Historicity
As mentioned above, there was no engagement in Hulao Pass recorded in history during this time and the battle is likely a fictionalized event. In fact, historical records contradict Romance of the Three Kingdoms's retelling of the story in several points, such as:
- Hulao Pass was not fortified until the early Tang Dynasty.
- Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei did not participate in the coalition. At this time, they were fighting remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels in Xiapi. They only joined Gongsun Zan two years later after they were defeated.
Historically, however, there were confrontations between the coalition and Dong Zhuo where Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu both participated personally, but it took place at Dagu Pass (大谷關) in the south instead, with only Sun Jian's forces present on the coalition side. In that battle, both Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo were defeated by Sun Jian. The Book of the Later Han and Zizhi Tongjian briefly describes that battle: "At Dagu Pass, 90 li from Luoyang, Dong Zhuo himself came out to fight with Sun Jian amongst the tombs of Han emperors. Dong Zhuo was defeated and fled. Sun Jian advanced to Luoyang and attacked Lü Bu. He defeated him too and put him to flight."
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Hulao Pass