Quickly read Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Author: Luo Guanzhong (Ming) / Lü Yang adapted
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: Romance of the Three Kingdoms is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of China and is also an outstanding long historical novel. It is more historically accurate than Investiture of the Gods, and more vivid and touching than Records of the States of Eastern Zhou. Based on the historical classic Records of the Three Kingdoms, it using a writing technique of seven parts fact and three parts fiction. That is to say, although some plot points deviate from historical facts, the impression it gives is real, and it is real in people's imagination. The late linguist Lin Han Da once said: If someone draws a portrait of Guan Yu now, with Guan Yu sitting in a chair under candlelight, reading the bound book Zuo Zhuan, ordinary readers would feel very familiar and real—it's exactly like that. In reality, this painting is not true. Because in Guan Yu's time, there were no bound books, and people didn’t sit in chairs, but in the hearts of readers, it is still true. If you paint Guan Yu sitting on a sofa under fluorescent light, holding a Western-style book Zuo Zhuan and reading, readers would immediately know it’s not true. The historical reality in people’s minds is so different from the actual reality. However, the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms skillfully grasped the balance between the distinct yet closely linked relationship between people’s conceptual historical reality and historical facts, presenting a vivid, interesting, and intricate historical life to readers, making it a renowned historical novel enjoyed by both scholars and the general public.
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the court was corrupt and dark, with continuous natural disasters and the Yellow Turban Rebellion erupting. In suppressing the Yellow Turban Army, warlords such as Ma Teng, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Lü Bu, Liu Biao, and Sun Ce each seized territory and fought among themselves. After multiple wars and mergers, finally a triangular alliance emerged with Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan leading the Wei, Shu, and Wu states, respectively. Cao Cao controlled the northern region, Liu Bei occupied Western Shu, and Sun Quan ruled Eastern Wu. The three sides engaged in strategic battles and alliances, with complex contradictions, but the main thread was the conflict between Wei and Shu, vividly reflected in the intense rivalry between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi. Eventually, Zhuge Liang died from exhaustion, and Wei conquered Shu. Sima Zhao seized the Wei throne, established the Jin Dynasty, conquered Eastern Wu, and reunified the empire.