

Five Tiger Generals (TVB)

The Five Tiger Generals of TVB , more commonly referred to as simply the Five Tigers , were a group of five of the most popular young male actors of 1980s Hong Kong television. The group consisted of Michael Miu , Kent Tong , Felix Wong , Andy Lau , and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai...

". The five of them starred together in the 1991 film The Tigers

The Tigers (film)

The Tigers is a 1991 Hong Kong crime thriller film directed by Eric Tsang, and starring Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Felix Wong, Michael Miu and Kent Tong. It is a film adaptation of the 1980s TVB serial, Rise and Fall of a Stand-In which featured the film's stars Miu and Tong.-Plot:The Tigers tells the...

.

In 2009, a Taiwanese musical band called Wu Hu Jiang

Wu Hu Jiang

Wu Hu Jiang is a Taiwanese music band formed in early 2009. Their name is a reference to the Five Tiger Generals in the series of K.O.3an Guo. It consists of four members: George Hu, Benji , Shao Xiang and Si Wei Hong Zheng...

 was formed. The five members starred as the Five Tiger Generals of Shu in the TV series K.O.3an Guo

K.O.3an Guo

K.O.3an Guo is a Taiwanese drama starring George Hu, Xiu, Kirsten Ren and three out of four members of Fahrenheit as special guests, who starred in the prequels. The title is pronounced as "K.O.-san-guo". It is the third installment of the Zhong Ji series; preceded by KO One and The X-Family...

, a parody of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...

in a modern-day setting.