Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Upper and Lower)

Author: Chen Shou of Jin Dynasty, annotated by Pei Songzhi of Song Dynasty, edited by Yue Qun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-03-01
Features: This book still uses the Baona edition as the base text, incorporating revisions from old printed editions such as the Wuying Palace edition of the fourth year of the Qianlong reign in the Qing Dynasty, the Jinling Book Bureau movable-type printing edition of the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign, and the Jiangnan Book Bureau edition of the thirteenth year of the Guangxu reign, as well as multiple new editions represented by the Zhonghua Book Company annotated edition. For this reissue, we utilized cross-revisions among these editions to compare differences and select the best, while extensively absorbing the research achievements of scholars in previous and contemporary textual criticism and compilation. Our sincere hope is to provide modern readers with a readable and collectible edition of The Records of the Three Kingdoms, built upon the diligent efforts of predecessors. However, the great river flows for millennia, and the sea of learning is endless. The textual criticism and compilation of ancient books are also research endeavors that must keep pace with the times. The Records of the Three Kingdoms is one of the "Four Histories," alongside The Records of the Grand Historian, The Book of Han, and The Book of the Later Han. Author Chen Shou, renowned for his historical insight and narrative skills, was praised in his time as a "virtuous historian." The Records of the Three Kingdoms has its own unique characteristics among the Twenty-Four Histories—it is neither a comprehensive history like The Records of the Grand Historian, nor a dynastic history like The Book of Han. Instead, it parallelly narrates the historical facts of the three rival states of Wei, Shu, and Wu during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Although titled a "Record," the book only contains annals and biographies, without treatises. This edition is based on Pei Songzhi's annotations. From a modern perspective, Pei's annotations are not merely supplementary reading aids for Chen's work but can even be considered a "twin treasure" alongside Chen's text, both reflecting the history of the six decades of the Wei, Shu, and Wu states.