Three Kingdoms, Volume 2

by Luo Guanzhong, Moss Roberts (Translator)

Three Kingdoms is a classic historical novel. It was also the first Chinese novel with each chapter headed by a couplet giving the gist of the content. It describes the power struggles among the kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, headed by Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, respectively, in the period known to Chinese history as that of the Three Kingdoms (220 – 280). It highlights the sharp and complicated political and military conflicts of that time, and had a far-reaching influence on the political and military strategies of later ages. The novel vividly portrays the individuality of the historical characters, including Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Besides being a work of epic grandeur, its literary merit has had a great impact on China 's literature and art, and social life as well.

Three Kingdoms was first published in the period which saw the demise of the Yuan Dynasty and the rise of the Ming Dynasty. Many stories about the three kingdoms had circulated among the people before the appearance of the book. Many editions of Three Kingdoms have appeared, and the novel has been translated into foreign languages since the end of the 17th century. This English edition, by US sinologist Moss Roberts, is based on the Mao Zonggang edition published during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911).

Genres: Classics, History

574 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1994

About the author

Luo 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.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be five starring this simply because I'm overwhelmed, but there ya go.

I neither know most of the names or their importance, nor do I know all the provinces in China, ancient or otherwise, and frankly, I think I'd need a full map and a whole board of figures and footnotes to show me each and every battle in its entirety just to GET what the hell just happened here.

But unfortunately, I'm ACTUALLY just trying to read this to say I've read it, if not for enjoyment's sake. And trust me, I did enjoy swaths of it. Both the history and some of the stories are just fantastic--those I followed, those I outright recognized, and those that made me wonder and wonder.

Let me be honest: I'm more fascinated by the role this has played in the formation of all of Chinese history and culture than any personal desire to learn tactics and wartime strategy. But if I was to want to get into all that seriously, then I'd do worse than to seriously study this text again with a different focus.

So, with that, volume 2 is done. On to volume 3.