Liao Hua
The "Sao Mi Zhou" (掃迷帚; literally "The broom sweeping away superstitions"), a novel written by a certain Zhuangzhe (壯者; literally "strong man") during the Qing dynasty, contained a saying about Liao Hua: "If there are no great generals left in Shu, Liao Hua will be the vanguard." (蜀中無大將，廖化作先鋒) It can be interpreted as: Shu was so lacking in talents and new blood in its twilight years that an elderly Liao Hua had to lead the vanguard of the Shu army in battle. The proverb is also used to describe a situation in which a person who is seemingly unfit for a job is forced into doing it, but is willing to face what seems to be insurmountable odds against him/her.