Revealing the True Face of the Three Kingdoms - A Review of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"

Author: Gao Enyuan / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Review Return to the Peach Garden, where the heroes of the Three Kingdoms swear brotherhood and (defeat the Yellow Turban Rebellion) marks the first achievement of the heroes. The original text reads: "The world's great affairs, when divided, must eventually unite; when united, must eventually divide. In the late Zhou Dynasty, the seven states were divided and later merged into the Qin Dynasty. After the Qin's fall, Chu and Han fought for supremacy, which was then unified under the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty, after Gaozu's rise by slaying the white snake, unified the world. Later, Emperor Guangwu restored the Han, which passed to Emperor Xian and split into the Three Kingdoms. The reasons for this chaos likely began with the emperors Huan and Ling."
Review: "The world's great affairs, when divided, must eventually unite; when united, must eventually divide." These are merely the opening lines of a storytelling performance, not the reality of the world. What is called the "great affairs of the world" is not division or unification—it has only one character: "change." The heavens change, the earth changes, people change. Change occurs all year round, endlessly. Everything changes—great and small, more and less, true and false, real and unreal, ugly and beautiful, good and evil, division and unification, rise and fall, life and death. The past changes, the present changes, changing without end, always changing. Change is the law of nature—it is unchangeable and irrepressible, and we can only adapt to it. Therefore, change is the great affair of the world.
However, it should be said that the opening Return to the Peach Garden of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is still very well done. The rise of the three brothers Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao, and Zhang Liang to seize the world by seizing the opportunity is reasonable and aligns closely with the records in Records of the Three Kingdoms. The appearance of the "Peach Garden Oath" and its depiction of the defeat of the Yellow Turban Rebellion are also reasonable and consistent with the records in Records of the Three Kingdoms. The emergence of Cao Cao is both clever and reasonable, aligning with the records in Records of the Three Kingdoms. In just a short Return to the Peach Garden, two major powers of the Three Kingdoms are introduced, as well as the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" that the Three Kingdoms jointly fight against. Moreover, it is done naturally and smoothly, giving the impression that it is neither sudden nor forced—it truly achieves a level of persuasion.
In one version of the preface to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there is a masterful use of "using the guest to highlight the host" in the book. For example, when describing the three brothers of the Peach Garden, it first describes the three brothers of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The Peach Garden is the host, and the Yellow Turban Rebellion is the guest. This Return to the Peach Garden follows this narrative style and also sets the precedent for such a method. Of course, Romance of the Three Kingdoms has many other narrative methods, which will be discussed below.