Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel

"Three Kingdoms is not just an epic historical novel, it’s one of the most influential novels of all time. It has shaped Chinese thinking about war, power and diplomacy for centuries, and its characters continue to loom large in the imagination today. It is still a staple of professional oral storytellers who bring to life the drama of battle and inject humour into the larger-than-life characters. Set in the 3rd century, the novel features many historical figures and events. Authorship is attributed to Luo Guanzhong, who lived in the 14th century. You can choose an abridged version, but I have found it very comforting to spend time with the full length, 120-chapter novel—surprising, I admit, considering that the Three Kingdoms period was one of the deadliest in history. The body count by the end of the novel is in the millions. Three Kingdoms is storytelling on the grandest of scales. It starts as the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) is drawing to a close, when court administration has become so corrupt that rebellion looms and outlaws swarm like hornets. Three men swear an oath of allegiance to uphold the Han, and their brotherhood takes centre stage. There are some very strong female characters, but they feature in a tiny fraction of the page count. Other main characters include the ruthless and ambitious Cao Cao, who is wonderfully complex, and Kongming, a master strategist and weapons designer with supernatural powers. Much of the novel is concerned with virtue; how to be a successful commander and righteous ruler. But this is no simplistic battle between good and evil. The question soon arises of what price it is acceptable to pay to achieve a greater purpose. Inevitably, there is conflict between duty and honour, and different views on what constitutes a legitimate dynastic succession. These issues give the novel depth, as the narrative unfolds through battles and ambushes, coalitions and betrayals, elaborate stratagems and convoluted counter-plots. Readers are confronted with warfare in all its complexity. Armchair commanders in the novel quote Sunzi but have no idea how to deal with a rapidly developing crisis. The characters constantly face questions that have no easy answers: how to deal with alternative opinions from your own advisers, the potential consequences of harsh or lenient punishments, how to treat untrustworthy allies or rumours intended to sow distrust… As military fortunes wax and wane over the course of the novel, what we are left with is a sense of the cyclical nature of history . The version of Three Kingdoms most popular today dates from the 1660s. That was when this famous opening line was added: “The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been.”"

"The Three Kingdoms only became a book a thousand years after the events which it describes. You could say that its story is the story of all China, passed down from father to son. It is one of China’s four great classical novels, which also include the Journey to the West . But only with the Three Kingdoms did old Chinese stories really become Chinese literature. It’s also beautifully written. A reader can harvest a lot of history and knowledge from this book, because it chronicles all aspects of China. You can discover in it the entirety of the Chinese character, ancient and modern. All Chinese people today can find themselves in the Three Kingdoms , whether you are rich or poor, old or young. For example Cao Cao, an important character in the book, was originally a low official, but later [became a warlord and] had everything under heaven – just like Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong carried this book with him everywhere. In Communist Party meetings, he would ask his comrades if they had read the Three Kingdoms – he thought that reading it showed how to overcome all problems in China. I think the connection between Mao Zedong and Cao Cao is very close. Another character, Zhuge Liang, a very good chancellor and strategist who was faithful to his ruler and worked himself to death, is similar to [current Chinese premier] Wen Jiabao. That’s right! They’re all in the Three Kingdoms ."