Liu Bei was a member of the imperial family and was known as "Imperial Uncle Liu". However, in his childhood he was very poor.

His ambition was to restore the Han court and be known for his humanity and virtue. From the beginning of his military career, when he fought the "Yellow Scarves", he experienced many setbacks. On a number of occasions, he almost lost his life. However, Liu Bei was fortunate in that he was assisted by three very powerful warriors in his two sworn brothers Guan Yu ("Lord Guan", so called because from the Ming Dynasty onwards he was worshipped as the God of War in temples throughout the country) and Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun ("Zhao Zilong") and by Zhuge Liang ("Kongming") who was a genius of military strategy and tactics as well as a brilliant administrator and inventor. With the loyal support of these great men Liu Bei was able to found his Kingdom in the west of the country known as the Kingdom of Shu-Han.