Zhao Cen 趙岑 is a fictional character who appears in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. In chapter 5 he appears as a general of Dong Zhuo and is ordered to defend the Sishui Pass as an officer under Hua Xiong 華雄.
Biography[]
When the forces of the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition advanced against Dong Zhuo in 189 AD, Lü Bu 呂布 offered to drive them away. Hua Xiong asked that he be allowed to fight instead of Lü Bu, pointing out that Lü Bu was not needed for such a minor opponent. Dong Zhuo rejoiced at Hua Xiong's bold words and at once appointed him Commander of the Valiant Cavalry and gave him fifty thousand of horse and foot. Hua Xiong and three other generals---Li Su, Hu Zhen, and Zhao Cen---hastily moved toward Sishui Pass.[1]
Hua Xiong would later be defeated at the hands of Guan Yu 關羽. The allied forces would press on defeating Lü Bu as well and eventually forcing Dong Zhuo to retreat from Luoyang, but not before burning and pillaging the city on his way out. Luoyang being thus abandoned, the general of Dong Zhuo at Sishui Pass, Zhao Cen, evacuated that post of vantage, which Sun Jian 孫堅 at once occupied. Zhao Cen makes no further mention in the novel.[2]
Notes[]
References[]
Sources[]
- Luo Guanzhong. Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Trans. C. H. Brewitt-Taylor. New York: Tuttle Publishing, 2002.