Three Kingdoms IV

Three Kingdoms (Four Volume Edition) #4

by Luo Guanzhong

In Chinese culture, the era of the Three Kingdoms (AD 168–280) has achieved the status of legend. Retold in novels, celebrated in operas and echoed in modern media, from television to video games, it permeates Chinese consciousness like no other. It was an era of chaos, of conflicts so bloody that the country’s population fell by almost 50 million. But it was also a time of ideological change, with the rise of Buddhist ideals and Taoist principles that rejected the tumult and violence of the warring dynasties. And it produced the country’s first professional painters, such as Cao Buxing, often called ‘the father of Buddhist painting’. It is from this rich strand of history that Luo Guanzhong’s Three Kingdoms emerged.

Written in the 14th century, this remarkable novel is one of the great classics of Chinese literature. It is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia, with an influence in China comparable to that of Shakespeare in the British Isles. While attributed to Guanzhong, it is as much the product of 11 centuries of oral tradition as the fruit of one author’s labour, encompassing and cementing the quasi-mythical status of the era. Introducing this edition, Chinese author-in-exile Ma Jian describes Three Kingdoms as 70 per cent history and 30 per cent fiction.

With an intricate plot and almost 1,000 dramatic characters, it is a vast work, consisting of 734,321 Chinese characters. The story is one of ferocious battles, revolts and raids – of vengeance, murder and power struggles wrought as three powers fight for the rule of a divided land.

On and on the Great River rolls, racing east.
Of proud and gallant heroes its white-tops leave no trace,
As right and wrong, pride and fall turn all at once unreal.
Yet ever the green hills stays
To blaze in the west-waning day.

But this is not only the history of an embattled era; it is also an exploration of human behaviour, morality and the cyclical nature of Chinese civilisation. It reflects Confucian ethics, which confer on all relationships a set of roles and obligations. Respect for parents, loyalty to government and mindfulness of one’s place in society are paramount.

Encircling these values are the ideas of humaneness, kindness and love. As Ma Jian writes, while the novel has been used by some as a manual of war, its overriding message is ‘surely that leaders and oppressors who violate the moral codes of loyalty and benevolence sow the seeds of their own destruction’. Characters who use guile over force – such as Zhuge Liang, who bluffs his enemy into retreat by posing as a simple lute player perched on the battlements of his besieged city – are to be admired above those who rely on violence. Arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China, this extraordinary work is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand Chinese civilisation.

Genres: History

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1360

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

[Ky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got through this volume so much quicker than the others, which I think is funny since it may be my least favorite of the 4 in terms of events/characters! At the same time though, the pacing is very good here (I think this owes to the fact there are the actual titular three kingdoms to go between). I read all the others over months each. This one I did in a couple of days. I am very proud of myself and excited I finished this great book unabridged. Many events and characters will stay with me forever!

[Sean Shin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms Volume Four is a continuation of a historical fiction series or book by Luo Guanzhong written about the Three Kingdoms period in China. The Three Kingdoms period was a period of time where the central government under the Han dynasty fractured and collapsed, leading to a massive civil war. Both the historical fiction novel and real history do not diverge in this regard, the novel accurately depicts the causes of the fall of the central government and the conflicts that follow. The novel also does not significantly alter the course of the story compared to history. The characters are kept very similar to their historical counterparts and diverge very little from real life other than some exaggerations of personality. The major difference between the novel and history lies in the abilities and powers of characters. In the novel, the characters have almost supernatural powers attributed to them. It is not uncommon in the book to have generals and commanders dictating the course of battles and facing down entire armies alone. The book overall stays faithful to the original history and only romanticizes and exaggerates the role certain characters.

I gave The Romance of the Three Kingdoms Volume Four, by Luo Guanzhong, five conditional stars out of five stars. The reason I say conditional is because the novel can be very hard for new readers to get into as it was originally written six hundred years ago in a completely different culture. Many of the events and traditions mentioned or brought up may require the reader to do some further research on their own to be able to understand what is going on. The Chinese names may also prove difficult for readers to get accustomed to and the reader may temporarily have difficulty remembering who was who. In addition to the name problem, the vast amount of characters might be hard for new readers to get used to as characters are introduced and leave at a rapid pace. However, if one can get past these initial obstacles, the reader will soon find an awe-striking story full of strategy, political intrigue, and very delicious food for thought. As the novel is a romanticization of real history, as stated earlier, it does not diverge from real history. The battles you read about in the book are all real and can be further researched if one wishes to do so. The generals and strategists spoken about in the book can also be found in real life and one can read about their real life exploits without scratching their heads at why they are so different from the book. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in history and people who enjoy the sort of vast and overarching story similar to The Lord of the Rings.

[Aaron Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one of the most tremendous reading experiences of my life drew to a close, I had almost too many thoughts to write down. Since the fourth volume (chapters 95-120) ends over a hundred years after the story begins with the collapse of the Han dynasty, the reunification of the three kingdoms into the Jin dynasty is completed by an entirely new generation of characters. This may be the finest dramatization in all of literature of Machiavelli's famous distinction between virtù (the human ability to bring events under control through will) and fortuna (everything else that life throws at you), and it's fascinating how constrained all of these larger-than-life characters are by their predecessors' actions. Even the brightest among them, like western general Kongming, who's still hanging on after the death of Liu Bei and trying to fulfill his dream, or northern general Sima Yi, who looks at Cao Cao's heirs the way that Cao Cao did at the last Han emperors, have to play the hands that they're dealt and live with the consequences of the choices made by their ancestors, who played their parts and then dropped out one by one, after what felt like several lifetimes worth of intrigues, battles, and heroic deeds. The persistent question of loyalty, whether to a brotherhood, a family, a sovereign, or to the empire as a whole, runs through every action to literally the very last page, and though it didn't end the way I would have wished (I was pulling for Cao Cao all the way), I wouldn't change a word of it.

Despite the series being almost a thousand pages, it's so good that I immediately started reading more about it. Here are some good links:

- Good commentary on how Kongming's strategy circa chapter 96 relates to Sun Tzu. https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bri...
- Garret P. Olberding - Dynamic Divisions: The Tactics of Weiqi and Strategic Space in Imperial China. https://brill.com/abstract/journals/j...
- Peter Moody - The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Popular Chinese Political Thought. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1406288?...
- Rafe de Crespigny - Man from the Margin: Cao Cao and the Three Kingdoms. https://web.archive.org/web/201202141...
- Yasheng Huang, Clair Yang - A Longevity Mechanism of Chinese Absolutism. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...