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Three Kingdoms
Complete and unabridged, Moss Roberts's translation provides an authoritative, annotated English-language version of one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.
"The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been." With this characterization of the inevitable cycle of Chinese history, the monumental tale Three Kingdoms begins. As important for Chinese culture as the Homeric epics have been for the West, this Ming Dynasty masterpiece continues to be read and loved throughout China as well as in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The novel offers a startling and unsparing view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought; it has influenced the ways that Chinese think about power, diplomacy, and war even to this day.
Three Kingdoms portrays a fateful moment at the end of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) when the future of the Chinese empire lay in the balance. Writing more than a millennium later, Luo Guanzhong drew on often told tales of this turbulent period to fashion a sophisticated compelling narrative, whose characters display vivid individuality and epic grandeur.
The story begins when the emperor, fearing uprisings by peasant rebels known as the Yellow Scarves, sends an urgent appeal to the provinces for popular support. In response, three young men - the aristocratic Liu Xuande, the fugitive Lord Guan, and the pig-butcher Zhang Fei - meet to pledge eternal brotherhood and fealty to their beleaguered government. From these events comes a chain of cause and consequence that leads ultimately to the collapse of the Han.
"The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been." With this characterization of the inevitable cycle of Chinese history, the monumental tale Three Kingdoms begins. As important for Chinese culture as the Homeric epics have been for the West, this Ming Dynasty masterpiece continues to be read and loved throughout China as well as in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The novel offers a startling and unsparing view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought; it has influenced the ways that Chinese think about power, diplomacy, and war even to this day.
Three Kingdoms portrays a fateful moment at the end of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) when the future of the Chinese empire lay in the balance. Writing more than a millennium later, Luo Guanzhong drew on often told tales of this turbulent period to fashion a sophisticated compelling narrative, whose characters display vivid individuality and epic grandeur.
The story begins when the emperor, fearing uprisings by peasant rebels known as the Yellow Scarves, sends an urgent appeal to the provinces for popular support. In response, three young men - the aristocratic Liu Xuande, the fugitive Lord Guan, and the pig-butcher Zhang Fei - meet to pledge eternal brotherhood and fealty to their beleaguered government. From these events comes a chain of cause and consequence that leads ultimately to the collapse of the Han.
2339 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1360
3437 people are currently reading
19671 people want to read
About the author
Luo Guanzhong
695 books171 followersLuo Ben (c. 1330–1400), better known by his style name Luo Guanzhong (罗贯中) (Mandarin pronunciation: [lwɔ kwantʂʊŋ]), was a Chinese writer who lived during the Yuan Dynasty. He was also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (Chinese: 湖海散人; pinyin: Húhǎi Sǎnrén; literally "Leisure Man of Lakes and Seas"). Luo was attributed with writing Romance of the Three Kingdoms and editing Water Margin, two of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 532 reviews
March 25, 2012
i read this in high school and got beat up every day
May 13, 2011
Around the time the earth cooled and life spread across the continents, I was a huge fan of the game Destiny of an Emperor for the NES. Chinese generals with names I couldn't pronounce duking it out for the fate of China enthralled me.
Years later, I was thinking fondly of the game and decided to investigate the source, Three Kingdoms. Three Kingdoms is one of the four great classics of Chinese literature.
Imagine my surprise while on my 2300+ page journey that the story of the game wasn't very much like. While the game depicts the rise of Liu Bei, the book depicts his rise and fall, as well as fleshing out the stories of his companions and enemies.
At 2300 pages, you can imagine the amount of characters to absorb. Still, it was very satisfying to read years after playing the game. The writing was a little rough getting used to but to be fair, it was written centuries ago in Chinese! The stories of Liu Bei, Lord Guan, Zhang Fei, Pang Tong, and the rest were very interesting. I was glad LuBu met his fate at the hands of Cao Cao. When he left my party, he had a lot of good equipment the rest of them could have used!
Years later, I was thinking fondly of the game and decided to investigate the source, Three Kingdoms. Three Kingdoms is one of the four great classics of Chinese literature.
Imagine my surprise while on my 2300+ page journey that the story of the game wasn't very much like. While the game depicts the rise of Liu Bei, the book depicts his rise and fall, as well as fleshing out the stories of his companions and enemies.
At 2300 pages, you can imagine the amount of characters to absorb. Still, it was very satisfying to read years after playing the game. The writing was a little rough getting used to but to be fair, it was written centuries ago in Chinese! The stories of Liu Bei, Lord Guan, Zhang Fei, Pang Tong, and the rest were very interesting. I was glad LuBu met his fate at the hands of Cao Cao. When he left my party, he had a lot of good equipment the rest of them could have used!
April 2, 2019
Introduction, by Shi Changyu
--Three Kingdoms, Volume I
Notes
--Three Kingdoms, Volume II
Notes
--Three Kingdoms, Volume III
Notes
--Three Kingdoms, Volume IV
Notes
Principal Characters
Chronology of Main Events
List of Maps
Titles, Terms and Offices
Foreword, by John S. Service
Afterword: About 'Three Kingdoms' & Notes, by Moss Roberts
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
About the Translator
--Three Kingdoms, Volume I
Notes
--Three Kingdoms, Volume II
Notes
--Three Kingdoms, Volume III
Notes
--Three Kingdoms, Volume IV
Notes
Principal Characters
Chronology of Main Events
List of Maps
Titles, Terms and Offices
Foreword, by John S. Service
Afterword: About 'Three Kingdoms' & Notes, by Moss Roberts
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
About the Translator
May 19, 2014
There can be no equal. This is the book that makes all others pale in comparison.
I'm forced to compare this book to Game of Thrones due to the popularity of the TV series, as its all my friends ask about when talking about this book.
"How does it compare to Game of Thrones?"
It doesn't. This is not high fantasy.
To say it's a story about the fall of the Han dynasty and the various warlords scramble to fill the void does not due the book justice.
If you are looking for all the political maneuvering (and more) of a Game of Thrones, placed in a real world setting, then you owe yourself to read this book. Three Kingdoms, where the only dragons are on the buildings façade.
I'm forced to compare this book to Game of Thrones due to the popularity of the TV series, as its all my friends ask about when talking about this book.
"How does it compare to Game of Thrones?"
It doesn't. This is not high fantasy.
To say it's a story about the fall of the Han dynasty and the various warlords scramble to fill the void does not due the book justice.
If you are looking for all the political maneuvering (and more) of a Game of Thrones, placed in a real world setting, then you owe yourself to read this book. Three Kingdoms, where the only dragons are on the buildings façade.
March 5, 2013
Difficult to begin, but...
This novel, one of the great classic Chinese novels, is one of the more difficult texts for readers. While some others, like Journey to the West or The Marshes of Mount Liang, are much more easily accessible and entertaining right from the beginning, a feeling of disorientation is common for first readers of "Three Kingdoms". The story starts without introduction with the appearance of dozens of protagonists, and it's hard to keep track of all of them. At the end you will have encountered over 1200 named people, and some of them even with several names, depending on the situation!
But you shouldn't allow yourself to get daunted at this early stage. Soon you'll get used to the flood of people, and you will find out which are only "fire-and-forget" characters who only appear in the sentence they are mentioned first, and which are important for the storyline. After that, the chaotic impression is replaced by a clear structure.
The dissolving Han dynasty's kingdoms are very vividly described - though you have to be prepared for some very dry sections of descriptions of army movements and complex battle strategies, which would better fit in history books. But there's a lot of compensation for these difficult parts - "epic" and "heroic" are words that have never seen a more fitting place than this maelstrom of loyality, treachery, honesty and perfidiousness that sucks you into an extremely captivating account of the heroes who have become cultural icons.
Lü Bu, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang - all of these historic figures are very well characterized and lead the story over several generations. At the end you will feel with them, and have witnessed the rise and fall of one of the most important epochs of Chinese history.
A must-read, even if it's difficult at the beginning than modern novels. And when you're done the other classical Chinese texts wait for you, which are less complicated but even more entertaining.
This edition is split in two volumes (not two separate parts!), avoiding the problem of a monstrous weight. High-quality paper and almost no typos outweigh the flimsy cover. Moss Roberts' translation is fluent and modern, but without unneccessary flourish and not hiding the fact that the book is centuries old.
This novel, one of the great classic Chinese novels, is one of the more difficult texts for readers. While some others, like Journey to the West or The Marshes of Mount Liang, are much more easily accessible and entertaining right from the beginning, a feeling of disorientation is common for first readers of "Three Kingdoms". The story starts without introduction with the appearance of dozens of protagonists, and it's hard to keep track of all of them. At the end you will have encountered over 1200 named people, and some of them even with several names, depending on the situation!
But you shouldn't allow yourself to get daunted at this early stage. Soon you'll get used to the flood of people, and you will find out which are only "fire-and-forget" characters who only appear in the sentence they are mentioned first, and which are important for the storyline. After that, the chaotic impression is replaced by a clear structure.
The dissolving Han dynasty's kingdoms are very vividly described - though you have to be prepared for some very dry sections of descriptions of army movements and complex battle strategies, which would better fit in history books. But there's a lot of compensation for these difficult parts - "epic" and "heroic" are words that have never seen a more fitting place than this maelstrom of loyality, treachery, honesty and perfidiousness that sucks you into an extremely captivating account of the heroes who have become cultural icons.
Lü Bu, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang - all of these historic figures are very well characterized and lead the story over several generations. At the end you will feel with them, and have witnessed the rise and fall of one of the most important epochs of Chinese history.
A must-read, even if it's difficult at the beginning than modern novels. And when you're done the other classical Chinese texts wait for you, which are less complicated but even more entertaining.
This edition is split in two volumes (not two separate parts!), avoiding the problem of a monstrous weight. High-quality paper and almost no typos outweigh the flimsy cover. Moss Roberts' translation is fluent and modern, but without unneccessary flourish and not hiding the fact that the book is centuries old.
May 19, 2014
The historical novel recounts the kingdoms of Wu, Wei and Shu vying to dominate China proper after the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty.
Approximate Territories of the Three Kingdoms (Image from Yu Ninjie)
Not only are the heroic deeds memorable but the strategic up-onemanship among the kingdom reads like Machiavelli's The Prince. You can find many of the strategies from Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Recommended for all historical novel lovers.
A Portrait of Cao Cao, the Chancellor of the Kingdom of Wei
Approximate Territories of the Three Kingdoms (Image from Yu Ninjie)
Not only are the heroic deeds memorable but the strategic up-onemanship among the kingdom reads like Machiavelli's The Prince. You can find many of the strategies from Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Recommended for all historical novel lovers.
A Portrait of Cao Cao, the Chancellor of the Kingdom of Wei
June 25, 2012
I love this book. All the characters, despite the fact that there are so many, are unique, and every character plays a part. When I started reading this book in March (I finished in June) I was studying China in my sixth grade class (If you are in sixth grade you should probably only read it if you have an intense interest in Chinese history) and it really helped me know a lot more about dynasties in general, how empires function, and how war is fought throughout Chinese history. It even influences the way I play Risk! I really liked Kongming (Zhuge Liang) because he always outsmarted everyone, even when the people he outsmarted thought that they were outsmarting him. Zhao Zilong was also an awesome character because he was really honorable and always beat everyone, even when he was outnumbered 1000 to 1 at Danyang Slope. I thought it was funny when the author would say things like "What happened to Lu Bu? Read on" "Did Cao Cao survive? Read on." All in all, this was a great book.
August 21, 2015
Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written sometime around the 1400-1500’s (late Yuan to mid-Ming) and tells a dramatized version of the fall of the Han Dynasty and the three kingdoms period, spanning 168-280 A.D. over 2300+ pages.
And it’s not an easy read, at least at first. The first several hundred pages can be very confusing with dozens upon dozens of characters with difficult to remember names, coming and going with no way of telling whether they will be important characters or not.
Once you get through all that, however, it’s an incredibly thrilling tale.
Interestingly, the novel represents a case where a fictionalized history is more important than actual history. That is, if you want to understand more about the Chinese, it is more important that you read this book than to read a history of the three kingdoms period. Nevertheless, it is said that the novel is 7 parts fact and 4 parts fiction.
For those interested in the real history, the 100-page afterword (in the Moss Roberts translation) is a real treat. I was very surprised, for example, to learn that Lord Guan was actually a very minor player in the historic context. It was fictional accounts like stage dramas and this novel that raised his status to supernatural heights. Yes, supernatural. There is a long tradition of worshiping him as a deity in China. And many kung fu schools practice the “Guan Dao” at advanced levels. (The Guan Dao is basically a fat saber at the head of a long heavy staff. Supposedly it was what Lord Guan used, though this is not clear from the novel.)
This is not a book to read if you want to beef up your “books read in 2015” on goodreads. For me, however, long books have a kind of magical appeal. You get really invested in the characters, the story accompanies you over a long period (I’m not a speed reader), and you mourn its passing when it’s finally finished.
If I choose to continue reading a long book, it’s probably going to get 5 stars. I don’t want to waste so much time on a mediocre book.
You’ll love this book if you’re into Chinese culture & history, ancient military strategy, kung fu, war novels, or tales of heroes and epic adventures.
The book will probably not appeal to women, however, as female characters play only very minor roles and are occasionally mistreated. In one scene, for example, a farmer secretly kills his wife so he can offer meat to the protagonist. (When the hero finds out, he his moved to tears by the farmer’s loyalty to the cause of the Han…)
I was also surprised by a short appearance of headless zombies, as well as ghosts and other horrific elements, which helped to spice things up a bit. This is definitely a book I’ll read again some day.
And it’s not an easy read, at least at first. The first several hundred pages can be very confusing with dozens upon dozens of characters with difficult to remember names, coming and going with no way of telling whether they will be important characters or not.
Once you get through all that, however, it’s an incredibly thrilling tale.
Interestingly, the novel represents a case where a fictionalized history is more important than actual history. That is, if you want to understand more about the Chinese, it is more important that you read this book than to read a history of the three kingdoms period. Nevertheless, it is said that the novel is 7 parts fact and 4 parts fiction.
For those interested in the real history, the 100-page afterword (in the Moss Roberts translation) is a real treat. I was very surprised, for example, to learn that Lord Guan was actually a very minor player in the historic context. It was fictional accounts like stage dramas and this novel that raised his status to supernatural heights. Yes, supernatural. There is a long tradition of worshiping him as a deity in China. And many kung fu schools practice the “Guan Dao” at advanced levels. (The Guan Dao is basically a fat saber at the head of a long heavy staff. Supposedly it was what Lord Guan used, though this is not clear from the novel.)
This is not a book to read if you want to beef up your “books read in 2015” on goodreads. For me, however, long books have a kind of magical appeal. You get really invested in the characters, the story accompanies you over a long period (I’m not a speed reader), and you mourn its passing when it’s finally finished.
If I choose to continue reading a long book, it’s probably going to get 5 stars. I don’t want to waste so much time on a mediocre book.
You’ll love this book if you’re into Chinese culture & history, ancient military strategy, kung fu, war novels, or tales of heroes and epic adventures.
The book will probably not appeal to women, however, as female characters play only very minor roles and are occasionally mistreated. In one scene, for example, a farmer secretly kills his wife so he can offer meat to the protagonist. (When the hero finds out, he his moved to tears by the farmer’s loyalty to the cause of the Han…)
I was also surprised by a short appearance of headless zombies, as well as ghosts and other horrific elements, which helped to spice things up a bit. This is definitely a book I’ll read again some day.
April 17, 2020
Volume Four, Finale
At the beginning of this volume, pretty much every character that the narrative had chosen to significantly invest development in back in the first volume was dead. Kongming/Zhuge Liang, my favorite, not introduced until the second volume, was still kicking, but he would be in his coffin ten chapters. Still, he was destined to terrorize his enemies through trickery and more supernatural means up until the point that the author made the spirit transcend its human loyalties and advocate for imperial unity no matter what. I latched onto a few other full names and general surnames in order keep afloat, and slowly but surely Cao shifted to Sima and both Bei and Sun fell into the same calumny that that work presented as the primary destabilization of the Han emperor around two thousand pages to go. Honestly, the most notable thing to me was how much Kongming fell apart when it came to martial prowess, but considering what the afterword had to say about how many popular accounts of that man's life inflated his strategy skills, I suppose both the author and the editor of this particular edition (the one who holistically re-calibrated with utter abandon the more factually straightforward tale into their preferred piece of moralizing, if appreciative, literature) had to tone it down a bit, else the historically accurate collapse of all of Kongming's ambitions couldn't have conceivably happened, could it have. Other than that, Jiang Wei, a defecting minor general who became supremely major once all the big names were gone, carried me through until almost the very tail end of two empires finally surrendering to the third, and then, in some ways in an extremely deflated fashion, the civil war was over and the empire was whole. Descendants not living up to the image of their ancestors and all that.
By the end, I was completely caught up in the sociopolitical commentary that could be easily applied to contemporary times. For example, people rightfully make a big deal of of Confucius' onerous hierarchical absolutism, but part of that long ago and wildly influential thinker's doctrine is the fact that "the responsibility for disorder rests on those above," and these days, my own government has nearly 700,000 plague infections and 37,000 plague deaths on their plate as the result of obtuse mismanagement, opportunistic bigotry, and pure greed. That utmost need for leadership to be both morally and capably fit of ruling ('virtue' and 'talent' are the exact words used) beyond all restraints of blood kinship is the other side of the conflict between inheritance and merit, and so much of this book in its contents, construction, and legacy is tied up in how much fate favors one or the other and how hard humans try to adapt their story as a metaphor for their own success, failures, and chance for revenge/redemption. I mentioned LotR earlier, and near the very tail end of finishing this, I became rather caught up in the idea that Tolkien had to have read this work, or heard of it, or something, because the parallels just get ridiculous after a while (it'll be fun rereading The Silmarilion after this). The first attempt at Anglo translation of this work was back in 1925, so it's not a wildly outrageous theory, and the whole 'oh some things are just universal' has become an increasingly unacceptable argument in my mind. In other words, yet another angle for my furious brain to embark upon when it comes to constructing a reason for why I tackled 2300+ pages of a work I have little to no academic training for intuitive context and absolutely no fluency for direct understanding. Honestly, though, like some if you ask them why they want(ed) to climb Mt. Everest, I read it cause it was there, and unlike that more (in)famous activity, I didn't risk leaving my rotting corpse or guarantee my leaving a bunch of trash that'll slowly slip down as the thermometer goes up and be yet another instance of postcolonial blight for humanity to disproportionately contend with. Will they be reading this work 3600 years after the portrayed events, much as I do 1800 years after? I hope so.
I'm finished with this, and yet I want to read more. There are commentaries on Zhuge Liang in all forms and flavors, histories of the interaction of 'Three Kingdoms' with the various dynasties, debates over the veracity of various historical personas, analyses of the amazingly fervent and ginormous Lord Guan/Guan Yu cult(s) (did I mention that a reference to him showed up in a Greek mythology fighter video game that's currently being developed?), and histories upon histories upon histories, from Chinggis/Genghis Khan to how the Mandate of Heaven was translated into government policy upon the official end of the dynastic train. I also don't want to deal with any of that until next year at the very earliest, because much as this ended well, I am utterly sick of having a quarter of my reading capacity blocked off for months months upon months. I suppose I should make some recommendation regarding how readers interested in this should best prepare for, but honestly, if you're not the type to have wandered into the list of Longest Novels of All Time a while ago and thought that that would make for a good bucket list if modulated accordingly, your best bet is cutting your teeth on some of the more modest 1000+ page works. My inspiration was likely first spawned by the tales my friends told of the omnipresent and omnitedious Chinese school that they attended on the weekends, wherein they were made to memorize entire lists of dynasties and associated material. I got some of that during the afterword, and I gotta say: some of it's kinda cool.
Volume Three
This volume marks my necessary shift in perspective from a 'Lord of the Rings' style narrative to a succession of dynasties à la Game of Thrones, albeit with every main character from the first volume being struck down rather than each embarking on their own disparate survival-of-the-fittest quest far across land and sea. Both of the figureheads of the film Red Cliff are dead, and I have stopped regretting the fact that my favorite, Zhuge Liang/Kongming, took a volume and a half to show up, as he is practically all that is left of the initial bond made long ago in a far off peach garden. Now, he is surrounded by the descendants of the warlords who first drew him in and against whom he has pitted all his skill, cunning, and integrity, affording me a window into how generational blood feuds are born and children live out the dynastic usurpation of their forefathers. True, the battles of the children and grandchildren, some from thrones, some in the field, some with their own kin, allow me to reminisce on the beginnings of this epic tale, and how little the course of this volume resembles the fallout I had imagined way back at the start. This section had its unique moments, especially during the course of Kongming's southern campaign against the Man people (imagine the area just north of Vietnam, or "The Deep", as this work refers to it), wherein the self-accrediting imperial mission displays more of its true colors than it did when it was bickering over the mandate of heaven and whether it was time for the Han to persist or another empire to rise. However, its period of transition cannot compare to the finale of the finish that will be Volume Four, and with shelter-in-place legal measures currently in place, I may be approaching the end far more swiftly than I would have thought otherwise.
The beginning of this volume seemed much a continuation of the previous two: Xuande ruling, Kongming plotting, Zhang Fei running (and being surprisingly strategic for once), Lord Guan eventually showing up (it takes him nine chapters to finally show up in this volume's table of contents). However, a little more than two hundred pages further, then a hundred pages after that, and final hundred subsequently is all that it takes to shift the tableau from the purview of the familiar to the duty of the young; even the greatly maligned in propaganda enemy is forced to pass on the throne by the vagaries of betrayal, heresy, and more likely than not some amount of disease and/or ill health. During this period also occurs some smaller notable events such as an extremely queer lord and vassal stripping-and-getting-drunk scene (the words "You are my most deserving vassal, with whom I shall share every glory and success," especially that last bit, seem a bit marriage-vow-ish, no?); another woman fighter (barely any pages devoted, but her being the descendant of a fire god is quite fantastic); and the previously referenced imperialism sequence, the latter complete with intentionally sensational descriptions of the natives, including "When women grew to maturity, they bathed in a stream where male and female mixed freely and coupled without parental prohibition, a practice called "learning the art."" Falls right in line with Euro/Neo-Euro half salacious, half disgusted, always dehumanizing viewpoint towards everyone else, doesn't it? Anyway, postcolonial analysis aside, this volume marked a significant shift in the narrative that makes the back cover's summary deceptive, if not an outright lie. The good thing is, I'm not feeling nearly as burnt out at this stage as I was with The Journey to the West or The Story of the Stone, so either my reading strategy is working, or this work is better than expected. Or both.
What struck me most of all about this volume is when my favorite character won a battle and then basically all but stated that war crimes exist and he had just committed one. As much as this work is borderline fantasy propaganda at times, that moment, 1600 pages in, is truly awe-inspiring; it goes to show how much humanity has progressed, and perhaps regressed, that I don't consider the mass annihilation through fire and bombardment of 30,000 military personnel in a single sweep of battle all that bad. Learn from history else you commit the same, even if the history's got some magical fanfic flung into it in order to better convince the descendants that the way things fell out was all due to a righteous battle for the holy and the just. In these days of enforced quarantine, I wonder how far the government is going to push it once coronavirus isn't as much of a concern, and how much people will give up for the sake of money, or stability, or the fact that they can't imagine turning into the monsters they've read about in elementary school textbooks and seen splayed and murdered on the big screen. Half a century has gone by and more since Luo Guangzhong had no small amount of influence on these pages, and almost a millennium has progressed since the conflicts he wrote about reduced a population from nearly sixty million to a little more than fifteen million, and I'm feeling rather morose about how things are going to fall out now. Still, I suppose it's a boon that I decided to read this now: China isn't perfect, but my lord, then and now, is it amazing.
P.S. I ran out of space while typing this volume up, so you can see my thoughts on Volumes 1 & 2 here.
To gratify the desires of ear and eye without properly calculating the economic strength of the multitude is the sure road to oblivion.Three and a half months later, I feel some amount of triumph and some amount of fatigue, and the book, while definitely a contributor, is hardly a significant one this far down the road. If you had told beginning me that end me would finish in the middle of a pandemic, freaking out would be a drastic understatement when describing the reaction. Having lived through it all while reading this, I imagine I'm actually able to believe more in the continuity of my existence through January was Volume 1, February was Volume 2, etc, etc, rather than January was potential WWIII, February was the fallout from Kobe Bryant, March was three months long, April is coming up on three decades long, and so on and so forth. Now, why did I like this better than both The Journey to the West and The Story of the Stone? I suppose, due to this being in a more holistic form than the other two, Stockholm Syndrome was better able to work its insidious smoothing over of tedium and in order to more efficiently connect the moments of spectacle, pathos, cavalry, reversal, downfall, and triumph, until I found myself reading almost 200 pages of end material (including the foreword, for whatever reason) and reveling in it all once again. Also, I've come to realize the joy I take in connecting the dots of the world in terms of both time and space, and Guanzhong's (supposedly, but that's so often the deal with many of these works in that area of the world that I just roll with it) is so inextricably grounded in the goal of doing such that, especially when further contextualized by the Manchus and the Mongols and the propagandizing and the ever popular narrative of the underdog true king ('Lord of the Rings' Aragorn, anyone?), I couldn't help but appreciate it more deeply than I would a fantasy villain-of-the-week religious parable or the decline and fall of an exorbitantly wealthy bildungsroman.
At the beginning of this volume, pretty much every character that the narrative had chosen to significantly invest development in back in the first volume was dead. Kongming/Zhuge Liang, my favorite, not introduced until the second volume, was still kicking, but he would be in his coffin ten chapters. Still, he was destined to terrorize his enemies through trickery and more supernatural means up until the point that the author made the spirit transcend its human loyalties and advocate for imperial unity no matter what. I latched onto a few other full names and general surnames in order keep afloat, and slowly but surely Cao shifted to Sima and both Bei and Sun fell into the same calumny that that work presented as the primary destabilization of the Han emperor around two thousand pages to go. Honestly, the most notable thing to me was how much Kongming fell apart when it came to martial prowess, but considering what the afterword had to say about how many popular accounts of that man's life inflated his strategy skills, I suppose both the author and the editor of this particular edition (the one who holistically re-calibrated with utter abandon the more factually straightforward tale into their preferred piece of moralizing, if appreciative, literature) had to tone it down a bit, else the historically accurate collapse of all of Kongming's ambitions couldn't have conceivably happened, could it have. Other than that, Jiang Wei, a defecting minor general who became supremely major once all the big names were gone, carried me through until almost the very tail end of two empires finally surrendering to the third, and then, in some ways in an extremely deflated fashion, the civil war was over and the empire was whole. Descendants not living up to the image of their ancestors and all that.
By the end, I was completely caught up in the sociopolitical commentary that could be easily applied to contemporary times. For example, people rightfully make a big deal of of Confucius' onerous hierarchical absolutism, but part of that long ago and wildly influential thinker's doctrine is the fact that "the responsibility for disorder rests on those above," and these days, my own government has nearly 700,000 plague infections and 37,000 plague deaths on their plate as the result of obtuse mismanagement, opportunistic bigotry, and pure greed. That utmost need for leadership to be both morally and capably fit of ruling ('virtue' and 'talent' are the exact words used) beyond all restraints of blood kinship is the other side of the conflict between inheritance and merit, and so much of this book in its contents, construction, and legacy is tied up in how much fate favors one or the other and how hard humans try to adapt their story as a metaphor for their own success, failures, and chance for revenge/redemption. I mentioned LotR earlier, and near the very tail end of finishing this, I became rather caught up in the idea that Tolkien had to have read this work, or heard of it, or something, because the parallels just get ridiculous after a while (it'll be fun rereading The Silmarilion after this). The first attempt at Anglo translation of this work was back in 1925, so it's not a wildly outrageous theory, and the whole 'oh some things are just universal' has become an increasingly unacceptable argument in my mind. In other words, yet another angle for my furious brain to embark upon when it comes to constructing a reason for why I tackled 2300+ pages of a work I have little to no academic training for intuitive context and absolutely no fluency for direct understanding. Honestly, though, like some if you ask them why they want(ed) to climb Mt. Everest, I read it cause it was there, and unlike that more (in)famous activity, I didn't risk leaving my rotting corpse or guarantee my leaving a bunch of trash that'll slowly slip down as the thermometer goes up and be yet another instance of postcolonial blight for humanity to disproportionately contend with. Will they be reading this work 3600 years after the portrayed events, much as I do 1800 years after? I hope so.
I'm finished with this, and yet I want to read more. There are commentaries on Zhuge Liang in all forms and flavors, histories of the interaction of 'Three Kingdoms' with the various dynasties, debates over the veracity of various historical personas, analyses of the amazingly fervent and ginormous Lord Guan/Guan Yu cult(s) (did I mention that a reference to him showed up in a Greek mythology fighter video game that's currently being developed?), and histories upon histories upon histories, from Chinggis/Genghis Khan to how the Mandate of Heaven was translated into government policy upon the official end of the dynastic train. I also don't want to deal with any of that until next year at the very earliest, because much as this ended well, I am utterly sick of having a quarter of my reading capacity blocked off for months months upon months. I suppose I should make some recommendation regarding how readers interested in this should best prepare for, but honestly, if you're not the type to have wandered into the list of Longest Novels of All Time a while ago and thought that that would make for a good bucket list if modulated accordingly, your best bet is cutting your teeth on some of the more modest 1000+ page works. My inspiration was likely first spawned by the tales my friends told of the omnipresent and omnitedious Chinese school that they attended on the weekends, wherein they were made to memorize entire lists of dynasties and associated material. I got some of that during the afterword, and I gotta say: some of it's kinda cool.
The world's affairs rush on, an endless stream;
A sky-told fate, infinite in reach, dooms all.
The kingdoms three are now the stuff of dream,
For men to ponder, past all praise or blame
Volume Three
This volume marks my necessary shift in perspective from a 'Lord of the Rings' style narrative to a succession of dynasties à la Game of Thrones, albeit with every main character from the first volume being struck down rather than each embarking on their own disparate survival-of-the-fittest quest far across land and sea. Both of the figureheads of the film Red Cliff are dead, and I have stopped regretting the fact that my favorite, Zhuge Liang/Kongming, took a volume and a half to show up, as he is practically all that is left of the initial bond made long ago in a far off peach garden. Now, he is surrounded by the descendants of the warlords who first drew him in and against whom he has pitted all his skill, cunning, and integrity, affording me a window into how generational blood feuds are born and children live out the dynastic usurpation of their forefathers. True, the battles of the children and grandchildren, some from thrones, some in the field, some with their own kin, allow me to reminisce on the beginnings of this epic tale, and how little the course of this volume resembles the fallout I had imagined way back at the start. This section had its unique moments, especially during the course of Kongming's southern campaign against the Man people (imagine the area just north of Vietnam, or "The Deep", as this work refers to it), wherein the self-accrediting imperial mission displays more of its true colors than it did when it was bickering over the mandate of heaven and whether it was time for the Han to persist or another empire to rise. However, its period of transition cannot compare to the finale of the finish that will be Volume Four, and with shelter-in-place legal measures currently in place, I may be approaching the end far more swiftly than I would have thought otherwise.
The beginning of this volume seemed much a continuation of the previous two: Xuande ruling, Kongming plotting, Zhang Fei running (and being surprisingly strategic for once), Lord Guan eventually showing up (it takes him nine chapters to finally show up in this volume's table of contents). However, a little more than two hundred pages further, then a hundred pages after that, and final hundred subsequently is all that it takes to shift the tableau from the purview of the familiar to the duty of the young; even the greatly maligned in propaganda enemy is forced to pass on the throne by the vagaries of betrayal, heresy, and more likely than not some amount of disease and/or ill health. During this period also occurs some smaller notable events such as an extremely queer lord and vassal stripping-and-getting-drunk scene (the words "You are my most deserving vassal, with whom I shall share every glory and success," especially that last bit, seem a bit marriage-vow-ish, no?); another woman fighter (barely any pages devoted, but her being the descendant of a fire god is quite fantastic); and the previously referenced imperialism sequence, the latter complete with intentionally sensational descriptions of the natives, including "When women grew to maturity, they bathed in a stream where male and female mixed freely and coupled without parental prohibition, a practice called "learning the art."" Falls right in line with Euro/Neo-Euro half salacious, half disgusted, always dehumanizing viewpoint towards everyone else, doesn't it? Anyway, postcolonial analysis aside, this volume marked a significant shift in the narrative that makes the back cover's summary deceptive, if not an outright lie. The good thing is, I'm not feeling nearly as burnt out at this stage as I was with The Journey to the West or The Story of the Stone, so either my reading strategy is working, or this work is better than expected. Or both.
What struck me most of all about this volume is when my favorite character won a battle and then basically all but stated that war crimes exist and he had just committed one. As much as this work is borderline fantasy propaganda at times, that moment, 1600 pages in, is truly awe-inspiring; it goes to show how much humanity has progressed, and perhaps regressed, that I don't consider the mass annihilation through fire and bombardment of 30,000 military personnel in a single sweep of battle all that bad. Learn from history else you commit the same, even if the history's got some magical fanfic flung into it in order to better convince the descendants that the way things fell out was all due to a righteous battle for the holy and the just. In these days of enforced quarantine, I wonder how far the government is going to push it once coronavirus isn't as much of a concern, and how much people will give up for the sake of money, or stability, or the fact that they can't imagine turning into the monsters they've read about in elementary school textbooks and seen splayed and murdered on the big screen. Half a century has gone by and more since Luo Guangzhong had no small amount of influence on these pages, and almost a millennium has progressed since the conflicts he wrote about reduced a population from nearly sixty million to a little more than fifteen million, and I'm feeling rather morose about how things are going to fall out now. Still, I suppose it's a boon that I decided to read this now: China isn't perfect, but my lord, then and now, is it amazing.
From the hilltop Kongming looked down upon the incinerated men strewn over the valley. Most of them had had their heads and faces pulverized by the falling missiles. An unbearable stench rose from their corpses. Kongming wept and sighed at the carnage. "Whatever service to the shrines of Han this represents, my life-span will be shortened for it," he said.
P.S. I ran out of space while typing this volume up, so you can see my thoughts on Volumes 1 & 2 here.
March 4, 2012
A wonderful translation of a complex historical epic. The Romance of Three Kingdoms covers the period 168 AD to 280 AD -- the collapse of the Han dynasty into three warring kingdoms, the Wei, Wu, and Shu; and (in the last chapter) their eventual reunification by the Jin dynasty. The story is rich with personalities, contests of wit and will, and military exploits. The heart of the story pits Liu Xuande, a virtuous, personable man who ultimately founds the Shu kingdom (with a lot of help from loyal friends), against Cao-Cao, the brilliant but cold and calculating vizier of the last Han Emperor. But a host of other characters launch, fill out, and wrap up the story, including Lord Guan, a heroic warrior and blood brother of Xuande; and Zhuge Liang (or Kongming), a mystic and scholar who serves Xuande as prime minister, and whose powers of perception and strategy verge on the magical. One of the themes of the book is the effectiveness of a well-paired king and counselor; most of the mistakes made by each of the three kingdoms happen when a king doesn't listen to a minister's wise counsel, or when a minister or general abandons his filial duty to his liege. This is a book that can be thoroughly enjoyed on a single reading, but probably becomes richer with repeated readings.
I haven't tried reading Moss Roberts' full three-volume translation, which apparently includes a slew of additional narrative threads -- but this one volume abridgment was perfect for me as an interested lay reader. In this abridgment, where Roberts elides, he provides very clear summaries of relevant plot developments, so I didn't feel I was missing anything. His writing is clear and crisp - no jargon and no archaisms - which really brings the story alive, and lets its humor and drama shine through. The afterword, reprinted from the full translation, is also very good, tracing how variant texts of the Three Kingdoms have come down to us and discussing how the epic has been interpreted through different eras in Chinese history, a fascinating story in itself.
I haven't tried reading Moss Roberts' full three-volume translation, which apparently includes a slew of additional narrative threads -- but this one volume abridgment was perfect for me as an interested lay reader. In this abridgment, where Roberts elides, he provides very clear summaries of relevant plot developments, so I didn't feel I was missing anything. His writing is clear and crisp - no jargon and no archaisms - which really brings the story alive, and lets its humor and drama shine through. The afterword, reprinted from the full translation, is also very good, tracing how variant texts of the Three Kingdoms have come down to us and discussing how the epic has been interpreted through different eras in Chinese history, a fascinating story in itself.
January 19, 2016
Mình kết thúc cuốn sách này trên một chuyến xe đường dài, 700 cây số, từ Sài Gòn về Bình Định :)
Cập nhật 2016: Mình đọc lại cuốn này vì ngồi riết không biết phải đọc gì nữa giờ. Lần này mình đọc bản có nhận xét của Mao Tôn Cương sau mỗi chương, thú hơn nhiều hồi đọc chay.
Cập nhật 2016: Mình đọc lại cuốn này vì ngồi riết không biết phải đọc gì nữa giờ. Lần này mình đọc bản có nhận xét của Mao Tôn Cương sau mỗi chương, thú hơn nhiều hồi đọc chay.
December 18, 2023
Quy tắc cần phải nhớ trong Tam Quốc :
Không làm cha nuôi Lữ Bố
Không làm đại đô đốc Đông Ngô
Không thách Hứa Chử
Không nhậu với Trương Phi
Không cho Lưu Bị mượn đồ
Và đặc biệt :
Không để Tào Tháo thấy vợ bạn :))
Well cuối cùng cũng hoàn thành xong được 1 bộ trong Tứ Đại Danh Tác. Đáng đọc!
Không làm cha nuôi Lữ Bố
Không làm đại đô đốc Đông Ngô
Không thách Hứa Chử
Không nhậu với Trương Phi
Không cho Lưu Bị mượn đồ
Và đặc biệt :
Không để Tào Tháo thấy vợ bạn :))
Well cuối cùng cũng hoàn thành xong được 1 bộ trong Tứ Đại Danh Tác. Đáng đọc!
June 24, 2018
Một trong tứ đại danh tác Trung Hoa, quá kinh điển để review. Tam Quốc gồm 120 chương hồi, kể về một thời kì biến động hơn 100 năm của Trung Quốc. Mình đọc bộ 3 tập, bản dịch của Phan Kế Bính năm 2003. Hôm trước mình có ra hiệu sách, thấy bản năm 2017 còn có thêm lời bình của Mao Tôn Cương nữa (recommend mua bản này). Thật ra mình đọc Tam Quốc từ hồi năm nhất, nhưng lết mãi mới hết tập 1. Dạo gần đây, quyết tâm đọc lại, và trong 2 tuần xong luôn 2 tập kia. Điểm nổi bật của Tam Quốc là quan niệm ủng Lưu, phản Tào nên những chi tiết về nhà Thục khá là khoa trương: tính nhân đức của Lưu Bị, tài phù thủy của Khổng Minh. Đọc Tam quốc mà muốn hiểu rõ về sự thật lich sử thì phải gạn lọc thật kĩ bởi nó được xây dựng theo lối bảy hư ba thực. Sau đây là một số cảm nghĩ của Q về các nhân vật.
- Tào Tháo: có thể cũng nhờ La Quán Trung theo phe ủng Lưu nên những chi tiết về Tháo khá là chân thực. Ông là người có mưu sâu, tài trí song toàn nhất trong ba vị quân chủ nhưng lại có nhiều tính xấu, điển hình là tính đa nghi khiến ông thất bại trong nhiều trận. Điều mình thích là trong Tam Quốc nhân vật này được phát triển từ thấp đến cao, từ một Tào A Man sống chui lủi, dã tâm chưa lớn, mưu cũng chưa sâu, lên đến Ngụy Vương nhà Hán thống nhất vùng Trung Nguyên rộng lớn.
- Lưu Bị: nhiều người cho rằng Tào Tháo là người giỏi nhân tâm nhất nhưng Q lại chọn Lưu Bị. Q cho rằng có tài dùng người không chỉ là biết phát hiện người tài mà còn phải thu phục họ và làm họ hết lòng cho mình. Tạm không bàn đến việc nhân nghĩa của ông ta là thật hay không, nhưng riêng cách trước khi chết Bị gửi gắm con cho Khổng Minh (làm cho Gia cát phải "cúc cung tận tụy" đến lúc chết để phò nhà Thục) thực rất cao minh. Sau khi Bị chết, nhiều nhận xét về người của ông cũng hoàn toàn chính xác (như tướng phản chủ của Ngụy Diên đã được dự đoán trước)
- Tôn Quyền: một lần nữa cũng vì quan niệm ủng Lưu, phản Tào nên nhà Ngô cũng như Tôn Quyền xuất hiện trong Tam quốc khá mờ nhạt. Nếu đọc sách sử sẽ thấy trong thời gian Tam quốc, Tôn Quyền không chỉ chăm chăm vào quân đội để chống hai nhà Ngụy, Thục mà ông còn chú trọng đến việc phát triển ngoại thương, phát triển kinh tế, mở rộng đất về phía Nam (đây chính là nhà Ngô đã từng cai trị nước ta trong 1000 năm bị phương bắc đô hộ). Nói chung nhà Ngô là cột trụ vững trãi nhất trong ba nhà. Ngụy từng suýt phải rời kinh đô vì quân Thục đe dọa, Thục cũng mất xứ Kinh Châu về tay Ngô; chỉ riêng Ngô, chưa từng bị nước kia phạm phải một tấc đất Giang Đông nào. Có câu: lập nghiệp học Lưu Bị, quản nghiệp học Tào Tháo, giữ nghiệp học Tôn Quyền
- Khổng Minh: Quân sư giỏi nhất Tam Quốc, có nhiều phép phù thủy, tinh thông kinh dịch, etc. Nhưng sự thất bại của ông sau khi cố tiến quân đến 6 lần vào Trung Nguyên phần nào chứng tỏ rằng tài của ông chỉ nên dùng vào việc trị nước an dân, chứ về mặt quân sự thì còn người khác giỏi hơn. Có câu "ba ông thợ may bằng một Gia Cát Lượng" để nói ba người kém cỏi biết làm việc tập thể còn hơn một người giỏi giang.
- Tư Mã Ý: nhân vật Q thích nhất trong Tam Quốc. Ông tượng trưng cho sự bền bỉ, kiên trì , mưu lược tài giỏi. Ông chính là người Khổng Minh phải buông lời kính nể và khiến Khổng Minh phải chết trong nuối tiếc. Là con người biết nhẫn nhịn chờ thời cơ, etc. Lúc sinh thời, ông chỉ ngại mỗi Tào Tháo (Táo nhìn tướng của ông có dã tâm nên không dùng, Ý biết ý này nên cũng ẩn mình). Sau khi Tháo mất, ông thể hiện mình là 1 công thần trung với với, là Chu Công, Y Doãn của nhà Ngụy. Để rồi sau này lấy được cơ nghiệp mà Tào Tháo đã gây dựng mấy chục năm chỉ trong một tuần, đặt nền móng cho cháu ông sau này thống nhất 3 nước, lập nên triều Tây Tấn.
- Nhà Ngụy: bên này nhiều tướng giỏi, mưu sĩ giỏi vô số. Có thể kể ra một số cái tên như:
Quách Gia: chết sớm, cũng là quân sư nổi tiếng. Nếu ông còn thì chắc Khổng Minh sẽ có một đối thủ đáng gờm. Sau khi thua thảm hại ở trận Xích Bích, Tháo có than rằng: "Nếu Quách Phụng Hiếu còn, chẳng khiến Cô đến nỗi này"
Điển Vi (tướng võ, cực soái, chết sớm từ nửa tập 1), Hứa Chử (thay vị trí Điển Vi, cực trung thành)
Hạ Hầu Đôn (một mắt, cực ngầu) , Hạ Hầu Uyên (có 4 đứa con tài giỏi): nhà họ Hạ Hầu được xếp là hoàng thân quốc thích ngang họ Tào
Tào Hồng, Tào Nhân, Trương Cáp, Trương Liêu, Từ Hoảng
- Nhà Thục: Quan Trường chết ở Kinh Châu là do tin người và khinh địch, Trương Phi cũng không phải hạng trí dũng vô mưu (Phi đã mấy lần dùng kế để đẩy lùi quân Ngụy, thậm kí cả những kế khó như thu phục lòng người). Triệu Vân tướng tài mưu giỏi
- Nhà Ngô: Chu Du: được miêu tả là quân sư có tài gần như Khổng Minh, vì thế ghen tức Khổng Minh. Trương Chiêu: nhà Ngô có câu: việc ngoại hỏi Chu Du, việc nội hỏi Trương Chiêu. Lục Tốn: tuổi trẻ tài cao
* 3 trận siêu kinh điển:
- Tập 1: Trận Quan Độ
- Tập 2: Trận Xích Bích
- Tập 3: Lục xuất Kỳ Sơn của Khổng Minh
- Tào Tháo: có thể cũng nhờ La Quán Trung theo phe ủng Lưu nên những chi tiết về Tháo khá là chân thực. Ông là người có mưu sâu, tài trí song toàn nhất trong ba vị quân chủ nhưng lại có nhiều tính xấu, điển hình là tính đa nghi khiến ông thất bại trong nhiều trận. Điều mình thích là trong Tam Quốc nhân vật này được phát triển từ thấp đến cao, từ một Tào A Man sống chui lủi, dã tâm chưa lớn, mưu cũng chưa sâu, lên đến Ngụy Vương nhà Hán thống nhất vùng Trung Nguyên rộng lớn.
- Lưu Bị: nhiều người cho rằng Tào Tháo là người giỏi nhân tâm nhất nhưng Q lại chọn Lưu Bị. Q cho rằng có tài dùng người không chỉ là biết phát hiện người tài mà còn phải thu phục họ và làm họ hết lòng cho mình. Tạm không bàn đến việc nhân nghĩa của ông ta là thật hay không, nhưng riêng cách trước khi chết Bị gửi gắm con cho Khổng Minh (làm cho Gia cát phải "cúc cung tận tụy" đến lúc chết để phò nhà Thục) thực rất cao minh. Sau khi Bị chết, nhiều nhận xét về người của ông cũng hoàn toàn chính xác (như tướng phản chủ của Ngụy Diên đã được dự đoán trước)
- Tôn Quyền: một lần nữa cũng vì quan niệm ủng Lưu, phản Tào nên nhà Ngô cũng như Tôn Quyền xuất hiện trong Tam quốc khá mờ nhạt. Nếu đọc sách sử sẽ thấy trong thời gian Tam quốc, Tôn Quyền không chỉ chăm chăm vào quân đội để chống hai nhà Ngụy, Thục mà ông còn chú trọng đến việc phát triển ngoại thương, phát triển kinh tế, mở rộng đất về phía Nam (đây chính là nhà Ngô đã từng cai trị nước ta trong 1000 năm bị phương bắc đô hộ). Nói chung nhà Ngô là cột trụ vững trãi nhất trong ba nhà. Ngụy từng suýt phải rời kinh đô vì quân Thục đe dọa, Thục cũng mất xứ Kinh Châu về tay Ngô; chỉ riêng Ngô, chưa từng bị nước kia phạm phải một tấc đất Giang Đông nào. Có câu: lập nghiệp học Lưu Bị, quản nghiệp học Tào Tháo, giữ nghiệp học Tôn Quyền
- Khổng Minh: Quân sư giỏi nhất Tam Quốc, có nhiều phép phù thủy, tinh thông kinh dịch, etc. Nhưng sự thất bại của ông sau khi cố tiến quân đến 6 lần vào Trung Nguyên phần nào chứng tỏ rằng tài của ông chỉ nên dùng vào việc trị nước an dân, chứ về mặt quân sự thì còn người khác giỏi hơn. Có câu "ba ông thợ may bằng một Gia Cát Lượng" để nói ba người kém cỏi biết làm việc tập thể còn hơn một người giỏi giang.
- Tư Mã Ý: nhân vật Q thích nhất trong Tam Quốc. Ông tượng trưng cho sự bền bỉ, kiên trì , mưu lược tài giỏi. Ông chính là người Khổng Minh phải buông lời kính nể và khiến Khổng Minh phải chết trong nuối tiếc. Là con người biết nhẫn nhịn chờ thời cơ, etc. Lúc sinh thời, ông chỉ ngại mỗi Tào Tháo (Táo nhìn tướng của ông có dã tâm nên không dùng, Ý biết ý này nên cũng ẩn mình). Sau khi Tháo mất, ông thể hiện mình là 1 công thần trung với với, là Chu Công, Y Doãn của nhà Ngụy. Để rồi sau này lấy được cơ nghiệp mà Tào Tháo đã gây dựng mấy chục năm chỉ trong một tuần, đặt nền móng cho cháu ông sau này thống nhất 3 nước, lập nên triều Tây Tấn.
- Nhà Ngụy: bên này nhiều tướng giỏi, mưu sĩ giỏi vô số. Có thể kể ra một số cái tên như:
Quách Gia: chết sớm, cũng là quân sư nổi tiếng. Nếu ông còn thì chắc Khổng Minh sẽ có một đối thủ đáng gờm. Sau khi thua thảm hại ở trận Xích Bích, Tháo có than rằng: "Nếu Quách Phụng Hiếu còn, chẳng khiến Cô đến nỗi này"
Điển Vi (tướng võ, cực soái, chết sớm từ nửa tập 1), Hứa Chử (thay vị trí Điển Vi, cực trung thành)
Hạ Hầu Đôn (một mắt, cực ngầu) , Hạ Hầu Uyên (có 4 đứa con tài giỏi): nhà họ Hạ Hầu được xếp là hoàng thân quốc thích ngang họ Tào
Tào Hồng, Tào Nhân, Trương Cáp, Trương Liêu, Từ Hoảng
- Nhà Thục: Quan Trường chết ở Kinh Châu là do tin người và khinh địch, Trương Phi cũng không phải hạng trí dũng vô mưu (Phi đã mấy lần dùng kế để đẩy lùi quân Ngụy, thậm kí cả những kế khó như thu phục lòng người). Triệu Vân tướng tài mưu giỏi
- Nhà Ngô: Chu Du: được miêu tả là quân sư có tài gần như Khổng Minh, vì thế ghen tức Khổng Minh. Trương Chiêu: nhà Ngô có câu: việc ngoại hỏi Chu Du, việc nội hỏi Trương Chiêu. Lục Tốn: tuổi trẻ tài cao
* 3 trận siêu kinh điển:
- Tập 1: Trận Quan Độ
- Tập 2: Trận Xích Bích
- Tập 3: Lục xuất Kỳ Sơn của Khổng Minh
May 29, 2022
3.5 stars. An interesting, overly long, plot based historical fiction novel about the disintegration of the Han dynasty from around AD 168 to 280. Emperors and empresses are murdered, there are many loyal advisor betrayals and central government breakdowns. There are many, many battles scenes.
There are lots of characters, many of whom are ruthless, cruel and unforgiving commanders and rulers. Many of the commanders are suspicious of one another, for good reason!
Three key leaders emerge, each founding his own dynasty and kingdom. Xuande, Cao Cao and Sun Quan.
Xuande is described:
“While he is not a scholar, he is a good man: generous, reserved and modest. His greatest aspiration is to befriend the worthiest men of the empire…”
Cao Cao is ruthless and ambitious. He effectively held the real Han emperor, Xian, under house arrest and made him his puppet.
Sun Quan is a more shadowy figure. He is known for his habitual indecision.
For readers interested in Chinese history, literature and descriptions of war intrigues and battles scenes.
This book was written in the thirteenth century. A Chinese classic.
There are lots of characters, many of whom are ruthless, cruel and unforgiving commanders and rulers. Many of the commanders are suspicious of one another, for good reason!
Three key leaders emerge, each founding his own dynasty and kingdom. Xuande, Cao Cao and Sun Quan.
Xuande is described:
“While he is not a scholar, he is a good man: generous, reserved and modest. His greatest aspiration is to befriend the worthiest men of the empire…”
Cao Cao is ruthless and ambitious. He effectively held the real Han emperor, Xian, under house arrest and made him his puppet.
Sun Quan is a more shadowy figure. He is known for his habitual indecision.
For readers interested in Chinese history, literature and descriptions of war intrigues and battles scenes.
This book was written in the thirteenth century. A Chinese classic.
October 28, 2009
In a word: sprawling. This is certainly not a quick read; Guanzhong's epic contains hundreds of characters, battles, and events that need to be properly stored in memory for the reader to understand the novel. The book is roughly 70% historically accurate, which allows for a mostly-solid basis for the author to expand upon. This is not an unbiased record of the Three Kingdoms Era, as the Shu-Han faction, and Liu Bei in particular, is lionized while Cao Cao's Wei is often put in a negative light. The lack of neutrality may lead readers to view the Three Kingdoms in a black-and-white perspective, but the use of protagonists gives an extremely entertaining read. It's a challenge to keep up with Three Kingdom's details, but in the end, it's well worth doing so.
October 30, 2017
Không phải ngẫu nhiên mà Lâm Ngữ Đường nhận định "Tuổi trẻ đọc sách như nhìn trăng qua kẽ lá". 3 năm trước lúc mình đang học lớp 10 mua "Tam quốc diễn nghĩa" của La Quán Trung đọc không hiểu gì. Quá nhiều nhân vật, quá nhiều sự kiện và bỏ dở khi đọc không quá 30 trang. Bây giờ đọc thấy cuốn không dứt được. Có quá nhiều bài học quá hay và nhiều câu nói đã trở thành kinh điển. Tuy đã xem phim nhưng khi đọc truyện vẫn là một cảm giác rất khác và những người đã đủ 18 tuổi hãy tìm đến Tam quốc diễn nghĩa để đọc!
May 17, 2024
I fucking love Three Kingdoms for many reasons and hope to reread it again in the future. I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would, to the point of getting Dynasty Warriors 8 and becoming interested in the Chinese history of the period. In this review I'll try to cover fair warnings to the reader, some notes on the Moss Roberts translation specifically, why this book had such a huge impact on me, and also just a couple things in it that I just particularly loved and wanted to highlight (since this book is so damn long).
Note: This review is for the Moss Roberts translation of Three Kingdoms, unabridged. (Specifying because many editions and translations have been grouped together confusingly on Goodreads.) For notes on differences vs the Yu Sumei/Ronald Iverson translation from Tuttle Publishing, please refer to my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Challenges in Reading Three Kingdoms
This is not a light or easy read, but I found the process to be very rewarding and entertaining. For me, it was a lot of work to fully engage with the text. I spent a lot of time reading as well as going back to reread earlier sections, remind myself what was going on, look up characters on Wikipedia and on Kongming.net, review maps, and also read every footnote. Obviously none of this is necessary, but this was educational, entertaining, and helped me appreciate the book better. I found it helpful to refer to this searchable database of characters and fictional vs historical biographies (Kongming's Archives, http://kongming.net/novel/bios/) which also lets you see which chapters each character makes appearances in.
Three Kingdoms covers a huge span of time (168 to 280 AD) and multiple generations, with characters popping up here and there that haven't been seen in many chapters. The huge cast and the romanized names are probably one of the biggest hurdles for an English speaker. I have some passive fluency in Chinese having grown up with it, and looking up the proper pronunciations of the names helped to distinguish between characters that have similar romanized names in English, but even I still had trouble keeping some of the names straight. I thought Yue Jin and Yu Jin (two of Cao Cao's generals) were the same person for 75% of the book. Playing Dynasty Warriors 8 halfway through the book was actually surprisingly helpful in providing some cartoony faces and voices for the characters. Fortunately, for the most part it is not too difficult to get a handle on the key players and a couple important supporting cast members, and it's not necessary to stress over the rest.
Asides from the characters, the first 20 chapters were especially difficult as they fly through multiple battles, territorial changes, etc. with a big cast of warlords that are constantly backstabbing each other and changing sides. (Full disclosure: I read the first 17 chapters in the Yu and Iverson translation.) It gets easier and more exciting later on. It also helps to have maps handy for some of the battles, which Moss Roberts includes, but I didn't bother for the most part and still thoroughly enjoyed it.
Footnote Buddies: Moss Roberts and Mao Zonggang
Moss Roberts includes timelines as well as commentary on the themes of the book, the historical context, and some information on the recensions. Basically in the 1660's Mao Zonggang and his dad edited Luo Guanzhong's text for narrative flow and added commentary (this is discussed in Roberts' essay in the end, but there's also some info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance...). Roberts also translates Mao's notes and includes them as footnotes to the text, and also makes notes where Mao removed information that was present in earlier recensions.
To me, Moss Roberts & Mao Zonggang felt like helpful and scholarly friends, enjoying the book with me and excitedly pointing out themes, parallels, and extra historical fluff. I devoured every single footnote. Moss Roberts also has a very excellent commentary in the back of the book discussing the importance of the work, the history of the different recensions of the book, and the historical and contemporary views of the book in taking pro-Liu Bei vs pro-Cao Cao stances. His footnotes cover differences between the Mao recension and earlier "drafts" of Three Kingdoms, so that we can understand the evolution of the views of Cao Cao as a hero vs villain.
My favorite Mao footnote is in Chapter 21. Earlier, Cao Cao battles the warlord Zhang Xiu, who was upset because Cao Cao has been banging his aunt. When Cao Cao admires some plums, Mao's footnote is: "Was he also thinking of Zhang Ji's wife?" Chapter 44 has my favorite Moss Roberts footnote, in which Zhuge Liang recites a ridiculous poem to Zhou Yu about how Cao Cao is going to come in, take Zhou Yu's wife and her sister, and bang them day and night in his "pleasure palace". Roberts helpfully footnotes the poem to let us know that it is written by Cao Cao's teenage son and that the poem is terrible in order for us to fully appreciate just how much of a troll Zhuge Liang is being.
Why I Found Three Kingdoms Impactful
Obviously, Three Kingdoms is an important cultural touchstone across multiple East Asian cultures, and is still a source for popular movies and television shows today, not to mention video games (Dynasty Warriors musou series, Total War: Three Kingdoms). Reading this book gave me that context and the pop culture references, and also gave me an experience that I could share with my dad (who read it in Chinese as a kid).
As a book described as 70% history, 30% fiction, Three Kingdoms is also a good way to learn about the time period. With the caveat that not everything is historically accurate, I still felt that I got a pretty good handle on the history of the Han dynasty's downfall, the chaos of warlords fighting for power and territory, the development of the Three Kingdoms (Shu Han, Cao Wei, and Eastern Wu) and their conflicts, and the rise of the Jin dynasty.
More importantly, I felt that the book and the accompanying essays were extremely useful in providing insight into historical Chinese views about regime legitimacy, the Mandate of Heaven, and justified regime change or revolution. I had never thought of thousands of years of Chinese imperial/dynastic rule as being particularly revolutionary or democratic, but there is clearly a moral imperative described that can be "lost" with poor governance, justifying overthrow and revolution. I can't think of any other major world classics of literature that promote revolution and government overthrow to this degree except for Outlaws of the Marsh/Water Margin, another Chinese classic (next on my to read list). You also truly get the sense of a land where governments can destabilize and everything can go to shit really quickly.
The moral standards described in Three Kingdoms are weird today even by wartime standards, and give some insight into Confucian morality while sometimes subverting it. Liu Bei, the supposed hero, engages in cannibalism, throws his baby son on the ground, and values brotherhood over the state/family to everybody's detriment. Even in this historically inaccurate retelling where Liu Bei is the hero, he still betrays just about as many people as Lü Bu.
There are also some deep themes here worth chewing over during reading, mainly: the meaning of loyalty (to friends, sons, fathers, or to the state?), karmic retribution, and parallels in or circularity of history. Seeing these parallels play out over a 100+ year span is satisfying.
That being said, this book is super long so here's just some specific shit I really liked and recommend keeping an eye out for.
Specific Shit I Really Liked in this Super Long Book
Characters I really enjoyed, in no particular order:
*Lü Bu
*Diaochan
*Cao Cao
*Guan Yu
*Zhao Yun (Zilong)
*Zhuge Liang
*Zhou Yu
*Lu Xun
*Pang De
Best Bromances:
*Gan Ning and Ling Tong
*Guan Xing and Zhang Bao
*Lu Kang and Yang Hu
*Not Liu Bei/Guan Yu/Zhang Fei because they seem kind of toxic
**SPOILER** Favorite Plotlines
*Diaochan, a professional who gets the job done
*Cao Cao as a pragmatist who appreciates merit and turns enemy combatants into loyal followers (Zhang Liao, Jia Xu)
*Liu Bei hanging out with Cao Cao during their team up against Lü Bu
*Guan Yu hanging out with Cao Cao and then murdering his way back to Liu Bei
*Cao Cao psychologically and then militarily destroying Ma Teng and his son Ma Chao
*Yuan Shao's sons getting in a fratricidal territory fight and Cao Cao picking up the pieces (Battle of Guandu)
*Runup to the Battle of Chibi, in which Zhuge Liang trolls Zhou Yu with a horrible poem about how Cao Cao built a whole palace just for having sex with Zhou Yu's wife (and her sister)
*Battle of Chibi / Battle of Red Cliffs
*The downfall of Guan Yu at the hands of Lu Meng (Battle of Fancheng)
*Lu Xun kicking Liu Bei/Shu Han's ass all over the map (Battle of Yiling)
*Lu Xun kicking Wei's ass all over the map (Battle of Shiting)
*Zhuge Liang capturing Nan'an, Tianshui and Anding from Wei
Note: This review is for the Moss Roberts translation of Three Kingdoms, unabridged. (Specifying because many editions and translations have been grouped together confusingly on Goodreads.) For notes on differences vs the Yu Sumei/Ronald Iverson translation from Tuttle Publishing, please refer to my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Challenges in Reading Three Kingdoms
This is not a light or easy read, but I found the process to be very rewarding and entertaining. For me, it was a lot of work to fully engage with the text. I spent a lot of time reading as well as going back to reread earlier sections, remind myself what was going on, look up characters on Wikipedia and on Kongming.net, review maps, and also read every footnote. Obviously none of this is necessary, but this was educational, entertaining, and helped me appreciate the book better. I found it helpful to refer to this searchable database of characters and fictional vs historical biographies (Kongming's Archives, http://kongming.net/novel/bios/) which also lets you see which chapters each character makes appearances in.
Three Kingdoms covers a huge span of time (168 to 280 AD) and multiple generations, with characters popping up here and there that haven't been seen in many chapters. The huge cast and the romanized names are probably one of the biggest hurdles for an English speaker. I have some passive fluency in Chinese having grown up with it, and looking up the proper pronunciations of the names helped to distinguish between characters that have similar romanized names in English, but even I still had trouble keeping some of the names straight. I thought Yue Jin and Yu Jin (two of Cao Cao's generals) were the same person for 75% of the book. Playing Dynasty Warriors 8 halfway through the book was actually surprisingly helpful in providing some cartoony faces and voices for the characters. Fortunately, for the most part it is not too difficult to get a handle on the key players and a couple important supporting cast members, and it's not necessary to stress over the rest.
Asides from the characters, the first 20 chapters were especially difficult as they fly through multiple battles, territorial changes, etc. with a big cast of warlords that are constantly backstabbing each other and changing sides. (Full disclosure: I read the first 17 chapters in the Yu and Iverson translation.) It gets easier and more exciting later on. It also helps to have maps handy for some of the battles, which Moss Roberts includes, but I didn't bother for the most part and still thoroughly enjoyed it.
Footnote Buddies: Moss Roberts and Mao Zonggang
Moss Roberts includes timelines as well as commentary on the themes of the book, the historical context, and some information on the recensions. Basically in the 1660's Mao Zonggang and his dad edited Luo Guanzhong's text for narrative flow and added commentary (this is discussed in Roberts' essay in the end, but there's also some info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance...). Roberts also translates Mao's notes and includes them as footnotes to the text, and also makes notes where Mao removed information that was present in earlier recensions.
To me, Moss Roberts & Mao Zonggang felt like helpful and scholarly friends, enjoying the book with me and excitedly pointing out themes, parallels, and extra historical fluff. I devoured every single footnote. Moss Roberts also has a very excellent commentary in the back of the book discussing the importance of the work, the history of the different recensions of the book, and the historical and contemporary views of the book in taking pro-Liu Bei vs pro-Cao Cao stances. His footnotes cover differences between the Mao recension and earlier "drafts" of Three Kingdoms, so that we can understand the evolution of the views of Cao Cao as a hero vs villain.
My favorite Mao footnote is in Chapter 21. Earlier, Cao Cao battles the warlord Zhang Xiu, who was upset because Cao Cao has been banging his aunt. When Cao Cao admires some plums, Mao's footnote is: "Was he also thinking of Zhang Ji's wife?" Chapter 44 has my favorite Moss Roberts footnote, in which Zhuge Liang recites a ridiculous poem to Zhou Yu about how Cao Cao is going to come in, take Zhou Yu's wife and her sister, and bang them day and night in his "pleasure palace". Roberts helpfully footnotes the poem to let us know that it is written by Cao Cao's teenage son and that the poem is terrible in order for us to fully appreciate just how much of a troll Zhuge Liang is being.
Why I Found Three Kingdoms Impactful
Obviously, Three Kingdoms is an important cultural touchstone across multiple East Asian cultures, and is still a source for popular movies and television shows today, not to mention video games (Dynasty Warriors musou series, Total War: Three Kingdoms). Reading this book gave me that context and the pop culture references, and also gave me an experience that I could share with my dad (who read it in Chinese as a kid).
As a book described as 70% history, 30% fiction, Three Kingdoms is also a good way to learn about the time period. With the caveat that not everything is historically accurate, I still felt that I got a pretty good handle on the history of the Han dynasty's downfall, the chaos of warlords fighting for power and territory, the development of the Three Kingdoms (Shu Han, Cao Wei, and Eastern Wu) and their conflicts, and the rise of the Jin dynasty.
More importantly, I felt that the book and the accompanying essays were extremely useful in providing insight into historical Chinese views about regime legitimacy, the Mandate of Heaven, and justified regime change or revolution. I had never thought of thousands of years of Chinese imperial/dynastic rule as being particularly revolutionary or democratic, but there is clearly a moral imperative described that can be "lost" with poor governance, justifying overthrow and revolution. I can't think of any other major world classics of literature that promote revolution and government overthrow to this degree except for Outlaws of the Marsh/Water Margin, another Chinese classic (next on my to read list). You also truly get the sense of a land where governments can destabilize and everything can go to shit really quickly.
The moral standards described in Three Kingdoms are weird today even by wartime standards, and give some insight into Confucian morality while sometimes subverting it. Liu Bei, the supposed hero, engages in cannibalism, throws his baby son on the ground, and values brotherhood over the state/family to everybody's detriment. Even in this historically inaccurate retelling where Liu Bei is the hero, he still betrays just about as many people as Lü Bu.
There are also some deep themes here worth chewing over during reading, mainly: the meaning of loyalty (to friends, sons, fathers, or to the state?), karmic retribution, and parallels in or circularity of history. Seeing these parallels play out over a 100+ year span is satisfying.
That being said, this book is super long so here's just some specific shit I really liked and recommend keeping an eye out for.
Specific Shit I Really Liked in this Super Long Book
Characters I really enjoyed, in no particular order:
*Lü Bu
*Diaochan
*Cao Cao
*Guan Yu
*Zhao Yun (Zilong)
*Zhuge Liang
*Zhou Yu
*Lu Xun
*Pang De
Best Bromances:
*Gan Ning and Ling Tong
*Guan Xing and Zhang Bao
*Lu Kang and Yang Hu
*Not Liu Bei/Guan Yu/Zhang Fei because they seem kind of toxic
**SPOILER** Favorite Plotlines
*Diaochan, a professional who gets the job done
*Cao Cao as a pragmatist who appreciates merit and turns enemy combatants into loyal followers (Zhang Liao, Jia Xu)
*Liu Bei hanging out with Cao Cao during their team up against Lü Bu
*Guan Yu hanging out with Cao Cao and then murdering his way back to Liu Bei
*Cao Cao psychologically and then militarily destroying Ma Teng and his son Ma Chao
*Yuan Shao's sons getting in a fratricidal territory fight and Cao Cao picking up the pieces (Battle of Guandu)
*Runup to the Battle of Chibi, in which Zhuge Liang trolls Zhou Yu with a horrible poem about how Cao Cao built a whole palace just for having sex with Zhou Yu's wife (and her sister)
*Battle of Chibi / Battle of Red Cliffs
*The downfall of Guan Yu at the hands of Lu Meng (Battle of Fancheng)
*Lu Xun kicking Liu Bei/Shu Han's ass all over the map (Battle of Yiling)
*Lu Xun kicking Wei's ass all over the map (Battle of Shiting)
*Zhuge Liang capturing Nan'an, Tianshui and Anding from Wei
August 20, 2019
More like Bromance of the Three Kingdoms amirite?!
Three friends swear in a peach orchard to be BEST FRIENDS FOREVER. And they stick to it, avenging deaths and swearing allegiances with their relationship as the prime motivator. Many millions died for Xuande's OT3.
Five pages of Main Characters, a map with 50 cities most of them not the ones mentioned, this was worse than reading a Roman biography getting all the names straight.
The abridgement at first left something to be desired, but I realize in 2019 in the West, the entire book would be unwieldy (it is already 615 pages in English) and many of the repetitive sections would get boring. So it is ok.
The characters turn coat more than they change their underwear. And for petty, petty reasons. "To Protect the Mandate of Heaven!" when everybody is clearly in it for their own gain.
Many, many innocent people died and/or conscripted into, meaningless to them wars.
From a story point of view, it starts out reasonably realistic, though I still can't think about the logistics of raising a trained army of 100,000 men on the fly, in the 1st century.
Then it slowly gets odder and odder - a ghost apparition, Daoist priest does magic, reanimated dead bodies, ghost revenges, Kong Ming has seven grains of rice in his mouth when he is buried so he can stop his star falling from heaven (tipping off the other faction), and he succeeds in pushing the star back (post-mortem), ghosts coming for revenge, and, seasoned warlords, suddenly dropping dead from surprise or shock.
Also gunpowder in the 1st century AD.
A second note to the translation, it is all in present tense. Which does link to the original Chinese being basically tenseless (compared to English grammar), but it makes it very very hard to get a sense of timing. It all feels like it is happening in the now, not over 100 years.
I've reread my review (I generally review asap for freshness) and noticed - The story has so many subplots and biplots and time --- over 100 years and at least as many people to start. It makes me forget the scope of the opening lines:
Steeped deeply in Confucian filial piety, entire clans suffer - mortally - the consequences of almost infantile seeming whims. It's semi-fictional and certainly the shapeshifting Daoist priest and his zombie army is probably fiction, but most people written about here that have lived and died probably did live and die.
From this book, the Chinese have the expression : "Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives", which cognates exactly with our English "Speak of the devil"... which tells you of Cao Cao's nature.
Xuande's a hero mostly because half-way through (spoilers) he has the marvelous idea to not raise an entire city to the ground, with the people. "Don't kill any innocent people!" he orders his army. The wondrous novel idea gains him the hearts of the common people (also there were common people left to give their hearts).
Three friends swear in a peach orchard to be BEST FRIENDS FOREVER. And they stick to it, avenging deaths and swearing allegiances with their relationship as the prime motivator. Many millions died for Xuande's OT3.
Five pages of Main Characters, a map with 50 cities most of them not the ones mentioned, this was worse than reading a Roman biography getting all the names straight.
The abridgement at first left something to be desired, but I realize in 2019 in the West, the entire book would be unwieldy (it is already 615 pages in English) and many of the repetitive sections would get boring. So it is ok.
The characters turn coat more than they change their underwear. And for petty, petty reasons. "To Protect the Mandate of Heaven!" when everybody is clearly in it for their own gain.
Many, many innocent people died and/or conscripted into, meaningless to them wars.
From a story point of view, it starts out reasonably realistic, though I still can't think about the logistics of raising a trained army of 100,000 men on the fly, in the 1st century.
Then it slowly gets odder and odder - a ghost apparition, Daoist priest does magic, reanimated dead bodies, ghost revenges, Kong Ming has seven grains of rice in his mouth when he is buried so he can stop his star falling from heaven (tipping off the other faction), and he succeeds in pushing the star back (post-mortem), ghosts coming for revenge, and, seasoned warlords, suddenly dropping dead from surprise or shock.
Also gunpowder in the 1st century AD.
A second note to the translation, it is all in present tense. Which does link to the original Chinese being basically tenseless (compared to English grammar), but it makes it very very hard to get a sense of timing. It all feels like it is happening in the now, not over 100 years.
I've reread my review (I generally review asap for freshness) and noticed - The story has so many subplots and biplots and time --- over 100 years and at least as many people to start. It makes me forget the scope of the opening lines:
話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分。 "For all things under heaven, that long apart must inevitably come together, that long together must inevitable break apart. Thus has it ever been". In truth, this book hits on the transience of all things, empires most absolutely included. (Bromances excluded tho). It's quite an amazing scope.
Steeped deeply in Confucian filial piety, entire clans suffer - mortally - the consequences of almost infantile seeming whims. It's semi-fictional and certainly the shapeshifting Daoist priest and his zombie army is probably fiction, but most people written about here that have lived and died probably did live and die.
From this book, the Chinese have the expression : "Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives", which cognates exactly with our English "Speak of the devil"... which tells you of Cao Cao's nature.
Xuande's a hero mostly because half-way through (spoilers) he has the marvelous idea to not raise an entire city to the ground, with the people. "Don't kill any innocent people!" he orders his army. The wondrous novel idea gains him the hearts of the common people (also there were common people left to give their hearts).
玉可碎而不可改其白，竹可焚而不可毀其節。
Jade may be shattered, but its whiteness remains; bamboo may be burned, but its joints stand straight.
紛紛世事無窮盡，天數茫茫不可逃。
鼎足三分已成夢，後人憑弔空牢騷。
All down the ages rings the note of change,
For fate so rules it; none escapes its sway.
The kingdoms three have vanished as a dream,
The useless misery is ours to grieve.
Want to read
November 19, 2015Pre-review:
I strongly believe you guys won't want to miss this anime/manga 'retelling' of the Three Kingdoms. LOL
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikki_To...)
You also won't want to miss this slightly Boy's Love version of 'retelling' either:
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8D...)
I admit I laughed my ass off when I was watching the few anime episodes of this one...
Looks like there still are some soft power left in Chinese classical literature after all...
I strongly believe you guys won't want to miss this anime/manga 'retelling' of the Three Kingdoms. LOL
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikki_To...)
You also won't want to miss this slightly Boy's Love version of 'retelling' either:
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8D...)
I admit I laughed my ass off when I was watching the few anime episodes of this one...
Looks like there still are some soft power left in Chinese classical literature after all...
September 18, 2019
The long-lived Han dynasty is finally succumbing to effects of a weak Emperor and corrupt government that is cause injustice throughout China resulting peasant revolts while nobles strive to reform the court. Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, probably, dramatizes the 112-year history of the end of the Han dynasty as the empire divided into the titular three kingdoms before being reunified under the Jin while being true to history for nearly the entire text.
The weakness of the Emperor Ling and his corrupt court results in the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Emperor asks all loyal subjects to come to arms to fight the rebels. Among that answering the call is Liu Bei, a scion of the Imperial clan, who befriends and joins in a sworn brotherhood Lord Guan and Zhang Fei, Cao Cao a member of a long servicing Han bureaucratic family, and Sun Jian an accomplished general. The numerous warlords crush the rebellion but remain in charge of various districts when the Emperor dies thus setting the stage for the warlords vying for power by controlling the child Emperor and then his young brother when Ling’s immediate successor is deposed (then murdered). Sun Jian heads to the Southlands and founds a dynasty that is cemented by his son Ce that eventually becomes the Kingdom of Wu. Cao Cao’s Machiavellian political acumen and military success results in him getting control of the last Han Emperor, Xian, and control of the northern heartland that eventually becomes the Kingdom of Cao-Wei. Liu Bei and his sworn brothers bouncing from district and district trying to restore the independence and good governance of the Han but the warlords that they serve under continue to fight for their own power. Then the brotherhood is joined by a military-political advisor Kongming that uses Bei’s connection to the Imperial house to establish power in the Riverlands, in the west of the empire, to establish the kingdom of Shu-Han. Yet if not for the alliance between the Riverlands and Southland against Cao Cao in the battle of Red Cliffs, the three-fold division of the empire would not have happened. After the death of Liu Bei and his sworn brothers, Kongming becomes takes up their cause by his six campaigns against Cao-Wei are not successful in conquering the whole of the Northern Heartland. Upon Kongming’s death, the Sima family rises within the ranks of the Cao-Wei that they eventually usurp and reunify the Empire as the Jin dynasty.
Though Luo Guanzhong wrote his masterpiece roughly 1200 years after the events of the novel, he used extensive historical records plus numerous legends and popular stories from the period to enhance Three Kingdoms. The resulting novel is considered seven parts history and three parts fiction, the later portions surround the adventures and actions of Lord Guan and Kongming respectfully whose impact on history was either enlarger or their effectiveness increased. On top of that Luo Guanzhong, along with Mao Gonggang who edited the text a century later, had a political agenda to favor Liu Bei over Cao Cao that giving the former great virtue while the latter is considered a usurper. The four-volume 2339-page novel is an engaging piece of historical fiction with a lot of annotation, by Mao Guanzhong and translator Moss Roberts, though it isn’t perfect. From the text itself, there are hundreds of named characters though most of them are minor characters that are hard to keep straight through the major and secondary characters are easy to keep straight. The Chinese name convention of surname given name is followed throughout and after a while it’s easy to get use to; however one of Luo Guanzhong’s decisions was to have some individuals have multiple names, most notably Liu Bei (Xuande) and Kongming (Zhuge Liang) that at times confuses the reader. The majority problem with the novel is unfortunately the Foreign Language Press edition that I read had grammatical and spelling errors on almost every page that too be fair was easy to read through but was a tad annoying.
Three Kingdoms is a Chinese historical classic novel that I found to be a very readable novel thanks to the true to original translation approach of Moss Roberts that gave Luo Guanzhong’s masterpiece it’s full meaning. Though most of my issues are due to the publisher’s grammatical and spelling errors, they didn’t takeaway from the great historical story that was presented and gives the reader an insight into Chinese history and cultural thought.
The weakness of the Emperor Ling and his corrupt court results in the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Emperor asks all loyal subjects to come to arms to fight the rebels. Among that answering the call is Liu Bei, a scion of the Imperial clan, who befriends and joins in a sworn brotherhood Lord Guan and Zhang Fei, Cao Cao a member of a long servicing Han bureaucratic family, and Sun Jian an accomplished general. The numerous warlords crush the rebellion but remain in charge of various districts when the Emperor dies thus setting the stage for the warlords vying for power by controlling the child Emperor and then his young brother when Ling’s immediate successor is deposed (then murdered). Sun Jian heads to the Southlands and founds a dynasty that is cemented by his son Ce that eventually becomes the Kingdom of Wu. Cao Cao’s Machiavellian political acumen and military success results in him getting control of the last Han Emperor, Xian, and control of the northern heartland that eventually becomes the Kingdom of Cao-Wei. Liu Bei and his sworn brothers bouncing from district and district trying to restore the independence and good governance of the Han but the warlords that they serve under continue to fight for their own power. Then the brotherhood is joined by a military-political advisor Kongming that uses Bei’s connection to the Imperial house to establish power in the Riverlands, in the west of the empire, to establish the kingdom of Shu-Han. Yet if not for the alliance between the Riverlands and Southland against Cao Cao in the battle of Red Cliffs, the three-fold division of the empire would not have happened. After the death of Liu Bei and his sworn brothers, Kongming becomes takes up their cause by his six campaigns against Cao-Wei are not successful in conquering the whole of the Northern Heartland. Upon Kongming’s death, the Sima family rises within the ranks of the Cao-Wei that they eventually usurp and reunify the Empire as the Jin dynasty.
Though Luo Guanzhong wrote his masterpiece roughly 1200 years after the events of the novel, he used extensive historical records plus numerous legends and popular stories from the period to enhance Three Kingdoms. The resulting novel is considered seven parts history and three parts fiction, the later portions surround the adventures and actions of Lord Guan and Kongming respectfully whose impact on history was either enlarger or their effectiveness increased. On top of that Luo Guanzhong, along with Mao Gonggang who edited the text a century later, had a political agenda to favor Liu Bei over Cao Cao that giving the former great virtue while the latter is considered a usurper. The four-volume 2339-page novel is an engaging piece of historical fiction with a lot of annotation, by Mao Guanzhong and translator Moss Roberts, though it isn’t perfect. From the text itself, there are hundreds of named characters though most of them are minor characters that are hard to keep straight through the major and secondary characters are easy to keep straight. The Chinese name convention of surname given name is followed throughout and after a while it’s easy to get use to; however one of Luo Guanzhong’s decisions was to have some individuals have multiple names, most notably Liu Bei (Xuande) and Kongming (Zhuge Liang) that at times confuses the reader. The majority problem with the novel is unfortunately the Foreign Language Press edition that I read had grammatical and spelling errors on almost every page that too be fair was easy to read through but was a tad annoying.
Three Kingdoms is a Chinese historical classic novel that I found to be a very readable novel thanks to the true to original translation approach of Moss Roberts that gave Luo Guanzhong’s masterpiece it’s full meaning. Though most of my issues are due to the publisher’s grammatical and spelling errors, they didn’t takeaway from the great historical story that was presented and gives the reader an insight into Chinese history and cultural thought.
December 18, 2021
Reading Three Kingdoms is a capital-P Project. 120 chapters chronicling close to a 100 years of Chinese history, the fall of the Han dynasty, the emergence of the Shu, Wei and Wu states and their eventual unification by the Jin dynasty. A kingdom long united must divide, long divided must unite. I read this titanic book over 10 months, 12 chapters at a time, and it proved to be a fantastic way to do so: I got enough content every month to think about, never got bored and never forgot what was going on when I hopped back in.
And I really enjoyed my time with it; like Moss Roberts, the translator of this excellent unabridged version, says in his closing essay, this book can be considered a historical text, a novel, a drama - it has it all. A cavalcade of major and minor characters, most of them memorable, outrageous and terrible at decision-making, at times guided by foolish ideals, and at others the natural inertia towards power that leadership brings. It's a book concerned about what it means to be a good ruler, or someone who serves their ruler, and how that doesn't guarantee success. And sometimes it's about a mischievous wizard that pranks said rulers with troll magic, building ridiculous shrines to change the direction of the wind, doing dream interpretation, or summoning a maze to confound an enemy's army.
And it's *really* well written. It may have been written in the 14th century and that may lead someone to imagine it being hard to read, or constricted by antiquated literary conventions from said times. Far from it, it deploys drama, twists, sometimes tightly paced and sometimes drawn out battles, both in the battlefield and at kingdoms' courts, superbly. Gambits upon gambits are layered on top of each other when master strategists find themselves at opposite ends of the battlefield. Poems, letters and even children songs litter the pages and color the action on the page. I laughed out loud, I... well, I mostly laughed. But it's good! It's not hard to see where its popularity comes from and why it has come to be known as one of China's 4 classic novels.
I'll admit that the first 3/4s or so are more exciting than the latter parts of the book, full of more supernatural feats, legendary heroes and history-shaking battles; history doesn't always lend itself to exciting final confrontations or epic finales, and by the time the book reaches its conclusion it's more of a fizzling out than an energetic burst, but I thought the earlier parts provided enough momentum that the novel kept me hooked to the end.
Also: Shout-outs to the Romance of the Two Networks podcast, a fantastic reading companion to the book that also happened to fit well with my 12-chapters-a-month reading schedule.
Also also: Red Hare Forever
And I really enjoyed my time with it; like Moss Roberts, the translator of this excellent unabridged version, says in his closing essay, this book can be considered a historical text, a novel, a drama - it has it all. A cavalcade of major and minor characters, most of them memorable, outrageous and terrible at decision-making, at times guided by foolish ideals, and at others the natural inertia towards power that leadership brings. It's a book concerned about what it means to be a good ruler, or someone who serves their ruler, and how that doesn't guarantee success. And sometimes it's about a mischievous wizard that pranks said rulers with troll magic, building ridiculous shrines to change the direction of the wind, doing dream interpretation, or summoning a maze to confound an enemy's army.
And it's *really* well written. It may have been written in the 14th century and that may lead someone to imagine it being hard to read, or constricted by antiquated literary conventions from said times. Far from it, it deploys drama, twists, sometimes tightly paced and sometimes drawn out battles, both in the battlefield and at kingdoms' courts, superbly. Gambits upon gambits are layered on top of each other when master strategists find themselves at opposite ends of the battlefield. Poems, letters and even children songs litter the pages and color the action on the page. I laughed out loud, I... well, I mostly laughed. But it's good! It's not hard to see where its popularity comes from and why it has come to be known as one of China's 4 classic novels.
I'll admit that the first 3/4s or so are more exciting than the latter parts of the book, full of more supernatural feats, legendary heroes and history-shaking battles; history doesn't always lend itself to exciting final confrontations or epic finales, and by the time the book reaches its conclusion it's more of a fizzling out than an energetic burst, but I thought the earlier parts provided enough momentum that the novel kept me hooked to the end.
Also: Shout-outs to the Romance of the Two Networks podcast, a fantastic reading companion to the book that also happened to fit well with my 12-chapters-a-month reading schedule.
Also also: Red Hare Forever
July 31, 2008
Volume I: This book is awesome. I'll fill in the review once I've read the other three volumes.
Volume II: The stuff of legends. Battle, intrigue, strategy, poetry, honor ..
Volume III: I almost lost interest in the first half, but was well-rewarded by the developments that followed.
Volume IV: "The empire long divided, must unite; long united, must divide." The conclusion kept me guessing up to the end. In this volume it was sad that Kongming died without reaching his goal, and sadder that the children of some of my favorite heroes were so lacking in virtue.
But chills ran across my body as I read the final poem summarizing over 100 years of myth and history related by hundreds of characters over thousands of pages and which I took almost a year to read.
Volume II: The stuff of legends. Battle, intrigue, strategy, poetry, honor ..
Volume III: I almost lost interest in the first half, but was well-rewarded by the developments that followed.
Volume IV: "The empire long divided, must unite; long united, must divide." The conclusion kept me guessing up to the end. In this volume it was sad that Kongming died without reaching his goal, and sadder that the children of some of my favorite heroes were so lacking in virtue.
But chills ran across my body as I read the final poem summarizing over 100 years of myth and history related by hundreds of characters over thousands of pages and which I took almost a year to read.
December 5, 2018
Pure perfection. Cao Cao is one of the most intriguing figures I've ever read about. I really wanted to hate him but sometimes I couldn't help but be in awe of him. I loved him, then hated him, then loved him again....it was just a rollercoaster. And its not just him, this book packed a whole lot of historical figures who were just as equally fascinating.
April 5, 2025
"Empires arise from Chaos and collapse back into chaos. This we have known since time began." In the process death and oppression thrive and the grasping claw for advantage. Even virtue, honor, and loyalty are no guarantors for life and stability, but players on a full stage. Perhaps it is better to die virtuous, but the virtuous die nonetheless, and before they do they reap their fair share of blood.
Read
December 19, 2021Die Drei Königreiche - ein Schlüsseltext der chinesischen Literatur. Dies ist die zweite Übersetzung, die ich lese, die erste ist die englische Vollübersetzung von Moss Roberts. Für Kuhn-Übersetzungen gilt im Allgemeinen, dass sie gekürzte Nachdichtungen sind, und auch hier findet sich ein entsprechender Hinweis im Nachwort.
"Der vorliegende Band bringt in stellenweise gekürzter Fassung die ersten achtunddreißig Kapitel, also knapp ein Drittel des einhundertzwanzig Kapitel zählenden Originaltexts." (S.461).
Ich stehe Kürzungen normalerweise sehr kritisch gegenüber, bei diesem Werk hier allerdings funktioniert Kuhns Vorgehensweise recht gut. Das vollständige Original ist ganz besonders zu Beginn, wo nach meinem Gefühl die meisten Kürzungen stattfanden, nur extrem mühselig zu lesen, da man direkt mit einer Riesenflut an Namen, Personen und Orten überwältigt wird. Kuhn kürzt hier geschickt und macht diesen Teil gut lesbar.
Eine besonders gut gemeinte Maßnahme ist das Weglassen der Namen von Personen, die nur in dem Satz vorkommen, in dem sie das erste Mal erwähnt werden. Stattdessen verwendet Kuhn Formulierungen wie "der erste", "ein anderer" und "ein dritter" - man verliert nichts an Handlung, muss aber nicht überlegen, ob man den Namen im Gedächtnis behalten muss oder nicht: Im Original tauchen 1200 Personen mit Namen auf, da ist man dankbar für diese Entscheidung. Auch werden die ganzen zusätzlichen Namen, die eine wichtige Person hat (im Original bis zu 3 Namen für dieselbe Person, Ehrennamen, Namen unter Freunden und geschichtlicher Name!), ersatzlos gestrichen und immer derselbe Name verwendet. Auch dies erhöht die Lesbarkeit enorm.
Von der Handlung her sind mir keine größeren Streichungen aufgefallen - leider endet halt der Roman gerade an der Stelle, an der "Die Drei Königreiche" erst anfängt, richtig gut zu werden. Liu Bei findet seinen Berater Zhuge Liang, und dann ist Schluss. Ein Großteil der besten und berühmtesten Szenen entgehen dem Leser damit, wie die Schlacht am Roten Felsen, das Einsammeln der Pfeile oder die Taktik der leeren Stadt.
Trotzdem empfehle ich diese Übersetzung dem deutschen Leser; hier macht Kuhn, im Gegensatz zu seinen Übersetzungen der anderen chinesischen Klassiker, fast alles richtig. Hätte er nur den Rest auch noch in dieser Form übersetzt!
"Der vorliegende Band bringt in stellenweise gekürzter Fassung die ersten achtunddreißig Kapitel, also knapp ein Drittel des einhundertzwanzig Kapitel zählenden Originaltexts." (S.461).
Ich stehe Kürzungen normalerweise sehr kritisch gegenüber, bei diesem Werk hier allerdings funktioniert Kuhns Vorgehensweise recht gut. Das vollständige Original ist ganz besonders zu Beginn, wo nach meinem Gefühl die meisten Kürzungen stattfanden, nur extrem mühselig zu lesen, da man direkt mit einer Riesenflut an Namen, Personen und Orten überwältigt wird. Kuhn kürzt hier geschickt und macht diesen Teil gut lesbar.
Eine besonders gut gemeinte Maßnahme ist das Weglassen der Namen von Personen, die nur in dem Satz vorkommen, in dem sie das erste Mal erwähnt werden. Stattdessen verwendet Kuhn Formulierungen wie "der erste", "ein anderer" und "ein dritter" - man verliert nichts an Handlung, muss aber nicht überlegen, ob man den Namen im Gedächtnis behalten muss oder nicht: Im Original tauchen 1200 Personen mit Namen auf, da ist man dankbar für diese Entscheidung. Auch werden die ganzen zusätzlichen Namen, die eine wichtige Person hat (im Original bis zu 3 Namen für dieselbe Person, Ehrennamen, Namen unter Freunden und geschichtlicher Name!), ersatzlos gestrichen und immer derselbe Name verwendet. Auch dies erhöht die Lesbarkeit enorm.
Von der Handlung her sind mir keine größeren Streichungen aufgefallen - leider endet halt der Roman gerade an der Stelle, an der "Die Drei Königreiche" erst anfängt, richtig gut zu werden. Liu Bei findet seinen Berater Zhuge Liang, und dann ist Schluss. Ein Großteil der besten und berühmtesten Szenen entgehen dem Leser damit, wie die Schlacht am Roten Felsen, das Einsammeln der Pfeile oder die Taktik der leeren Stadt.
Trotzdem empfehle ich diese Übersetzung dem deutschen Leser; hier macht Kuhn, im Gegensatz zu seinen Übersetzungen der anderen chinesischen Klassiker, fast alles richtig. Hätte er nur den Rest auch noch in dieser Form übersetzt!
February 25, 2022
Mukavan nöyryyttävää Kiinaan erikoistuvana Itä-Aasian tutkimuksen maisteriopiskelijana siirtyä ekaan Kiinaa käsittelevään kirjaan meidän kurssilla ja... inhota sitä 😭 Tai tarkemmin mitä inhosin oli tän lukeminen. Voin myöntää et olihan toi ihan eeppinen tarina kun pääsi loppuun asti.
Ahkeralla värikoodatulla alleviivaamisella sain kasaan huomioita siitä miten tässä on paljon paljon kiinalaista/konfutselaista filosofiaa ja elämänoppeja ja semmosta mut... koko ajan palaan siihen et tää on just SE juttu mitä mä opiskelen ja mun ahkeralla omistautumisella onnistuin silleen vaan just ja just olemaan inhoamatta tätä.
Hauska fakta :^) Tajusin kun Cao Caon hahmo esiteltiin et tää on se tyyppi fraasissa "说曹操曹操就到" eli "sano Cao Cao ja Cao Cao tulee" eli käytännössä siinä paha missä mainitaan. Hyvä esimerkki tän kirjan vaikutusvallasta. Joku miljardi ihmistä toistelee tota fraasia vuonna 2022.
Ahkeralla värikoodatulla alleviivaamisella sain kasaan huomioita siitä miten tässä on paljon paljon kiinalaista/konfutselaista filosofiaa ja elämänoppeja ja semmosta mut... koko ajan palaan siihen et tää on just SE juttu mitä mä opiskelen ja mun ahkeralla omistautumisella onnistuin silleen vaan just ja just olemaan inhoamatta tätä.
Hauska fakta :^) Tajusin kun Cao Caon hahmo esiteltiin et tää on se tyyppi fraasissa "说曹操曹操就到" eli "sano Cao Cao ja Cao Cao tulee" eli käytännössä siinä paha missä mainitaan. Hyvä esimerkki tän kirjan vaikutusvallasta. Joku miljardi ihmistä toistelee tota fraasia vuonna 2022.
April 8, 2023
Oh God, alright. Let's go, wish me luck.
PART 1 (From page 0001 - 595) : 07/09/2022 - 20/10/2022 🕺
PART 2 (From page 596 - 1152) : 21/10/2022 - 21/11/2022 🪩
PART 3 (From page 1153 - 1722) : 21/11/2022 - 27/02/2023 💃
PART 4 (From page 1723 - 2340) : 28/02/2023 - 08/04/2023 🕺🪩💃
Me after finishing this:
PART 1 (From page 0001 - 595) : 07/09/2022 - 20/10/2022 🕺
PART 2 (From page 596 - 1152) : 21/10/2022 - 21/11/2022 🪩
PART 3 (From page 1153 - 1722) : 21/11/2022 - 27/02/2023 💃
PART 4 (From page 1723 - 2340) : 28/02/2023 - 08/04/2023 🕺🪩💃
Me after finishing this:
February 1, 2021
My favorite part is when the hospitable farmer, upon discovering there is no meat in the house to offer his very important guest, kills and cooks his wife.
June 23, 2021
Truly an epic.
April 20, 2023
“The empire long united must divide, long divided must unite; this is how it has always been.”
Wow. This is easily the longest single book I've read, while it is split into four volumes it is undoubtedly one long single tome of 120 chapters containing nearly 2.5k pages, all covering a century of history and folklore. There is so much good to be found in these pages, so many interesting and awe-inspiring and/or deplorable characters. From Zhuge Liang to Cao Cao to Guan Yu. The amount of interesting people, battles, quotes, events... It's just a treasure trove. I struggle to get across my feelings here due to just how massive truly this is. There are dozens of battles here as memorable as any in western-fantasy, the Battle of Red Cliffs (Chibi), especially is defining. Although Zhao Yun at Changban as well... And just ANY battle involving Lu Bu. My only major complaint would be there are way too many... Nothing paragraphs I started calling them. I accept that this is partially a history book, but the amount of character-names that are given and are never important again or die on the same page with hundreds if not thousands of inconsequential to the story cities and fortresses being sieged is quite a lot... Then again I am glad I read this unabridged to feel the sheer scale of everything. For anyone wanting to read this, I recommend the full unabridged four volume Foreign Press version with the Moss Roberts translation. You can find comparisons online of the translations and I (and many others) found this to be the best. Read it if you're even slightly interested, the amount of awe-inspiring moments, memorable and bloody battles, genuinely great and poignant quotes and philosophy (although certainly some philosophy and quotes that are not up to modern sensibilities) are more than worth it. I'm excited to explore other media that involves this such as the Dynasty Warriors games and TV adaptations to see how it compares to the actual thing! Likewise I know I will want to re-read this eventually, probably in a couple of years, although I am already missing the setting and characters and wanna restart right now to have some more time with them all. I got way too emotionally invested in some of the people here... To cap off the review and as a bit of a memento to see how it compares to when I re-read. My favorite volumes in order most to least: 2, 1, 3, 4. Favorite characters... Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu (although in general, all three Peach Garden Oath Brothers are great), Xiahou Dun, Huang Zhong, Sun Jian, and Jiang Wei. But I loved so many others too like Zhou Yu... Ahhh! I wanna record some of my favorite quotes too but I'll just use Goodreads quotes feature. The review must end; this is how it has always been.
Wow. This is easily the longest single book I've read, while it is split into four volumes it is undoubtedly one long single tome of 120 chapters containing nearly 2.5k pages, all covering a century of history and folklore. There is so much good to be found in these pages, so many interesting and awe-inspiring and/or deplorable characters. From Zhuge Liang to Cao Cao to Guan Yu. The amount of interesting people, battles, quotes, events... It's just a treasure trove. I struggle to get across my feelings here due to just how massive truly this is. There are dozens of battles here as memorable as any in western-fantasy, the Battle of Red Cliffs (Chibi), especially is defining. Although Zhao Yun at Changban as well... And just ANY battle involving Lu Bu. My only major complaint would be there are way too many... Nothing paragraphs I started calling them. I accept that this is partially a history book, but the amount of character-names that are given and are never important again or die on the same page with hundreds if not thousands of inconsequential to the story cities and fortresses being sieged is quite a lot... Then again I am glad I read this unabridged to feel the sheer scale of everything. For anyone wanting to read this, I recommend the full unabridged four volume Foreign Press version with the Moss Roberts translation. You can find comparisons online of the translations and I (and many others) found this to be the best. Read it if you're even slightly interested, the amount of awe-inspiring moments, memorable and bloody battles, genuinely great and poignant quotes and philosophy (although certainly some philosophy and quotes that are not up to modern sensibilities) are more than worth it. I'm excited to explore other media that involves this such as the Dynasty Warriors games and TV adaptations to see how it compares to the actual thing! Likewise I know I will want to re-read this eventually, probably in a couple of years, although I am already missing the setting and characters and wanna restart right now to have some more time with them all. I got way too emotionally invested in some of the people here... To cap off the review and as a bit of a memento to see how it compares to when I re-read. My favorite volumes in order most to least: 2, 1, 3, 4. Favorite characters... Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu (although in general, all three Peach Garden Oath Brothers are great), Xiahou Dun, Huang Zhong, Sun Jian, and Jiang Wei. But I loved so many others too like Zhou Yu... Ahhh! I wanna record some of my favorite quotes too but I'll just use Goodreads quotes feature. The review must end; this is how it has always been.
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