Huarong Pass is one of the most famous locations associated with the aftermath of Red Cliffs in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Its fame comes not from geography itself, but from the legendary meeting between the defeated Cao Cao and Guan Yu.
After fire consumes Cao Cao’s fleet at Red Cliffs, his great southern campaign collapses. The commander who had marched south with enormous confidence is reduced to fleeing north with exhausted remnants of his army.
Zhuge Liang, however, has already anticipated the route of retreat.
Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, and other forces appear in ambush along the way, adding fresh attacks to Cao Cao’s misery. By the time he reaches Huarong Pass, his battered column has already endured repeated shocks.
Then another force appears ahead.
Its commander is Guan Yu.
Cao Cao understands the danger, but he also remembers the past. When Guan Yu had temporarily remained under Cao Cao’s authority, Cao Cao treated him generously, offering gifts, robes, and the famous Red Hare horse. Guan Yu eventually left to seek Liu Bei, but he never forgot the kindness he had received.
At Huarong Pass, Cao Cao appeals to that old debt.
Guan Yu has military orders and should stop him. Yet faced with a man who once treated him with honor, he cannot entirely silence his sense of obligation.
In the end, Guan Yu allows Cao Cao to escape.
He must later return and answer to Zhuge Liang for disobeying the military order.
Huarong Pass therefore becomes one of the great stories of yi — personal loyalty, obligation, and honor — in the Romance. The fire at Red Cliffs decides the battle, but the moment at Huarong Pass reveals the men themselves: Cao Cao searching for survival even in disaster, Zhuge Liang anticipating the path ahead, and Guan Yu unable to forget an old kindness even when duty demands otherwise.