The Peach Garden Oath is a pivotal moment in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, friends before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, swear brotherhood after sacrificing a horse and wine:
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, brothers, bow to Liu Bei, designating him as the eldest. Their brotherly oath prevents death wishes and keeps them hopeful. This oath appears in Three Kingdoms folklore, though no historical records exist.
Appearances in the Games[]
- Dynasty Warriors series
- Dynasty Warriors 3 - Mentioned in passing during Guan Yu's Escape.
- Dynasty Warriors 4 - The brothers join their weapons together and repeat key phrases of the oath.
- Dynasty Warriors 5 - Set during a similar timeframe as the novel while the brothers toast to honor. Guan Ping and Xing Cai additionally share a similar vow. In the Xtreme Legends expansion, the brothers meet in the same village where they swore their oaths in their Legend Modes. The Empires expansion also features a quirky edit scenario in a peach tree orchard. Five characters walk together, nod, and then perform a pose while facing the player.
- Dynasty Warriors 6 - The Oath is a crucial moment in the story of the brothers, sworn after Zhang Jiao's defeat, and is mentioned in Guan Yu's and Zhuge Liang's endings, and in the Empires expansion.
- Dynasty Warriors 7 - Brotherhood mentioned at the start of Shu's Story Mode. The oath itself has its own cinematic in the Campaign Mode in Next.
- Dynasty Warriors Mahjong - The final stage for Shu takes place in a similar area. The player is also briefly called "brother" during this segment.
- Dynasty Warriors: Online - Guan Yu and Guan Ping have their endings set in a peach garden and quote the vow. The father toasts his comrade while the son joins his weapon with the player character. Players can also become sworn siblings in a peach garden during the later patches.
- Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce - In Shu's cinematics, the army walks under peach trees.
- Dynasty Warriors 9 - The oath is presented in the opening cutscene to Shu's story mode. Zhang Fei's ending has the three reenact the Peach Garden Oath again, albeit in a more lighthearted way as the aforementioned man is already drunk.
- Warriors Orochi - Referenced in Liu Bei's R1 Type Action/C1-EX-SP. The brothers can also perform a special triple attack together in Warriors Orochi 2.
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Often one of the opening shots in each game for the preset Yellow Turban Rebellion scenario. The Online version also staged an event with a motif that followed the oath as well as a custom emoticon that references the oath (/swear).
- Dynasty Tactics - Occurs during the first cinematic for Liu Bei.
- Kessen II - Before Chang Ban, Guan Yu mentions it and it is shown through a flashback.
- Nanatsu no Hikan - Within the second mansion, Ippei sees statues of the oath brothers toasting one another with wine cups. Giving the Zhang Fei statue actual wine grants the protagonist a replica of Zhuge Liang's beloved hat.