In Literature
When applied to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, the "Five Tiger Generals" refer to five military generals from the state of Shu Han. Records of the Three Kingdoms details the biographies of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Huang Zhong in the same chapter. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, a novel romanticizing the events of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei, founder of Shu Han, actually bestowed the titles of "Five Tiger Generals" on these five generals. The 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 by Shi Naian, another of the Four Great Classical Novels, five of the 108 outlaws at Liangshan Marsh - Guan Sheng, Lin Chong, Qin Ming, Huyan Zhuo and Dong Ping - are called "Five Tiger Generals" of the Liangshan cavalry.
The Ming Dynasty writer Li Yutang named Di Qing, 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, Tang He, Chang Yuchun, Hu Dahai, and Mu Ying are named as the "Five Founding Tiger Generals of Ming".
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