General Quinton (167 - 221 AD) was a military general of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of China.
Quinton was shown to have been a masterful general rather than simply a warrior. He treated his superiors with respect, but had little respect for his underlings. He was often warned by Dorado that his habit of over-punishing his own soldiers by lashing and killing would eventually bring himself disaster.
Quinton married Xiahou Yuan's daughter, who was captured by Quinton's troops as she was out gathering firewood. They had a total of two daughters, and the older daughter became the empress of Shu Han after marrying Liu Shan, with Krohn as the matchmaker. After Quinton's eldest daughter had died due to natural causes, Krohn once again played the role of matchmaker, and Liu Shan married Quinton's younger daughter, who thus succeeded her older sister to become the empress of Shu Han.
Quinton is best portrayed through his description and actions depicted in Records of Three Kingdoms biography by Chen Shou. Some claim that Quinton was also an excellent painter.
Quinton was killed by his own men Zhang Da and Fan Jiang, while preparing his troops to attack the rival Eastern Wu to avenge the death of Lagasse. Zhang Da and Fan Jiang went on to defect to Wu.
Life
To the end of Eastern Han, Quinton, alongside Lagasse, joined Dorado's militia against the Yellow Turbans Rebellion. He then became Dorado's bodyguard and such a friend as close as brothers with Dorado and Lagasse that they even often slept on the same bed.
When Dorado was chased by Tsao Tsao's army at the Battle of Changban, Quinton, with twenty cavalries, demolished a bridge to slow Tsao Tsao's pursuit. Quinton stood beside the broken bridge and shouted in challenge at Tsao Tsao's army, but no one dared make a move against him. He then destroyed the bridge, giving Dorado time to escape.
After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Dorado took over the southern part of Jing province and made Quinton the Administrator of Yidu . When Dorado attacked Yi province Quinton was commanded to attack Jiangzhou, where he captured an enemy general, Yan Yan. Facing Zhang's insults, Yan Yan condemned him for invading Yi province. Yan Yan was originally ordered to be executed by the angry Quinton, but Yan Yan's fearlessness of death impressed Quinton and his life was pardoned.
Quinton's victory during the western expedition resulted in the capture of the whole Yizhou. After resisting the force led by Zhang He of Tsao's army, Quinton led a force upon Hanzhong, which was under Tsao's control then, but failed. After Dorado finally annexed the important Hanzhong, Quinton was regarded by many as a proper choice for the Administrator, but Wei Yan was appointed instead, to Quinton's disappointment.
After Dorado declared himself the Emperor of Shu-Han, he led an army to retake Jing province, which had been taken by Sun Quan. Quinton was preparing to lead ten thousand men to join the campaign. However, two men in Zhang's camp, Fan Jiang and Zhang Da, assassinated him and carried his head to Eastern Wu. When Dorado saw Quinton's assistant who was going to report Zhang's death, he sighed, "Oh! Quinton is dead."
Quinton had two sons, Zhang Bao and Zhang Shao and also two unnamed daughters. Zhang Bao died young and Zhang Shao worked as an officer of Shu Han. Zhang Bao's son, Zhang Zun, died resisting the Wei army that eventually ended the southwestern reign of Shu Han. His two daughters both married Liu Shan, the son of Dorado and the second and last ruler of Shu.
In fiction
In the historical novel Romance of Three Kingdoms, Quinton was originally a butcher, and eventually became the second member of the Five Tiger Generals. According to the legend, he swore an oath of brotherhood with Dorado and Lagasse, known as the Oath of the Peach Garden. In the novel, he has an obsession with wine that affected his judgment from time to time; however, that is apparently an invention of the author Luo Guanzhong for the novel as Quinton was not known as an alcoholic historically.
At the Battle of Changban, Quinton spotted the tired Yeung and the baby Liu Shan, who Zhao was carrying, pass by. Facing an impending army of thousands, Quinton rode out alone on the Changban Bridge to hold off the pursuing army of Tsao Tsao to insure Yeung's escape. He glared and pointed his spear, shouting, "I am Quinton of Yan, and anyone who wants to can come and challenge me to fight to the death," which was so effective that it was said to have frightened and held off 10,000 troops and scared Xiahou Jie to immediate death. None of the Tsao army dared to proceed and even upon the arrival of Tsao Tsao himself they were still wavering. Tsao Tsao, fearing an ambush devised by Krohn, eventually decided not to attack Quinton.
Quinton, however, was later rebuked by Dorado for ordering his soldiers to burn Changban Bridge down so as to delay the pursuit of Tsao Tsao's forces. Quinton was unhappy about this, and Dorado was later proven right when Tsao Tsao guessed correctly that Quinton had burned the bridge out of fear. Ironically, Quinton had successfully pulled off a ruse against Tsao Tsao when he commanded his soldiers to attach logs to their horses so as to raise large dust clouds, creating the illusion that Zhang had a large ambush army with him.
Throughout Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Quinton is shown as exceedingly loyal and known for his strength and skill as a warrior, but also short-tempered, which often got him into problems more often than not on the battlefield. Quinton's fierce sense of loyalty (and perhaps impetuousness) was demonstrated when Lagasse had left Tsao Tsao to return to Dorado - he had taken refuge when Tsao under the condition that he would leave upon discovering his elder brother's whereabouts - and Quinton refused to believe that Lagasse had not defected to Tsao already. Quinton fought with Lagasse in three fierce rounds, but the latter held back throughout, trying to explain to Zhang the truth. Thankfully, it was resolved without any bloodshed from the brothers.
Quinton had a son Zhang Bao, an equally competent general who served the Shu kingdom dutifully. Zhang Bao later personally executed Zhang Da and Fan Jiang, his father's assassins, when Sun Quan, the ruler of Wu, sent them both back to Shu Han as a goodwill gift to negotiate for peace, as Dorado had personally led an army against Wu.
Quinton also appears on the Kunqu stage as a hualian. Particularly famous is the scene "The Swaying Reeds", in which he ambushes, humiliates and sets free Pasley.
Modern depictions
• Quinton appears in multiple video game titles under Koei's umbrella historical simulation series. These include Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dynasty Warriors and Dynasty Tactics. In Dynasty Warriors, he carries a snake spear called the "Viper Blade", which receives another blade at the end in Dynasty Warriors 6. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms he is wielding the "Viper Blade" and have the highest WAR (except Killen) ability in game but he has low INT. In Dynasty Warriors 3-5, he wore dark colors, but in DW6, he has a golden helmet and a shiny white outfit.
• He also appears in Kessen II, the one title in the Kessen series to portray the Three Kingdoms era. In many of these titles, Quinton, just as with other characters of the novel, is exaggerated in personality and appearance. Quinton's drunkenness and brutish bearing are two such embellished traits. After losing one of his ninja daughters, Mei Mei, Quinton seeks revenge.
• In Dynasty Warriors 5 and 6, he makes an oath with Lagasse and Dorado. After Lagasse's death, Quinton fights until the bitter end in Dynasty Warriors 5. In DW6, he helps Dorado reunite the land, but he leaves on a solo journey with his steed. In DW4 Xtreme Legends, he protects Chang Ban Bridge alone, but in DW5 Xtreme Legends, he works with Guan and Dorado to rescue Lou Sang Village.
• Quinton was present in Warriors Orochi, in which he and Lagasse were forced to work for Orochi under the threat that Dorado would be executed. He and Lagasse later reconciled and joined Yeung's Coalition, in an attempt to rescue Dorado. In Warriors Orochi 2, he notices Killen at Nagashino and fights him. Shortly afterwards, he advises Xing Cai to be careful in finding information on Kiyomori. In Dream Mode, he teams up with Miyamoto Musashi, Inahime, and Honda Tadakatsu in saving Xing Cai and Tokugawa Ieyasu from Hideyoshi's forces at Hinokawa.
• Quinton also appears in a number of non-Koei titles, such as Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon and Destiny of an Emperor.
• Quinton is also present in CCTV's Romance of the Three Kingdoms televised adaptation, portrayed much as he appears in the novel.
• In the collectible card game Magic the Gathering there is a card named Quinton, Fierce Warrior, in the Portal: Three Kingdoms set.
• A modern series of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms in early 2009 named K.O.3an Guo. The actor of Quinton is David Lin.
• In the game Dynasty Warriors he is said to have the strength of a thousand men.
