Records of the Three Kingdoms
Liao Hua, courtesy name Yuanjian, was from Xiangyang. His original name was Chun. He began as Guan Yu’s chief clerk. When Guan Yu fell he came under Wu, then found a way to escape and brought his mother back to Liu Bei, who made him governor of Yidu.
In the late years of Shu he campaigned with Jiang Wei and rose to be general of chariots and cavalry on the right, with a fief as Marquis of Zhongxiang. In 262, when Jiang Wei still wanted to march, Liao Hua said that arms not laid down will burn the one who holds them, and urged him to win men by conduct and to be careful of war. The next year Shu fell. Liao Hua and Zong Yu were moved toward Luoyang. He died of illness on the road. The later proverb that Shu had no great general and so Liao Hua led the van is not a sentence of the Records. It is a later sigh that the last years of Shu had run out of men.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In the novel Liao Hua is in the army from Guan Yu’s time, and almost every later Shu expedition carries his name. He helps Guan Yu’s family, follows Liu Bei east, and serves as a deputy on Jiang Wei’s northern campaigns.
The book makes him the old general who lives to the end. The proverb’s resignation shapes how readers see him more than any one duel.
Reference: Wikipedia · Liao Hua