Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Chinese Classics Library

Author: Chen Shou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms is known as one of the "Four Great Histories," alongside Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, Ban Gu's Book of Han, and Fan Ye's Book of Later Han. Records of the Three Kingdoms took ten years to complete its six volumes, totaling sixty-five chapters. Chen Shou also innovated a new form of the biographical history, writing separate books for the Wei, Shu, and Wu states. Chen Shou named the book "[The Three Kingdoms]" to reflect the historical fact of the three states' dominance. He adopted a parallel narration of the three states. Although the titles of the chronicles and biographies differ, the biographies of the rulers of Shu and Wu are largely the same as those of the chronicles, and this arrangement effectively reflects the actual state of the Three Kingdoms period. The precedent set by Chen Shou for parallel narration of the three states had a profound influence on later historians. Records of the Three Kingdoms is a historical account that records the formation of the Three Kingdoms to the unification of Western Jin, with the main focus on the rise and fall of the Wei, Shu, and Wu states. It includes thirty chapters of The Book of Wei, twenty chapters of The Book of Wu, and fifteen chapters of The Book of Shu, totaling sixty-five chapters. This book selects key figures whose biographies played a crucial role in shaping the Three Kingdoms period, helping readers understand the general outline of the era. The narrative is vivid, the writing is elegant, and the book is highly readable.