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Romance of the Three Kingdoms

14th-century Chinese historical novel

  • 40 min read
  • 7 chapters
​《新刊校正古本大字音释三国志通俗演义》 明万历十九年书林周曰校刊本
周曰校（Before 1640） · Public domain

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The novel draws on Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms, Pei Songzhi's annotations, earlier chronicles, and popular storytelling traditions including the Sanguozhi Pinghua. It combines historical figures and events with fictional scenes, speeches, and supernatural episodes. The narrative gives particular moral and political weight to Liu Bei and Shu Han while following the rivalry among Shu, Cao Wei, and Eastern Wu.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classic Novels of Chinese literature; it has a total of 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters. The novel is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia, and its literary influence in the region has been compared to that of the works of Shakespeare on English literature. Its impact is also extensive and eminent in Southeast Asia, with many of its characters becoming household names there. It has influenced literature, drama, games, and popular accounts of the Three Kingdoms throughout the regions. It is arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China. Herbert Giles stated that for the Chinese themselves, this is regarded as the "greatest among their countless novels".

Origins and versions

Stories about the heroes of the Three Kingdoms were the basis of entertainment dating back to the Sui and Tang dynasty (6th–10th centuries). By the Song dynasty (10th–13th centuries), records mention professional oral storytellers who specialized in tales of the Three Kingdoms heroes. The earliest written work to combine these stories was a pinghua named Sanguozhi Pinghua published sometime between 1321 and 1323.

Expansion of the history

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is traditionally attributed to Luo Guanzhong, a playwright who lived sometime between 1315 and 1400 (late Yuan to early Ming period) known for compiling historical plays in styles which were prevalent during the Yuan period. It was first printed in 1522 as Sanguozhi Tongsu Yanyi (三國志通俗演義, Popular Romance of the Records of the Three Kingdoms) in an edition which bore a preface dated 1494. The text may well have circulated before either date in handwritten manuscripts.

Regardless of when it was written or whether Luo was the writer, the author made use of several available historical records, primarily the Records of the Three Kingdoms compiled by Chen Shou in the 3rd century. The Records of the Three Kingdoms covered events ranging from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 to the unification of the Three Kingdoms under the Jin dynasty in 280. The novel also includes material from Tang dynasty poetic works, Yuan dynasty operas and his own personal interpretation of elements such as virtue and legitimacy. The author combined this historical knowledge with his own storytelling skills to create a rich tapestry of personalities.

Recensions and standardised text

Luo Guanzhong's version in 24 volumes, known as the Sanguozhi Tongsu Yanyi, is now held in the Shanghai Library in China, Tenri Central Library in Japan, and several other major libraries. Various 10-volume, 12-volume and 20-volume recensions of Luo's text, made between 1522 and 1690, are also held at libraries around the world. However, the standard text familiar to general readers is a recension by Mao Lun and his son Mao Zonggang.

At the end of the Ming dynasty, "Li Zhuowu" added commentary to the Luo version, which expanded its circulation and influence. While Li Zhuowu was the art name of Li Zhi, the commentary was likely written by an imposter (Ye Zhou). Nevertheless, it is consistent with the anti-authoritarian views of the historical Li Shi. The persona of Li Zhuowu "is presented as a reader who appreciates the text, an interpreter and appropriate model for readers unfamiliar with the form".

In addition to quandian (圈點; placement of small circles and dots to the right of the text to indicate emphasis), Li Zhuowu included interlineal comments and comments at the end of chapters. The interlineal comments, written with smaller characters alongside the novel text, were typically short exclamations. For example, when Liu Bei is described in the novel text as not fond of reading, Li exclaims: "Taking no joy in reading is the mark of a hero". The comments at the end of chapters were longer and were often ironic and conversational. For example, there is a comment in one of the later chapters about the relevance of the novel as follows: "Since [similar events] were narrated previously, this does nothing more than change the names to pad out the narrative. How irritating! This is why it is an 'elaboration' [yanyi] of the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms [Sanguo zhi]. Laughable!". However, another comment emphasizes the need for elaboration: "Even so, this is a 'popular romance' and not official history. If it were not so [embellished], then how could it be 'popular'? ".

This version of the novel contained numerous illustrations of scenes depicted in the text. Illustrations were a near ubiquitous feature of late Ming dynasty books. The flourishing of book illustrations at the time apparently resulted from increased prosperity of the elite which allowed them greater opportunity to read for fun.

In 1591, Zhou Yue, owner of the Wanjuanlou Bookshop, published his edited version of the novel with the title, A Newly Proofed Edition of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It contained 250 chapters in 12 volumes and included 240 2-page illustrations. Each illustration is flanked by couplets, each line with 11 characters. These were composed by literati and described the scene in a poetic manner. For example, the illustration "Guan Yu traveled one thousand li alone." depicts Guan Yu as he begins a journey to rejoin his sworn brother, Liu Bei. It includes the couplet (loose translation), "Loyal and righteous, he returned to his former master alone with a single sword; the hero, moved by his loyalty, was willing to travel to his beloved master a thousand li away."

Zheng Zhenduo commented that the prints are bold and vigorous, and while somewhat crude, they are ultimately far superior to the 'delicate' prints in other works. A modern reviewer noted that "the lines of the illustrations are energetic, the characters clearly outlined, with vivid and dynamic depictions of action, especially for those climatic chapters". However, the illustrations appear to function more for decoration than to advance the plot.

At the time it was published, the Zhou Yue illustrated edition was the most popular version of the novel. However, the standard text currently familiar to general readers is a recension by Mao Lun and his son Mao Zonggang. Historical editions of the Mao version vary with respect to the illustrations included and these are typically omitted from modern translations. The 1802 edition at the Harvard-Yenching Library, available online, has 12 portrait-style illustrations at the commencement of Volume 1. The 1888 edition, Mao Shenshang's Critique of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms/ Most Brilliant Writing of Talent and Taste/ Saoye shanfang edition, National Palace Museum collection, has 40 such illustrations. These depict the main characters together with text highlighting their role in the narrative. These editions were variations of the work first published in the 17th century.

In the 1660s, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty, Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang significantly edited the text, fitting it into 120 chapters and abbreviating the title to Sanguozhi Yanyi. The text was reduced from 900,000 to 750,000 characters; significant editing was done for narrative flow; use of third-party poems was reduced and shifted from conventional verse to finer pieces; and most passages praising Cao Cao's advisers and generals were removed. Scholars have long debated whether the Maos' viewpoint was anti-Qing (identifying Southern Ming remnants with Shu-Han) or pro-Qing.

Commentary is estimated to be almost two-thirds as large as the bulk of the text. The Mao introductory essay titled "How to Read The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" begins:

Readers of the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms should be aware of the distinction between states that rule by legitimate succession, those that rule during an intercalary period, and those that rule illegitimately. ... Why should the state of Wei [established by Cao Cao] not be accorded legitimacy? According to territorial criteria, control of the Central Plain might be sufficient to establish legitimacy; but according to the criterion of principle, legitimacy should be accorded to the Liu clan [the ruling house of the Han dynasty, 202 B.C.-220 A.D.]. The criterion of principle ought to take precedence over territorial consideration.

The famous opening lines of the novel, "The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been" (話說天下大勢．分久必合，合久必分), long understood to be Luo's introduction and cyclical philosophy, were actually added by the Maos in their substantially revised edition of 1679. None of the earlier editions contained this phrase. In addition, Mao also added Yang Shen's The Immortals by the River as the famous introductory poem (which began with "The gushing waters of the Yangzi River pour and disappear into the East", 滾滾長江東逝水) to the novel. The earlier editions, moreover, spend less time on the process of division, which they found painful, and far more time on the process of reunification and the struggles of the heroes who sacrificed for it.

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