Five Elite Generals
The Five Elite Generals refer to five military generals serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. They later served in the state of Cao Wei, founded by Cao Cao's son and successor Cao Pi, during the Three Kingdoms period. The five were Yu Jin, Zhang He, Yue Jin, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang.
The biographies of the five generals are found in the historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou in the third century. After writing the biographies, Chen Shou commented: "Throughout Cao Cao's military exploits, these five were the crème de la crème of the best generals of that era."
Chen Shou then appraised Yu Jin, Zhang He and Yue Jin as follows:
