Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Student Version)

Author: Luo Guanzhong [Ming Dynasty]
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, also known as Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is a long historical novel that has been widely circulated and has had a profound influence, familiar to the people. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is based on the history of the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu. It begins with the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the first year of Emperor Ling's Zhongping reign (AD 184) and ends with the fall of Wu in the first year of Emperor Taikang of the Jin Dynasty (AD 280), covering nearly a full 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, extensively citing various sources. The annotations are several times longer than the original text, adding much additional material. The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Han and Jin Dynasties 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 Sayings of the World by Liu Yijing of the Southern Dynasties of the Song Dynasty focuses on recording the conversations and anecdotes of famous officials and scholars 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 Mian Fighting Mosquitoes at Qiao River" and "Liu Bei Leaping Across Tan Creek" already existed. The Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin's poem Poem of the Proud Child states, "Sometimes they mock Zhang Fei as a barbarian, or laugh at Deng Ai's eating," showing that by then, Three Kingdoms figures had already been used as subjects for jokes. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Three Kingdoms characters were brought to the stage or stage by folk artists. According to the Dream of Splendid Splendor by Song Mengyuan of the Song Dynasty, the "telling of the Three Kingdoms" (i.e., telling the stories of the Three Kingdoms) was already an independent category of "storytelling" in the Northern Song Dynasty, and famous artists specializing in the "Three Kingdoms" had emerged.