| Pan Feng | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 潘鳳 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 潘凤 | ||||||
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Pan Feng is a fictional character in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He was a military general serving under the warlord Han Fu of Ji Province (present-day southern Hebei).
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Around 190, a coalition of warlords led by Yuan Shao, launched a campaign against the tyrannical warlord Dong Zhuo, who controlled state power through manipulating the young Emperor Xian. Han Fu was part of the coalition and Pan accompanied him. Pan was respected by his peers and highly regarded by Han Fu due to his skillful prowess in battle.
During the Battle of Sishui Pass against Dong Zhuo's general Hua Xiong, the coalition lost two generals, Bao Zhong and Yu She, who were slain by Hua in duels. As the warlords were pondering over their next course of action, Han Fu recommended Pan to challenge Hua, saying, "I've a brave warrior in my army. Pan Feng is his name, and he can slay this Hua Xiong." However, Pan was no match for Hua and was slain by his opponent after dueling a few rounds.
Pan Feng is the subject of a popular Chinese internet meme involving the line "I've a brave warrior in my army. Pan Feng is his name, and he can slay this Hua Xiong." This meme is a cultural phenomenon and has led to a surge in Pan's popularity[1] to rival the more well known figures of the Three Kingdoms period. This popularity has been attributed to various causes, such as desire to poke fun at traditions as a novelty, to feelings of helplessness and lack of individual recognition in Chinese society. It has spawned multiple fake biographies detailing the supposed exploits of Pan Feng that were supposedly too great to be mentioned officially.[2]