Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Author: Luo Guanzhong (Ming) / Edited by Guo Guanglan / Adapted by Jiang Xiaolei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, also known as Romance of the Three Kingdoms or The Story of the Three Kingdoms, is a long historical novel widely circulated and highly influential, familiar to the people. Romance of the Three Kingdoms draws its material from the history of the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the three states of Wei, Shu, and Wu. It begins with the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the middle years of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han (AD 184) and continues until the fall of Wu in the first year of Emperor Taikang of the Jin Dynasty (AD 280), covering nearly a whole century. The Jin Dynasty historian Chen Shou compiled this period of history into the historical book Records of the Three Kingdoms. During the Southern Dynasties of the Song Dynasty, Pei Songzhi wrote annotations for Records of the Three Kingdoms, citing extensively from various sources. The annotations were several times longer than the original text, adding much supplementary material. The Spring and Autumn Annals of Han and Jin by Xi Zaochi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty is also a historical book about the Three Kingdoms period. At the same time, stories about the Three Kingdoms have been passed down continuously. The Notes on the Conversations of the Scholars by Liu Yijie of the Southern Dynasties of the Song Dynasty focuses on the sayings and deeds of the famous scholars and aristocrats of the Wei and Jin periods. According to Du Bao's Remnants of the Great Industry, during the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, water-based performances such as "Cao Cao Fights Mosquitoes at Qiao River" and "Liu Bei Leaps Across Tan Creek" already existed. The poem Poem of the Proud Child by Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty, which includes lines like "mocking Zhang Fei as a barbarian" or "laughing at Deng Ai's eating," shows that the Three Kingdoms characters were already being used as subjects for jokes and proverbs. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Three Kingdoms characters were taken to the stage or platform by folk artists. According to the Dream of Splendid Splendor by Meng Yuanlao of the Song Dynasty, the "storytelling" of the Three Kingdoms (Shuo San Fang) had become an independent category of storytelling in the Northern Song Dynasty, and famous artists specializing in the Three Kingdoms had emerged. Romance of the Three Kingdoms draws its material from the history of the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the three states of Wei, Shu, and Wu, with the rise and fall of Shu-Han as its main thread, artistically recreating nearly a century of political and military struggles from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the middle years of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han (AD 184) to the unification of the Three Kingdoms by Emperor Taikang of the Jin Dynasty (AD 280). This book is based on the Commentary of Mao Zonggang of the many versions of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Romance of the Three Kingdoms uses a mixed language of classical and vernacular Chinese, which can be challenging for modern readers to understand. To facilitate reading, this book has been rewritten in modern vernacular Chinese while preserving the main plot and chapters of the original, making the language simple and easy to understand, and is very suitable for general readers. We hope this Romance of the Three Kingdoms will bring readers a relaxed and enjoyable reading experience.