Murong Lie

Biography & Historical Record

Murong Lie (慕容烈, Mộ Dung Liệt) is a fictional Cao Wei officer in Luo Guanzhong’s novel. He has no Sanguozhi notice, no courtesy name, and no recorded kin. The text of Chapter 71 names him once: “a general blocked the road; it was Wen Pin’s subordinate Murong Lie.” He rides out with a saber to stop Zhao Yun (赵云, Triệu Vân), courtesy name Zilong (子龙, Tử Long), who has left camp at noon with three thousand men to relieve Huang Zhong (黄忠, Hoàng Trung). Zhao Yun kills him in one pass. The surname Murong (慕容, Mộ Dung) later belongs to the Xianbei of Yan; here it is only a novel label for a disposable Wei blade.

The chapter is the Hanzhong (汉中, Hán Trung) sequel to Dingjun Mountain. Xiahou Yuan (夏侯渊, Hạ Hầu Uyên) is already dead. Cao Cao (曹操, Tào Tháo) has come west in person. Huang Zhong, racing to seize Wei grain on the North Mountain, is drawn into a trap. Zhao Yun, watching the sun and seeing no return, buckles on armour, tells Zhang Yi (张翼, Trương Dực) — Shu’s Zhang Yi, not the Warring States diplomat Zhang Yi (张仪) — to hold the camp with crossbows on both flanks, and rides straight into the dust. Murong Lie is the first named obstacle. After he falls, another Wei officer, Jiao Bing (焦柄, Tiêu Bính), claims the Shu men are already dead; Zhao Yun spears him too, then bursts the ring where Zhang He (张郃, Trương Hợp) and Xu Huang (徐晃, Từ Hoảng) have closed on Huang Zhong. Cao Cao, watching from high ground, asks who the rider is and is told it is Zhao Zilong of Changshan — “the hero of Changban is still alive.”

Murong Lie’s whole purpose is that one clash. He exists so the relief of Huang Zhong has a named first kill before the famous “empty camp” defence on the Han River. History of the Hanzhong campaign names Xiahou Yuan, Zhang He, and Zhao Yun; it does not name Murong Lie or Jiao Bing.

Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 71 (Huang Zhong Takes the Opposite Hill by Resting the Troops; Zhao Yun Holds the Han River with Few against Many): Zhao Yun waits in camp until noon. Huang Zhong does not return. Zhao Yun arms, leaves Zhang Yi to hold the stockade, and charges with three thousand. Murong Lie (慕容烈, Mộ Dung Liệt), a subordinate of Wen Pin (文聘, Văn Sính), courtesy name Zhongye (仲业, Trọng Nghiệp), bars the road, claps his horse, and whirls a saber. Zhao Yun’s spear takes him at once. Wei ranks break. Zhao Yun then kills Jiao Bing, reaches the North Mountain, shouts once, and drives through Zhang He and Xu Huang as if the ring were empty. He brings Huang Zhong out, turns southeast to free the lieutenant Zhang Zhu (张著, Trương Trứ), and later holds the Han River camp by opening the gates — the “empty camp” that makes Cao Cao refuse a night assault. Murong Lie is already a corpse before that famous stand begins.

Murong Lie (慕容烈) — Historical & Literary Timeline

Chapter text: Wikisource Romance Chapter 71.

Key Relationships

Family

• No father, mother, spouse, or children in the novel or in any historical notice. The Murong surname here is not a documented Xianbei pedigree.

Friends

• Wen Pin (文聘, Văn Sính): Immediate superior. The narrator identifies Murong Lie as Wen Pin’s bujiang (部将) at the moment he bars the road.

Enemies

• Zhao Yun (赵云, Triệu Vân): Kills Murong Lie with one spear thrust on the road to the North Mountain, then saves Huang Zhong and holds the Han River.

Other

• Huang Zhong (黄忠, Hoàng Trung): The man Zhao Yun is riding to save when Murong Lie steps into the road.
• Zhang He (张郃, Trương Hợp) and Xu Huang (徐晃, Từ Hoảng): Wei commanders surrounding Huang Zhong; they do not fight Murong Lie.
• Jiao Bing (焦柄, Tiêu Bính): Next named Wei officer Zhao Yun kills after Murong Lie (no dedicated post used here).
• Cao Cao (曹操, Tào Tháo): Watches the breakthrough from high ground and forbids his men to take Zhao Yun lightly.