Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Author: (Jin) Chen Shou compiled
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a historical record of the three states of Wei, Shu, and Wu during the Jin Dynasty, written by Chen Shou. It is a biographical history of the different states, detailing the history from the first year of Huangchu (220 AD) of Emperor Wen of Wei to the first year of Taikang (280 AD) of Emperor Wu of Jin, covering a span of sixty years. Among them, The Book of Wei has thirty volumes, The Book of Shu has fifteen volumes, and The Book of Wu has twenty volumes, totaling sixty-five volumes. Chen Shou was a court official of the Jin Dynasty. Jin succeeded Wei to gain the throne, so Romance of the Three Kingdoms regards Wei as the legitimate dynasty. Romance of the Three Kingdoms wrote a chronicle for Cao Cao, while The Book of Shu and The Book of Wu recorded Liu Bei as The Annals of the First Emperor and Sun Quan as The Annals of the Wu Emperor, respectively. There are only biographies, no chronicles. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is not only a monumental work of history but also a monumental work of literature. Based on respect for historical facts, Chen Shou used concise and elegant language to paint vivid portraits of the figures of the Three Kingdoms. The characters are well-portrayed, full of life and very vivid.