Of the five generals of Shu Han, two died in an accident, three died of depression, and almost all of them died without descendants.

During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, the land of China was "white bones exposed in the wild, and no roosters crowed for thousands of miles."

In this chaotic world, not only did the common people face the danger of losing their families, but even those high-ranking generals and ministers also suffered from bad luck. Take the "Five Tiger Generals" of Shu Han as an example. Behind their majestic appearance, there were many unnoticed hardships.

In Liu Bei's military group, the two people who served the longest and were the most trusted by Liu Bei were Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. However, these two generals who followed Liu Bei in his battles all their lives died one after another in less than a year when Liu Bei's military group reached its peak. Among them, Guan Yu was captured and beheaded by the Eastern Wu after the defeat in Jingzhou. He was 59 years old. Zhang Fei was assassinated by his subordinates during the preparation stage for Liu Bei's attack on Wu. He was said to be 55 years old. It is a pity that these two generals could not have a good end when they were nearly sixty years old. Ma Chao, Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun all died of illness, and they all seemed to have a good end. However, if we analyze it carefully, their death is more like a death of frustration.

Huang Zhong died of illness in 220 AD, and it is said that he was 73 years old. In ancient China, where it was rare for people to live to be 70, Huang Zhong could be said to have "died of old age". But don't forget that just a year ago, in 219 AD, in the war between Shu Han and Cao Wei for Hanzhong, Huang Zhong was still able to ride on horseback and kill Xiahou Yuan in the Dingjun Mountain formation. Afterwards, he was named the rear general and Guannei Hou of Shu Han for his merits, becoming one of the Five Tiger Generals. Why did this veteran who had fought on the battlefield become a dead soul on his sickbed a year later? People have to wonder how much damage Guan Yu's words "A real man will never be in the same rank as an old soldier" had on Huang Zhong.

Huang Zhong may have died of depression because of Guan Yu's humiliation, while Zhao Yun may have died of depression because he could not get fairness. As a general in Liu Bei's military group, Zhao Yun showed rare loyalty in following Liu Bei. He also showed extraordinary courage in the battles to capture Jingzhou, enter Sichuan, and fight for Hanzhong. However, such an excellent general could only be a general with a miscellaneous title for a long time, and could not get the title of "Marquis". After Liu Chan ascended the throne, Zhao Yun finally became the General of Zhendong and the Marquis of Yongchang Pavilion. However, due to the failure of Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, Zhao Yun was demoted to the General of Zhenjun. In fact, in this battle, Zhao Yun, as a detachment, not only completed the task well, but also retreated calmly and orderly, with very little loss of personnel and materials, but he was still demoted. This may be the last straw that broke the psychological defense line of the 70-year-old veteran.

Whether it was Guan Yu and Zhang Fei who died in an accident, or Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun who died of depression, their fate seemed to be better than that of Ma Chao. This general who made Cao Cao sigh "If Ma is not dead, I have no place to bury him" was first a vassal of one side, and then he was defeated by Cao Cao and wandered around and took refuge with many people. Although, he finally settled in Liu Bei's military group, and served as General of Cavalry and Marquis of Yanxiang, and later enjoyed the honor of "fake festival". In the entire Shu Han military group, his status was even higher than Zhang Fei. Behind these honors, it was Liu Bei's distrust of him. Since Ma Chao defected to Liu Bei, he has not participated in many military activities. Although he participated in the siege of Chengdu and the capture of Hanzhong, he was not a general who led the battle independently. Therefore, in 222 AD, Ma Chao, who was only 47 years old, died, and was the youngest of the Five Tiger Generals when he died.

The "Five Tiger Generals" may have had many regrets when they passed away, and their descendants also had different fates. Among the descendants of the "Five Tiger Generals", Zhang Fei's descendants had a relatively better fate. His two daughters successively became the queens of the later lord Liu Chan, which can be described as "rich and powerful". Although the eldest son Zhang Bao died young, the eldest grandson Zhang Zun died in battle with Zhuge Zhan in Mianzhu in 263. However, Zhang Fei's second son Zhang Shao still inherited his father's title of Marquis of Xixiang. However, this descendant of the Five Tiger Generals did not show his father's bravery and loyalty. When Shu Han fell, he actively persuaded the later lord Liu Chan to surrender. After the fall of Shu Han, he came to Luoyang with Liu Chan and became a marquis canonized by Cao Wei.

Compared with Zhang Fei's family being able to continue, the descendants of Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun can only be described as having a tragic fate. As the oldest of the Five Tiger Generals, when Huang Zhong died of illness, no descendants saw him off. Because his only son, Huang Xu, had passed away before Huang Zhong defected to Liu Bei. Compared with Huang Zhong's "old-haired man sending off the black-haired man", Zhao Yun was lucky, at least his two sons did not die young. Zhao Yun had two sons. The eldest son, Zhao Tong, inherited Zhao Yun's title, but later disappeared in historical records. There is no record of him or his descendants; the second son, Zhao Guang, was appointed as the Yamen General of Shu Han and died in battle when he retreated to Jiange. In this way, Huang Zhong "has no descendants", and Zhao Yun is also suspected to be "has no descendants".

Of course, the fate of the descendants of the two families was not the most tragic. The fate of Guan Yu's family was even more regrettable. Guan Yu had two sons. The eldest son Guan Ping guarded Jingzhou with Guan Yu. After losing Jingzhou, he and his father Guan Yu were captured by the Eastern Wu and later killed by the Eastern Wu. The second son Guan Xing inherited Guan Yu's title and continued the incense, giving birth to two sons Guan Tong and Guan Yi. However, after Cao Wei broke through Chengdu, Pang De's descendants killed the entire Guan family. Although there are folk legends claiming that Guan Ping had a son named Guan Yue, who hid in the mountains of Jingzhou after changing his surname to "Men" and escaped the disaster of being killed. But this is just a folk legend after all, and it is difficult to convince people.

The fate of Guan Yu's family was miserable enough, but the most miserable one was Ma Chao. As a descendant of Ma Yuan, the Fu Bo General of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ma Chao's family was "flourishing". However, in 211 AD, Ma Chao started a rebellion against Cao, and as a result, all the more than 200 members of the Ma family living in Chang'an were killed. Although, Ma Chao's wife and son escaped this catastrophe. However, in the process of Ma Chao's confrontation with Cao Cao in the future, his wife Yang and eldest son were killed one after another; his concubine Dong was forced to remarry; his youngest son Ma inherited the title of Marquis of Yaxiang, but his subsequent deeds are unknown; his daughter Ma is said to have married Liu Bei's son, Anping King Liu Li. Although Ma Chao still had a young son who inherited the title and his daughter became a member of the royal family, almost all of his family was killed, which was definitely the most miserable among the Five Tiger Generals.

It seems that the Five Tiger Generals, who were so powerful on the battlefield, left behind many sad stories both in the last moments of their lives and after their death.